Lionel Monckton: The Arcadians

Lionel Monckton: The Arcadians

Lionel Monckton: The Arcadians
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CD Details

Composer: Lionel Monckton
Orchestra: Ohio Light Opera Orchestra
Performer: John Miller
Performer: Buck Hujabre
Performer: Caroline Taylor
Performer: Amy Warchol
Performer: Suzanne Woods
Performer: Julie Wright
Performer: Daniel Neer
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1999-06-15
Music Label: Newport Classic
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. The Arcadians, operetta
  2. The Arcadians, operetta
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Music CD 2
  1. The Arcadians, operetta
  2. The Arcadians, operetta
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Music reviews of Lionel Monckton: The Arcadians

Music Review: A wonderful romp - let down by poor mike placement!
Rating: 3 Stars

Around the turn of the (last) century popular musical theatre was in transition, changing from the "comic opera" (basically, operetta!) of Gilbert and Sullivan and their contemporaries towards the "musical comedy" of the twenties and thirties. Lots of early musicals "sit in the middle" as it were. The Arcadians is unique in that up to the interval it is one thing, and after it is definitely the other!

The storyline is basically a satire on missionary activity. A middle-aged London caterer called James Smith crashes his aeroplane (VERY up-to-date - this is 1909!) in a land called Arcadia: which Father Time has forgotten, and where nymphs and shepherds spend their time dancing and playing pan pipes. The Arcadians are shocked by Smith's moral standards - especially his propensity to tell lies, so he is pushed down a fairy well from which he emerges as "Simplicitas", restored to his lost youth. The one drawback is that if he ever tells another lie he will revert to his former middle-aged self. It is resolved that he will undertake a missionary journey back to London with two Arcadian maidens - with the aim of converting the inhabitants to an upright, truthful way of life, and making London into an Arcadian paradise.

So much for Act 1 - the music for which has been, as is fitting, just a little old-fashioned and "operetta-like". Acts 2 and 3 are set in London, and are very much in "musical comedy" style - the influence of the London music halls is paramount. To cut a long story short, the task of "converting" London proves hopeless - and Simplicitas, after all kinds of devices by which he struggles not to tell a lie finally does tell one and goes back to being James Smith. Which is probably just as well, since his wife has fallen in love with "Simplicitas".

This is a musically charming and very amusing little "proto-musical". It was a great hit when it first came out, many of its numbers becoming musical hall "standards", and surviving for decades as much sung "popular songs". The performances on this recording are on a par with this essentially amateur company's standards (i.e. a bit uneven, but generally very acceptable). We also get everything - all the music, and most, at least, of the dialogue. This is, then, the only available recording of several of the numbers.

So why, after all, only three stars? Sadly the sound quality is in places really dreadful. The recording was made during an actual performance, with the audience being asked to be quiet, (although they chuckle a little at some of the jokes). The microphones seem to have been set up on the stage itself, alas - and some character's voices end up much louder than others, while there is also a good deal of stage noise (people's feet as they clomp about, for instance) that we don't really need. This could have been so much better done properly, in a decent studio. Considering the high price it is really too bad that it wasn't done that way.
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