Day 360
Sousa: Désirée
Soloists
Pocono Pops chorus and orchestra
Jerrold Fisher
This was great fun. Sousa is of course the King of the march. I knew that he had written some light operas but this was my first chance to hear one of them. Désirée dates from 1883 and so is a relatively early work. I had expected it to be an American version of Gilbert and Sullivan but in fact it was much more reminiscent of Offenbach. Indeed it reminded me several times of the recordings of Offenbach made in English made by Sadlers Wells opera in the 1960s. There’s a bit of everything in the score. A waltz song, some patter songs, a sentimental song and some vigorous choruses. All in all great entertainment for Boxing Day. I can see it making a good end of term piece for a school or college production - I don’t think that it would work any more on a fully-professional stage.
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