Thomas Round - Recordings and Filmography

Recordings and Filmography

In 1958, June Bronhill and Round recorded The Merry Widow for HMV. The Gramophone described his Danilo as "first class ... with a fresh youthful voice and an easy and appropriately racy style." This was followed by Lilac Time released in 1960.

With the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Decca Records, Round recorded Hilarion (1955), Frederic (1958), Nanki-Poo (1958), Ralph Rackstraw (1960), Tolloller (1960), Marco (1961), Richard Dauntless (1962), the Defendant (1964), and Captain Fitzbattleaxe in Utopia Limited (1964 excerpts). In 2008 the critic of The Gramophone, John Steane, wrote that, of Gilbert and Sullivan tenors, Round was "surely the best we've had."

In the 1970s, Round also recorded and filmed his roles with Gilbert and Sullivan for All. These were complete recordings of Trial by Jury and Cox and Box, and potted excerpts (as much as would fit on two sides of an LP record) of seven others, which have since been reissued on CD. In 1996, when the Gilbert and Sullivan for All films were reissued on video by the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, Round recorded introductions for each. The Gilbert and Sullivan for All team also recorded a miscellaneous LP, including Valerie Masterson and Gillian Knight as Princesses Nekaya and Kalyba in an excerpt from Utopia, Limited, and Round as Antonio in The Gondoliers. With Donald Adams, he recorded a musical documentary, The Story of Gilbert & Sullivan, written by Dr. Thomas Heric. He also made two recordings of lesser-known Sullivan music.

For Pearl Records, Round recorded a collection of Victorian ballads, which was chosen by The Times as one of the "Critics' choice, records of the year" for 1974, an eclectic collection, Songs You Love (1976), and he participated in a recording of Edwardian music. In 2008, he released a CD of twelve Irish songs called Thomas Round sings Irish Songs, recorded when he was principal tenor with Sadler's Wells Opera.

Round's filmography is as follows:

• 1953 : The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan: Defendant in Trial by Jury
• 1955 : La Traviata (TV): Armand
• 1955 : The Bartered Bride (TV): Jeník
• 1958 : The Merry Widow (TV): Count Danilo Danilovitch
• 1972 : The Yeomen of the Guard (TV): Col. Fairfax / 1996 video presenter
• 1972 : Trial by Jury (TV): The Defendant / 1997 Video Presenter
• 1972 : Ruddigore (TV): Richard Dauntless / 1997 Video Presenter
• 1972 : The Pirates of Penzance (TV): Frederic / 1996 Video Presenter
• 1972 : The Mikado (TV): Nanki-Poo / Video Presenter 1997
• 1972 : Iolanthe (TV): Earl Tolloller / 1997 Video Presenter
• 1972 : H.M.S. Pinafore (TV): Ralph Rackstraw / 1996 Video Presenter
• 1972 : The Gondoliers (TV): Marco Palmieri / Video Presenter
• 2000 : Trial by Jury (TV): The Defendant
• 2000 : Together Again: A Tribute to Kenneth Sandford, John Reed, and Thomas Round (video). Round acted as a presenter and performed excerpts of the following roles: Richard Dauntless, Nanki-Poo, Tolloller, Count Danilo, Marco.