Sunday Afternoon at the Opera - Sullivan: Trial by Jury

Sunday Afternoon at the Opera host, Keith Brown, writes:

This Sunday your "lyric theater" program takes part in WWUH's annual week of intensive on-air fundraising. Now is the moment to show your support with dollars for more than three decades of Sunday Afternoon at the Opera. My program carries forward into the twenty first century a longstanding tradition of Sunday opera programming at 91.3 FM going way back to 1970 with the broadcasts of my predecessor in the timeslot, Joseph S. Terzo. Help maintain that unbroken tradition by phoning in your pledge. I'll be going on mic at certain points during the afternoon to urge you listeners to pick up the phone and dial the Marathon 2015 pledge hotline: 860-768-4009 or toll free 1-800-444-9984. (Also pledge online at wwuhpledge.org.) You faithful listeners have never failed to help us meet or even exceed our fundraising goals in Marathons past, so I thank you in advance for your generosity.

Unfortunately, there's a possibility that my Marathon fundraising pitch will be cut short or preempted altogether by broadcast of a women's basketball tournament game. As for the music you'll hear, I will dispense with the religious works I usually feature at this time of year in favor of lighter-weight, more popular lyric theatrical fare. Listen for Gilbert and Sullivan's Dramatic Cantata in one act Trial by Jury (1871) in a 2005 Chandos recording that I have featured once before. The late Richard Hickox directs the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Chamber Choir of the Welsh College of Music and Drama. I'm presenting Trial by Jury now in advance of its upcoming staged production by Simsbury Light Opera Company, March 21st, 22nd, 28th, and 29th.

I've broadcast interviews with members of SLOCO over the years, notably veteran singing actress, Pat Edge, and stage director, Ron Luchsinger. In 2015 SLOCO celebrates its 70th anniversary as a G & S dedicated musical organization. Time permitting, selections from the G & S canon of comic operas will follow the airing of Trial by Jury, plus some less familiar music of Sir Arthur Sullivan.