Iolanthe has never achieved quite the place in the popular imagination that H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado have, but musically and dramatically it's one of Gilbert and Sullivan's most musically and dramatically integrated operettas. Sullivan's score is even more than usually tuneful, and his orchestration is particularly sparkling and inventive. The operetta receives a splendid performance by
Malcolm Sargent leading the
Pro Arte Orchestra and the
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus. The effectiveness of
Sargent's Glyndebourne recordings is inconsistent, but here the high level of musicianship that characterizes all the performances is matched by vocal characterizations with the sense of whimsy needed to make Gilbert and Sullivan really take off.
George Baker, a marvelous comedian, is particularly engaging as the Lord Chancellor, making the old curmudgeon so lovable that one can't help being delighted when he's reunited with his long-lost wife, the fairy Iolanthe, who still looks like a 17 year old. John Cameron makes a strapping Strephon, the rare Gilbert and Sullivan leading man who's a baritone. As Phyllis, his beloved,
Elsie Morison sounds too mature for the part, as she often does on the recordings in this series; Marjorie Thomas as Strephon's mother Iolanthe, sounds fresher than
Morison. Monica Sinclair is imposing as the Queen of the Fairies, but doesn't bring her usual comic incisiveness to the role. The smaller roles are all well taken; it's real luxury casting to have singers like
Owen Brannigan and
Heather Harper in the small roles of Private Willis and Leila. The chorus and orchestra perform with lilting exuberance under
Sargent's direction.