No 2 -- April 1975 Edited by Michael Walters
This marathon was fairly well attended by members from London and the branches, but there were a number of surprising absentees. The sports began, not with a wedding breakfast bee, but (fairly soon after breakfast) with a discussion on how the operas have faired since the removal of copyright. The discussion was very expertly chaired by Bill Slinn, but most of the comment from the floor was rather trivial. Colin Prestige gave a whimsically amusing lanternlecture on places in London remotely connected with G & S and the operas. After lunch, some went on a guided tour of G & S landmarks, but most stayed to look at a selection of items from the Society's archives, which included books of old press cuttings, programmes, albums of photos of original casts and casts from the turn of the century. There were many there that I had not seen. There was also a book of photos taken by Gilbert, the Victorian equivalent of tourist snaps. In the evening there was a G & S concert by Philip Potter and Jennifer Toye. The following numbers were sung: Prithee Pretty Maiden, If somebody there chanced to be, Kind sir, you cannot have the heart, Good morrow, good lover None shall part us, Is life a boon ?, Free from his fetters grim, If we're weak enough, I built upon a rock, When first my old old love, Poor wandring one, All is prepared Ah leave me not, The Battle's Roar, Love feeds, A tenor all singers above, dialogue & Refrain audacious tar, Ida was a twelvemonth old, Kissing Song, T'is done, I am a bride, The sun whose rays, Take a pair of sparkling eyes, Were you not to Koko plighted.
It was rather sad to hear the bashing that Philip Potter's voice has taken over the years. Much of the sweet tone had gone, he had a habit of blasting on top notes and there was a perfect cascade of intrusive Hs. Nothing, however, could ever, one feels, damp the infectious charm which was always such a feature of his performances. Jennifer Toye seemed to have a bad cold, for she cracked badly in a number of places, her rendering of "Poor Wand'ring One", in particular was a minor disaster. Both of them were in much better voice after the interval (which came before "The Battles Roar"), and Philip's rendering of "A tenor all singers above" was probably about the best I have ever heard. His "Kissing Song" more than made up for what it lacked in vocal virtuosity by sheer exuberance and witty nuance. I should have said that the second half of the afternoon consisted of the celebration of TRIAL'S centenary by an indifferent performance of the same preceeded by an interesting short talk about the opera by Leslie Weaver. It was a pity that the Conference was not up to the standard of the previous ones at Liverpool and Manchester. MICHAEL WALTERS
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