TOPSY-TURVY: SOUNDTRACK

I AM THE VERY MODEL OF A G&S ENTHUSIAST
(by B.S. Green . . . with apologies to W.S. Gilbert)

I am the very model of a G&S enthusiast
Of comic opera critics I would be among the choosiest
I quote from Gilbert’s rhyming couplets structured in iambic feet
And worship Sully’s melodies with fervent and fanatic heat
I know The Savoy’s history, built at the whim of D’oyly Carte
I hum the notes with which each G&S song does adroitly start

I’m very well acquainted with their parodies of madrigals
And heroines of royalty who simply are not ‘daddies’ girls’
I dance around my kitchen citing Princess Ida just in fun
I’m writing up a thesis on the overtures of Sullivan
I venerate the patter songs and stories so elliptical
The sharp bon mots from Gilbert’s pen – I love their wit, satirical

So reader you can safely treat my review with dependency
I give this CD full support without the need for clemency
Carl Davis has conducted with a sureness that reserves respect
This CD is Antithesis to any that deserves neglect
The vocalists performances are peerless, ‘specially Savage, M.
I have no time for any critic who would dare to savage them
Director Leigh admits the greatest challenge lay with choice of songs
And in the most he worthily has made a choice devoid of wrongs
But while I’m empathetic with the need for practicality
There is one song whose presence was required by popularity
It seems to me an oversight that could be classed as criminal
That no excuse was found to include Modern Major General.

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TITLE: Topsy-Turvy

ID: SK 61834
Sony Classical

COMPOSER: Gilbert and Sullivan

CONDUCTOR/ARRANGER: Carl Davis

FEATURED ARTISTS: Martin Savage, Dorothy Atkinson, Shirley Henderson, Eleanor David, Ian Balmain, Kevin McKidd, Michael Simkins

TRACKS: 19

	"I had a middle class, suburban upbringing - which I loathed. I kept my sanity by watching old Hollywood movies on the tv, where everyone was beautiful and had great emotions, and all the staircases had 400 steps." -New Zealander Martin Wells, co-writer, co-director of Desperate Remedies
The World of Film in Australia - on the Internet	Updated Tuesday December 3, 2019