Topsy-Turvy - The Music of Gilbert & Sullivan: From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Review
Album NotesMusic composed by Carl Davis.Personnel: Carl Davis (conductor); Dorothy Atkinson, Eleanor David, Vincent Franklin, Louise Gold, Shirley Henderson, Kevin McKidd, Cathy Sara, Martin Savage, Michael Simkins, Timothy Spall (vocals); Kacey Ainsworth, Lorraine Brunning, Rosie Cavaliero, Michelle Chadwick, Debbie Chazen, Heather Craney, Monica Dolan, Sophie Duval, Anna Francolini, Teresa Gallagher, Sarah Howe, Ashley Jensen, Julie Jupp, Gemma Page, Mary Roscoe, Nicola Wainwright, Angie Wallis, Ashley Artus, Richard Attlee, Paul Barnhill, Mark Benton, Nicholas Boulton, simon Butteriss, Wayne Cater, Richard Coyle, Paul Rider, Steven Spiers, Kevin Walton, John Warnaby, Stefan Bednarczyk, Tom Fahy, John Griffiths, Paul Leonard (background vocals).Recorded at Angel Studios & CTS Read more...
Topsy-Turvy - The Music of Gilbert & Sullivan: From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Specifications
The producers of Mike Leigh's vibrant Topsy-Turvy took many big studio meetings seeking financing for their film. Word has it all went swimmingly until time for the pitch came--there are apparently no two words as unsettling to Hollywood film execs as "Gilbert & Sullivan." But the studio system's loss turned out to be the indie film's--and our--gain. Leigh's film brought the composers' late-19th-century mounting of their breakthrough The Mikado to an all-too-familiar life, filled with as many neuroses, foibles, and fragile egos as any modern Broadway musical. The film's score, an inviting pastiche adapted from Mikado (and other G&S staples) by veteran Carl Davis, may upset purists with its time-conscious liberties. But then, it might just win over a receptive yet unexposed new audience for whom this music may seem strangely familiar, as well it should: this is where modern musical theater began. --Jerry McCulley
