The most readily distinguishing feature of this second new Yeoman within the year is the inclusion of dialogue for the first time on disc. Before admirers of Gilbert get too excited, though, it should be stated that it is given in much abridged form. From a musico-dramatic point of view this must surely be the most sensible way to present Gilbert and Sullivan on disc, and Philips are to be commended for being the first company to take the plunge. However, the pruning of dialogue to a minimum means that what is deleted is inevitably Gilbert's more discursive, more idiosyncratic, more essentially Gilbertian contributions.
Musical virtues indeed are what are uppermost in the recording. In the choral numbers, in the substantial orchestral passages, and in ensemble numbers such as ''When a wooer goes a wooing'', the result is sheer delight and has the edge over the recent TER version. The qualities of vocalism throughout the set are predictably high. Especially agreeable are Bryn Terfel's softly etched, richly sung gaoler Shadbolt and Thomas Allen's deftly humourous jester. Their ''Here at once we're both agreed'' is quite splendid, though Allen's spoken accent tends at times to become a shade distracting.
It is indeed in the way the text is spoken and the way that this new recording comes across as a dramatic whole that doubts must rest. The disguised Fairfax may claim that he loves Elsie madly, passionately, but he might almost as well be saying that the Tower of London closes to the public at 6pm. It is the same in the musical numbers. Phoebe's ''When maiden loves'' seems too quick to bring out the essence of her lovesick sighing; and, richly sung as Anne Collins's Dame Carruthers is, it misses out on verbal expression to the TER version. Indeed the curious paradox is that the TER, which excludes the dialogue, sounds more convincingly theatrical than this new Philips, which includes it.
The good news is that the catalogue now includes three excellent Yeoman, each with its own claim to precedence. The TER offers a musically more than complete, dramatically convincing version; the ageing, but admirable Decca version under Sargent has Trial by Jury as a generous fill-up; and this new Philips, as well as offering at least some of the dialogue, also offers perhaps unparalleled qualities of musicianship as well as excellently clear sound.'