Search - Reginald De Koven, Oliver, Reeder :: De Koven - Robin Hood / Ohio Light Opera

It's about time!

Stephen Peithman | Davis, CA USA | 01/11/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first great American operetta, first produced in 1891, with music by Reginald deKoven and lyrics by Harry B. Smith. DeKoven was a composer of modest gifts, and never was able to repeat the success of Robin Hood, with its breakout hits "Oh Promise Me," and "Brown October Ale." Frankly, I never expected a full-length recording of this score, but to the rescue is the Ohio Light Opera Company, which has been at the forefront of making classic American operettas available on CD. A bit creaky, but a fascinating snapshot into the early years of American musical theater."

Sound recording levels let down a good production

Paul A. Gerard | Australia | 04/20/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Note I say "good" rather than excellent. The Ohio Light Opera is when all is said and done a superior college company rather than a fully professional one. For all that, it IS a good production. The "operetta-ish" style of acting is plainly deliberate and is quite amusing, and the singing ranges from acceptable to very good indeed.



The operetta itself is a period piece - an example of what people of the late nineteeth / very early twentieth century expected to see and hear when they went to what we would call a "musical". If it sounds very like Gilbert and Sullivan, this is because it played to very much the same audience.



The Ohio Light Opera recordings (and this is a general comment, although it does, sadly, apply here) would be much better if the sound quality - especially control of levels - were improved. A sound studio is a much more appropriate place to get a decent recording than a theatre - especially one with rather poor acoustics. Why they persist with "live" recordings after so many of these have failed in the sound quality department I can't fathom.



Having said that - great fun, and De Koven's music definitely has its moments - especially the famous aria "Oh promise me". This is written to be sung by the contralto playing Alan-a-Dale, and needs a rather more "manly" delivery than it gets here. None the less, it is a lovely melody that remained popular for decades - in a way one of the first "pop-songs" in the modern sense of the word."