The Gala Ensemble | |
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Origin | United Kingdom |
Genres | Light opera |
Years active | 2008 |
Labels | Sony BMG |
Members | Sally Johnson, Elinor Moran, Hannah Pedley, Jonathan Prentice, Richard Knight |
The Gala Ensemble were a British group of five opera singers formed by SonyBMG in 2008 that recorded an album of selections from the works of Gilbert & Sullivan, such as The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore and The Mikado.
The ensemble consisted of Sally Johnson ( soprano), Elinor Moran (soprano), Hannah Pedley ( mezzo-soprano), Jonathan Prentice ( baritone) and Richard Knight ( tenor). The musical director was Marcus Marriott. The group were assembled by Sony Records, which released their recording, The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan, in 2008. [1]
Sally Johnson was born in Liverpool and grew up in Penrith. [2]
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 was also a member of the touring troupe Mid Wales Opera and a singing coach. [3] [4]
Hannah Pedley was born in Leeds and taught singing at the Royal Ballet School. [5]
Jonathan Prentice from Bournemouth performed as a principal with the Candlelight Opera Company in productions such as Don Giovanni [6] and Rigoletto. Prentice appeared on the recording A Christmas Choral Spectacular. [7]
Richard Knight from Lichfield trained at the Birmingham Conservatoire.
Marcus Marriott was the musical director.
Sony BMG released the Gala Ensemble's recording, The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan, on 24 November 2008. [8] 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. [9]
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 on 12 November 2008. [10]
Few newspapers reviewed the album. The review in 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." [11] The review at the 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. [12]
The album appeared at the launch of The Specialist Classical Chart in the UK for the week commencing 25 January 2009. [13] It became the first No. 1 ranked album on the chart. [14]