HMV Album Cover

Background

This recording was the fifth in a series that HMV recorded with D'Oyly Carte co-operation, beginning in 1917 with the The Mikado. ter the first two recordings of the series, HMV auditioned several D'Oyly Carte artists and found that only one, Derek Oldham, had a voice suitable for the gramophone. Oldham was therefore included in the third and fourth recordings of the series, while all the other roles were cast from HMV's own stable of singers. Patience however, was not an opera Oldham ever performed with D'Oyly Carte, so HMV simply reverted to the policy of using their own soloists exclusively (the last time they would do so).

Rupert D'Oyly Carte's involvement was not purely nominal. He had veto authority over individual "takes," and even singers. ter most of the opera was recorded, in January of 1921, Carte found many of the sides objectionable, leading to two more extensive recording sessions in June. Among Carte's objections was Robert Radford's Grosvenor, so he was replaced with Frederick Ranalow, and all sides that included Radford were re-done. Ranalow is a rather poor Grosvenor, so one scarcely imagines what Radford's must have been like.

"78s 2 CD" GS04

Carte evidently did not care for Peter Dawson's Colonel either, but HMV was able to persuate him to allow Dawson's performance to stand. To be sure, his Colonel lacks the patina of traditional D'Oyly Carte basses, but Dawson was one of the more popular recording artists of the day, and there is much virtuosity to admire in his reading of the part.

Edna Thornton is a sumptuous Lady Jane, arguably the best on record (despite never having played the role on stage). The other ladies are less appealing. Violet Essex has something of a cult following, but I find her Patience a bit forced, particularly in Act I. Nellie Walker's Angela is undistinguished.

Two D'Oyly Carte tenors, Harold Wilde and Walter Glynne, sang in the chorus. However, Francis does not mention these, saying only that, on side 14, the chorus was Essex, Jones, Baselow, Walker, Thornton, and Heyl. On the flyle of Peter Parker's set, Wilde, Glynne, Ruby Heyl and Edward Halland are credited with "short solos." But, on the record labels, the only side crediting Heyl is s. 14, which has no female solos. Wilde and Glynne are not credited on any side. Halland is credited on s. 17 ("If Saphir I choose to marry"). This side was likely a re-do. Presumably, Peter Dawson was unavailable, and Halland sang the Colonel's one line in that song.

In summary, this recording will not be anyone's first-choice Patience. There are a number of appealing sides, but the quality of the performances varies widely. It is of considerable historical interest, but most listeners will look elsewhere for a performance of more uniform delight.

The Text

Chris Webster listened through the entire recording with a modern Chappell vocal score in hand and reports that the cuts are as follows:

Act One

• Overture — There is a cut in the middle section from 16 ter B to 14 ter D inclusive. This makes an easy join from bars B15 to D15.
• No 2a (reprise of "Twenty love-sick maidens we") — omitted
• No 4 ("In a doleful train") — First 8 bars omitted
• No 4a (reprise of "Twenty love-sick maidens we") — omitted
• No 7 ("Long years ago") — First (or second, take your pick) bar omitted; orchestral play off omitted
• No 8a (reprise of Patience/Grosvenor duet) — omitted
• Finale — Bar D1 (or D2) omitted; orchestral play off omitted

Act Two

• No 1 ("Turn, oh turn in this direction") — omitted
• No 5 ("Love is a plaintive song") — Orchestral link between verses omitted; same bars used as play off are also omitted
• No 6 ("So go to him and say to him") — As with previous item the orchestral link between verses is omitted, and the same bars used as a play off are also omitted
• Nos 9 and 10 ("When I go out of door" and "I'm a Waterloo House young man") are made into one item by joining the penultimate bar of the duet to bar 20 of the reprise, thus omitting the final chords of the duet and the opening 19 bars of the reprise.
• Fanfare — omitted.

Michael Walters pointed out that #2a, #4a, and #8a in Act I, and #1 in Act II, were not present in the older Chappell scores that would have been in use at the time of this recording. The bar at D1 of the Act I finale is also absent in older scores.

The CD Re-Issue

Chris Webster has prepared a digital transfer to CD, using modern technlology to eliminate much of the background crackle and hiss present on even the best surviving copies of the original discs.

This recording was never before issued on LP or CD, so there are no other efforts to compare it with. However, Webster's transfer certainly improves on the 1970s Pearl LP re-issues of several other acoustical recordings. The voices have an immediacy that one would search for in vain in the original pressings.

Just to bring that point home, Webster includes a brief bonus track at the end, with a bit of the original recording unenhanced. The CD also comes with Michael Walters's encyclopedic liner notes. Anyone interested in historical recordings will find this transfer indispensable.