Five years before Edward German’s comic opera Merrie England, this Sullivan ballet score was staged at the Alhambra Theatre as part of the celebrations of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The original full score appears not to have survived. However, a complete piano reduction was published, along with an orchestral suite, and in addition Sullivan reused earlier material such as his Imperial March and music from his early ballet L’ile enchantee (already recorded on Marco Polo, 6/93). From all these sources Roderick Spencer has made this very convincing re-creation of the full score.
And very worthwhile it proves too. As the notes explain, British ballet in those days was not classical ballet as we know it today but mime-drama. Spectacle was what it was all about, and Sullivan rose to the occasion admirably. There are some most attractive passages – not only in the recycled material but also, for instance, the Solo Variation for the May Queen and perhaps above all the Waltz of Wood Nymphs, which would well repay taking over into the light music repertory. In addition Sullivan skilfully weaves in various patriotic British melodies as well as traditional dances such as a morris dance and a sailors’ hornpipe. Such pastiche is the sort of thing that Sullivan did particularly well, and Andrew Penny and the RTE Sinfonietta do the whole score proud. This is as rewarding as any of the four CDs of Sullivan without Gilbert that Marco Polo have now issued.'