LibriVox recording of The Pirates of Penzance by William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan.

The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, and the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic finds out, however, that he was born on 29 February, and so, technically, he only has a birthday each leap year. His apprenticeship indentures state that he remains apprenticed to the pirates until his 21st birthday, and so he must serve for another 63 years. Bound by his own sense of duty, Frederic's only solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Cast
Narrator: Julie VW
Frederic: Karen Savage
Pirate King: StephenC
Samuel: Phil Chenevert
Ruth: Liberty Stump
Major-General Stanley: Kevin S. Mellis
Mabel: Catherine Eastman
Edith: BookAngel7
Kate: Ezwa
Isabel: JemmaBlythe
Sergeant of Police: John Fricker

Chorus:
Alex Foster
BookAngel7
Catherine Eastman
Ezwa
Fred DeBerardinis
Helen Song
Henry Frigon
Jane Smith
JemmaBlythe
John Fricker
Karen Savage
Liberty Stump
Miriam Esther Goldman
StephenC
ToddHW

For further information, including links to online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording.

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M4B format available


This audio is part of the collection: The LibriVox Free Audiobook Collection
It also belongs to collections: Audio Books & Poetry; Community Audio

Artist/Composer: William S. Gilbert
Date: 2012-05-04
Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text
Keywords: librivox; audiobooks; operetta; musical; singing

Creative Commons license: Public Domain Mark 1.0

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Reviewer: benefitsingers - - June 12, 2012
Subject: Quite fun
This is one of the most interesting recordings I have listened to. It was very entertaining and the singing was very good. I imagine a lot of work went in to this. I would love to see more of these. How about the H.M.S. Pinafore next! Thank you to all the volunteers who worked on this.

I Love Bookworm's comments! I love Librivox!

Reviewer: TheBookworm - - June 10, 2012
Subject: Pirates rule!
Is there anything more British than The P of P?

In plot devices that are silly, silly, silly, Pirates makes fun of the sacred cows of 19th century British establishment, as well as the absurdity of its own hero -- and that's why its humour has survived.

There's not a weak performer in the entire recording. But my highest praise goes to Mabel sung by high soprano Catherine Eastman. Her "Poor Wandering One" is just brilliant. The staccati high As and that big high E flat were spot on -- well done Catherine!

This must have been a massive effort to coordinate. Many thanks to Kristin Hughes and Karen Savage for their (ahem) unsung efforts. If LibriVox isn't the best example of crowdsourcing on the Web... well, I'll eat my hat.

TheBookworm (Manchester, UK)

Reviewer: mikezane - - May 4, 2012
Subject: Download and listen!!!!
This is probably one of the most AMAZING LV projects I have heard. We are all familiar with the Pirates in some way, having heard excerpts of the 'modern major general' or other pieces, but to hear the wonderful voices of the volunteers doing the entire opera is just WOW! No other way to describe it.

Special props to Karen for all her hard work on this project. Thanks!