Plague and the Moonflower Signed by Ralph Steadman

Plague and the Moonflower is an oratorio commissioned in 1989 from Richard Harvey to a libretto by Ralph Steadman. The first recording was made in 1999 with actor Ben Kingsley narrating and John Williams on guitar. A personalized copy of the CD recently offered on eBay is elaborately inscribed and decorated by Mr. Steadman in orange ink.

The 1999 CD recording of Richard Harvey's oratorio Plague and the Moonflower (1989)

Inscribed "8 June 99/For Margaret/for a long stay. Love Ralph Steadman" with a drawing of a face

eBay Listing Ended August 8, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RALPH-STEADMAN-PLAGUE-and-the-MOON-FLOWERS-SIGNED-Dedicated-with-DRAWING-RARE-/291834662816?hash=item43f2b38fa0%3Ag%3AGw0AAOSwARZXn4yv&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

eBay Item Description

eBay Bid History
One bid in the last fifteen minutes of the auction

1. Prologue

2. Intrada

3. River Stories

4. Deserts of the Nile

5. A Child's Carol

6. Demon Dance

7. Plague Lives!

8. Ancient Lands

9. The Master Builders

10. The Plague and the Moonflower, Title Movement (Part 1)

10. The Plague and the Moonflower, Title Movement (Part 2)

11. Chorale and Epilogue

12. Finale—Rejouissance!

Note:  I haven't heard this CD, but I was intrigued enough to hunt down all the separate movements on YouTube. If anyone would care to lend me a signed copy of the CD, I'll be happy to give it a hearing.

Did I mention that Ralph Steadman is first and foremost an illustrator? "A Retrospective: Ralph Steadman" is currently on view in New York at the Society of Illustrators.

I'm always looking for books—or CDs for that matter—that have been signed, sketched in, besplotched, or otherwise decorated by Ralph Steadman. Why not send me a snapshot of what you have. Those of you who remember CDs will know what a snapshot is.


Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

Ralph Steadman

The Society of Illustrators

Oratorios

Signed Books or Even CDs with Original Drawings or Sketches

Attempted Bloggery's Tone Deaf Index

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Album Review: Gilbert & Sullivan's "Patience" (1951)

Gilbert & Sullivan: "Patience," 

Isidore Godfrey, conductor, D'Oyly Carte Opera Chorus and Orchestra, 1951
Naxos

This 1951 recording of "Patience" presents D'Oyly Carte's old guard in their final recording. Better to seek out the later 1961 D'Oyly Carte version, which is a far more compelling choice and includes dialogue.

Note: The four most recent posts here also feature my reviews of various recordings of Arthur Sullivan's music. Yesterday's post discusses the Ohio Light Opera's 1999 recording of "Princess Ida."

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Album Review: Ohio Light Opera's "Princess Ida" (Thompson, 1999)

Gilbert & Sullivan:  "Princess Ida" 

Ohio Light Opera,  J. Lynn Thompson, conductor, 1999

I've enjoyed the music to Gilbert & Sullivan's Princess Ida for over 30 years now, although until recently I did not own a recording of it. In retrospect, that oversight is pretty odd, and I've never really been able to explain my reticence given the delightful score. Back in 1981, I listened to the charming if imperfect 1955 D'Oyly Carte recording in anticipation of what turned out to be a wonderful production in Binghamton, New York. I've also seen it performed by the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players featuring John Reed as King Gama shortly after the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's untimely demise. Today I own D'Oyly-Carte's uneven 1965 recording as well. For those Gilbert and Sullivan fans who aren't familiar with "Princess Ida," definitely seek it out in some form.

"Princess Ida" is the only G&S opera in three acts. Gilbert's target, on the surface, is women's education, but his real criticism of Castle Adamant seems to be that it is an obstacle to mating! Fair enough. I've always found Ida herself to be a cold and unsympathetic character, perhaps as a result of the inadequate Ida on the 1955 recording. Much of the music is just grand, though. "For a Month to Dwell" at the close of Act 1, for example, has long been a favorite of mine.

Ohio Light Opera's recording is from its 1999 production. It includes dialogue, which in this case is Gilbert's venture into blank verse. It's a reasonably good recording, although overall, I don't feel the voice characterizations live up to those of D'Oyly Carte's golden age. Alas, Princess Ida is still waiting for a really first-rate recording.


Note: The three most recent posts here and one newer one also featured my reviews of various recordings of Arthur Sullivan's music. In fact, yesterday's post reviews D'Oyly Carte's 1965 recording of "Princess Ida."

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Album Review: Gilbert & Sullivan: "Cox and Box;" "Trial by Jury"

 
Gilbert & Sullivan: "Cox and Box;" "Trial by Jury"

Richard Hickox, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Chandos, 2005

New recordings of "Cox and Box" don't come along all that often. This one-act, three-man score is probably fairly well known to Gilbert & Sullivan fans. The libretto is by F. C. Burnand, not Gilbert, after the stage farce "Box and Cox" by J. Maddison Morton. Whatever professional aspirations Sullivan may have had, it's clear that he was born to write comic opera, and the music here is really a notch or two better than what the material deserves.

This 2005 recording is by Richard Hickox with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. It has some new linking dialogue that is not authentic and, I would suggest, not that helpful. It also boasts that it is the premier recording of the original orchestration, which I suppose raises the question of what orchestration the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was using in its recordings. It's no secret that D'Oyly Carte edited the score of Cox and Box, among other operettas, with a fairly heavy hand, but their recording is very enjoyable and every syllable is absolutely clear, something the present recording can't claim. I'd give D'Oyly Carte's last version of 1978, the one I am familiar with, the edge over this one, authentic orchestration notwithstanding. Still, I don't understand why anyone, yesterday or today, would record this piece without the clever gambling duet. I suppose we'll have to wait some time for a truly complete recording.

"Trial by Jury" is the second piece on the disc. This is a true Gilbert & Sullivan collaboration, their first real commercial success. It's really always great to listen to this in any version, but I have to recommend once again a D'Oyly Carte recording, perhaps one with John Reed as the Judge. In this case, it's the centenary recording of 1975 with which I am most familiar, and I would rate it more highly than this one.

Note: The most recent post prior to this one (and three newer posts) also featured my reviews of various recordings of Arthur Sullivan's music. In yesterday's post I review a 2000 recording by Richard Hickox with the BBC Philharmonic of Sullivan's orchestral music.

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