Genres Light opera Genre Easy listening | Years active 2008 Origin England, United Kingdom | |
Members Sally Johnson, Elinor Moran, Hannah Pedley, Jonathan Prentice, Richard Knight Record label Sony BMG Music Entertainment Albums Golden Piano Treasures, The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan Similar D'Oyly Carte Opera Co, William Schwenck Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, Gilbert and Sullivan | ||
The Gala Ensemble are a British group of five opera singers formed by SonyBMG in 2008 to record and perform the works of Gilbert & Sullivan. Their repertoire includes songs from The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore and The Mikado.
Contents
The ensemble consists of Sally Johnson (soprano), Elinor Moran (soprano), Hannah Pedley (mezzo-soprano), Jonathan Prentice (baritone) and Richard Knight (tenor). The musical director is Marcus Marriott. The group were assembled by Sony Records, which released their first recording, The Best Of Gilbert & Sullivan, on 24 November 2008.
Members of the group
Sally Johnson was born in Liverpool and grew up in Penrith.
Elinor Moran (born 1980) from Stoke-on-Trent, England, was a student at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester before moving to London to study voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is also a member of the touring troupe Mid Wales Opera and a singing coach. This is her first recording.
Hannah Pedley was born in Leeds and teaches singing at the Royal Ballet School.
Jonathan Prentice from Bournemouth has performed regularly as a principal with the Candlelight Opera Company in productions such as Don Giovanni and Rigoletto. Prentice appears on the recording A Christmas Choral Spectacular.
Richard Knight from Lichfield trained at the Birmingham Conservatoire.
Marcus Marriott is the musical director.
The Best of Gilbert and Sullivan
Sony BMG released the Gala Ensemble's first recording, The Best Of Gilbert & Sullivan, on 24 November 2008. Several previous compilation recordings by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and others have been called The Best of Gilbert and Sullivan including a Sony Classical Records release in 2000.
The disc has 15 tracks and a running time of 36 minutes. To promote the album the Gala Ensemble performed on The Alan Titchmarsh Show and BBC Breakfast News on 12 November 2008.
Critical reception
Few newspapers have reviewed the album. The online edition of the Leicester Mercury concluded, "I don't think this album will attract many G&S converts, and seasoned buffs will probably just dust off their original recordings." The review at A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography said: "This is not an updating of these pieces, it is a bastardisation. This recording deserves outright condemnation ... support for this disc is support for the end of live G and S as we know it. It sets a precedent that electronic falsifications of this music are acceptable.
The album appeared at the launch of The Specialist Classical Chart in the UK for the week commencing 25 January 2009. It became the first #1 ranked album on the chart.
Track listing
Songs
When I Was a Lad1994
Oh - Is There Not One Maiden Breast1994
Napoleon's Last ChargeGolden Piano Treasures · 2014