Students sing on world premiére Naxos recording

Naxos has released its world premiére recording of Alfred Cellier’s operetta Dorothy, featuring RNCM vocal students and alumni.

With the exception of the title character, all roles in the operetta were performed by John Ieuan Jones, Michael Jones, Sebastian Maclaine, Stephanie Maitland, Matt Mears, Patrick Relph, Edward Robinson and Lucy Vallis, accompanied by a chorus of RNCM singers and the Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra.

With its rural tale of disguise and romantic scheming, its jaunty tunes, lively characters and farcical comedy, Dorothy has been almost entirely forgotten today. It had the longest run of any 19th-century piece of musical theatre, seeing off The Mikado and Ruddigore, and became such a popular hit in its day that the box office profits were able to fund the building of the Lyric Theatre on London’s Shaftsbury Avenue.

The CD was recorded in the Carole Nash Recital Room with Kevin Thraves, Deputy Head of Opera, as Chorus Master. The Piccadily Symphony Orchestra comprises numerous RNCM alumni and was conducted, on this occasion, by Richard Bonynge.

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14 January 2019