Audiobook · read by volunteers
Pirates of Penzance
W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) · Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900)
Read by Henry Frigon, Alex Foster, JemmaBlythe, Catharine Eastman, Karen Savage, Ezwa, Julie VW, Kevin S. Mellis, Miriam Esther Goldman (1991-2017), BookAngel7 · 2 chapters · 1 h 37
About the book
Young Frederic has just turned twenty-one and is at last free from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates, who have never managed to be properly wicked. Eager to live as an honest man, he meets Mabel, the daughter of a very modern Major-General, and the two fall in love at once. But a strange fact about his birthday turns out to bind him to his old crew for many years more, and his sense of duty will not let him break the agreement. Add a squad of nervous policemen, a chorus of daughters and a general who has told a fib about being an orphan, and the stage is set for a brilliant comic muddle. Gilbert's words and Sullivan's tunes made this one of the best-loved comic operas in English; here it is presented in two acts by ten LibriVox volunteers over about an hour and a half.
Introduction
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911). It was first performed in 1879. It belongs to the famous series of works by the pair that came to be known as the Savoy operas.
Gilbert's trademark is the topsy-turvy premise taken seriously. Here the pirates are sentimental, the police are afraid, and a stern sense of duty creates absurd results. Sullivan's music matches the mood, from the quick patter song of the Major-General to the sweeping duets of the young lovers. The piece satirises Victorian pomp, military pride and the habit of treating rules as more important than people, but it does so with warmth.
The recording is divided into two tracks, one for each act, and lasts about 1.6 hours. The group of ten volunteers includes Henry Frigon and Alex Foster. In audio, the focus falls on the words and the comic timing.
Today the opera remains one of the most performed comic works in English. Listening is a lighthearted way to enjoy a clever libretto and to appreciate how much of the humour lives in rhythm and rhyme. Because the story is simple and the verse is catchy, it is an excellent introduction for people who think opera is forbidding. Gilbert's patter songs, with their breathless lists and rhymes, are particularly fun to follow, and the story moves along with such speed that the short running time passes quickly.
Public domain
W. S. Gilbert died in 1911: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
Sir Arthur Sullivan died in 1900: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text