The Army, the Navy, the Church, and the Stage

[sovay]

Oh, damn it: John Reed, patter baritone of the D'Oyly Carte.

He was ninety-four; I can't really argue. But I had just looked him up a few days ago, having finally acquired a recording of the 1968 D'Oyly Carte Pirates of Penzance (and therefore been on a limited-resource Gilbert and Sullivan bender), and was obscurely comforted that he was still alive. His Lord Chancellor features twice in last night's linkdump. Literally, I was just listening to him.

I suppose that's as good a note to go out on as any.

"Love, unrequited" (Iolanthe, 1960)

When you're lying awake with a dismal headache, and repose is taboo'd by anxiety,
I conceive you may use any language you choose to indulge in, without impropriety . . .

"If you give me your attention" (Princess Ida, 1965)

To ev'rybody's prejudice I know a thing or two;
I can tell a woman's age in half a minute—and I do.

"I am the very model of a modern Major-General" (The Pirates of Penzance, 1968)

But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

Comments

[zdenka]

:-(

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

One can always argue.

[jaylake.livejournal.com]

"limited-resource Gilbert and Sullivan bender"

That phrase wins the Internets today.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Iolanthe was one of the first things I remember my Mom and Dad playing around the house, at least on record. On tape, it was the Hair Broadway soundtrack and the Godspell movie soundtrack, with occasional Randy Newman (Good Old Boys, which means I still know all the words to "Rednecks" and "Guilty").

I'm really sorry about Reed, though. One more quitting the chorus to join the Choir Invisibule.

[ravenskyewalker.livejournal.com]

(Pardon me for intruding. I stumbled across this by checking my friends of friends list.)

Aw, darn it. I quite enjoyed Gilbert & Sullivan in my youth, and should still have an LP record of John Reed's patter songs. I think that it was, in fact, a D'Oyly Carte G&S song collection, so it must've been John Reed, but without digging through the archaeological layers of stuff around here and finding the album in order to check it, I wouldn't have remembered his name. I should check those sound file links, because I'd definitely remember his voice, but am on dialup... oy.

ETA: I just went hunting on Google and dug up the exact album cover photo I remembered. The recording has been reissued on CD, "Gilbert & Sullivan: Great Patter Songs," but is only available from the UK... where I'm not. Might be worth seeing if I can order it, though.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

Damn. Thought he was immortal.

Nine

[sovay]

That phrase wins the Internets today.

Heh. Thank you!

[sovay]

One can always argue.

It was his birthday. I think you have the right to die on your birthday if you feel like it. But it still feels like losing architecture.

[sovay]

:-(

〃

[sovay]

Iolanthe was one of the first things I remember my Mom and Dad playing around the house, at least on record.

That's neat. My grandparents had the giant book of Gilbert and Sullivan libretti, which meant that I knew the lyrics and plots to most of their operettas years before I heard any of the music. Most of the songs did not sound at all as I'd imagined them . . .

One more quitting the chorus to join the Choir Invisibule.

At least they'll have awesome diction?

[sovay]

(Pardon me for intruding. I stumbled across this by checking my friends of friends list.)

(No pardon necessary. Pleased to meet you.)

I should check those sound file links, because I'd definitely remember his voice, but am on dialup... oy.

Yikes. I'm sorry. "Said I to myself, said I" is quite short, if that helps.

The recording has been reissued on CD, "Gilbert & Sullivan: Great Patter Songs," but is only available from the UK... where I'm not. Might be worth seeing if I can order it, though.

There are always secondhand shops. Best of luck!

[sovay]

Damn. Thought he was immortal.

Well, for a while, he was . . .

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

Man, John Reed has given me a lot of happy listening over the years. I'm sorry to see him go.

I like this picture of him as a sweet-faced youth:

http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/ruddigore/web_opera/pimg.htm

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

Drat it, the link seems not to work. It's the right-hand picture on this page:

http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/ruddigore/web_opera/rudd04.html

[sovay]

I like this picture of him as a sweet-faced youth

Nice. Here's his Lord Chancellor with Iolanthe (Sadler's Wells Theatre, 1977):



(Unrelatedly, found while browsing production photographs: George Grossmith as Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd (Savoy Theatre, 1887), rocking an extremely ridiculous hat.)

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

The first one sums up a lot of what I love about John Reed.

Heh, I wish I could check out George Grossmith's take on the part. He had such a rubber face (but he wasn't bad-looking, either).

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Same here. I don't have my G&S recordings anymore, so I can't check if he was on them.

[sovay]

I don't have my G&S recordings anymore, so I can't check if he was on them.

The links on this page should still work, if that will make up any of the deficit.