Arthur Sullivan & W.S.Gilbert - The Yeomen of the Guard (1993 Marriner recording) - No. 2. "Though tear and long-drawn sigh" & "The prisoner comes to meet his doom" (Kurt Streit, Thomas Allen, Sylvia McNair, Jean Rigby, Bryn Terfel)

I'm more and more falling under the spell of the topsy-turvydoom of the British power duo, Gilbert & Sullivan, especially after hearing "The Yeomen of the Guard", possibly, their best, most openly operatic and less topsy-turvy work. A thorough libretto can be found here: http://www.karadar.com/Librettos/sullivan_YEOMEN.html No. 10 (noted are the order in which the pieces appear in the opera). Aria - "Though tear and long-drawn sigh". Elsie has but one aria in the work but it is one of the more intense pieces: Elsie has just been married to Fairfax and laments the fact that her married life will be all too brief, as she is completely sure that her groom will not live through the night. As most of Sullivan's ballads, the piece is given in couplet form but a wonderful crescendo of sound and emotion is achieved (particularly, in the use of rising string figures), thus a simple song is made into a true rise of feeling. No. 11. Finale (only half of the finale is presented to save some time) - "The prisoner comes to meet his doom". The original finale is actually seventeen minutes long, including a lengthy ensemble, as the Yeomen greet "Leonard" (Fairfax in disguise). The presented piece starts midway through the finale, as the tower bells toll, announcing the beginning of the execution. A chorus of common people begins to sing a solemn prayer which is then elaborated by the additional of Elsie's voice to the morning music. Just as the prisoner is supposed to enter, the music changes its' direction, as Fairfax and the two yeomen sing a furiously confused couplet, narrating the absence of Fairfax himself (with all the cast and the whole chorus adding their voices to the repeat). A number of phrases/reactions to the occurrence is then given, with a special place given to Point's lightning-fast verse where he tries to dismiss the possibility that Elsie's husband is still alive, making his prospects rather slim. Here is a list of performers who appear in these selections: Robert Lloyd - Sir Richard Cholmondley, Kurt Streit - Colonel Fairfax, Stafford Dean - Sergeant Meryll, Thomas Allen Jack Point, Neil Mackie - First Yeoman, Anthony Michaels-Moore - Second Yeoman, Bryn Terfel - Wilfred Shadbolt, Sylvia McNair - Elsie Maynard, Jean Rigby - Phoebe Meryll, Anne Collins - Dame Carruthers. Hope you'll enjoy :)!