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EspañolSAVOY OPERA
1881 Programme for ''Patience''
Gilbert, Sullivan, Carte, and other Victorian era British composers, librettists and producers,[1] as well as the contemporary British press and literature, called works of this kind 'comic operas' to distinguish their content and style from that of the continental European operettas that they wished to displace. Most of the published literature on Gilbert and Sullivan since that time refers to these works as 'Savoy Operas,' 'comic operas', or both.[2] However, the ''Penguin Opera Guides'' and many other general music dictionaries and encyclopedias classify the Gilbert and Sullivan works as operetta.[3]
''Patience'' (1881) was the first opera to appear at the Savoy Theatre, and thus, in a strict sense, the first true "Savoy Opera" — although the term "Savoy Opera" has always included the complete set of thirteen operas that Gilbert and Sullivan wrote for Richard D'Oyly Carte:
:''Trial by Jury'' (1875)
:''The Sorcerer'' (1877)
:''H.M.S. Pinafore'', or ''The Lass that Loved a Sailor'' (1878)
:''The Pirates of Penzance'', or ''The Slave of Duty'' (1880)
:''Patience'', or ''Bunthorne's Bride'' (1881)
:''Iolanthe'', or ''The Peer and the Peri'' (1882)
:''Princess Ida'', or ''Castle Adamant'' (1884)
:''The Mikado'', or ''The Town of Titipu'' (1885)
:''Ruddigore'', or ''The Witch's Curse'' (1887)
:''The Yeomen of the Guard'', or ''The Merryman and his Maid'' (1888)
:''The Gondoliers'', or ''The King of Barataria'' (1889)
:''Utopia Limited'', or ''The Flowers of Progress'' (1893)
:''The Grand Duke'', or ''The Statutory Duel'' (1896)
| Contents |
| Other definitions |
| Complete list |
| Companion pieces |
| Notes |
| References |
| Further reading |
| External links |
Other definitions
c.1881 Savoy Theatre
During the years when the Gilbert and Sullivan (“G&S”) operas were being written, Richard D'Oyly Carte produced operas by other composer–librettist teams, either as curtain-raisers to the G&S pieces, or to fill the theatre when no G&S piece was available. To their contemporaries, the term "Savoy Opera" referred to any opera that appeared at that theatre, regardless of who wrote it.
Aside from curtain-raisers (which are listed in the second table below), the G&S operas were the only works produced at the Savoy Theatre from the date it opened (October 10 1881) until ''The Gondoliers'' closed on June 20 1891. Over the next decade, there were only two new G&S pieces (''Utopia Limited'' and ''The Grand Duke''), both of which had comparatively brief runs. To fill the gap, Carte mounted G&S revivals, Sullivan operas with different librettists, and works by other composer–librettist teams.
Richard D'Oyly Carte died on April 3 1901. If the nexus of Carte and the Savoy Theatre is used to define "Savoy Opera," then the last new Savoy Opera was ''The Rose of Persia'' (music by Sullivan, libretto by Basil Hood), which ran from November 28 1899–June 28 1900.
After Carte's death, his wife Helen D'Oyly Carte assumed management of the theatre. She continued to produce new pieces in the G&S style, along with G&S revivals. Counting the pieces that Mrs. D'Oyly Carte produced, the last Savoy Opera was ''A Princess of Kensington'' (music by Edward German, libretto by Basil Hood), which ran for four months in early 1903. This is the point that Cyril Rollins and R. John Witts adopt as the end of the Savoy Operas.
After ''A Princess of Kensington'', Mrs. D'Oyly Carte relinquished control of the theatre until December 8 1906, when she produced a series of G&S revivals in repertory, with Gilbert returning to direct. In March 1909, Charles H. Workman assumed control of the theatre, producing several new pieces, including one by Gilbert himself, ''Fallen Fairies'' (music by Edward German). The last of these Workman-produced works came in early 1910, ''Two Merry Monarchs'' by Arthur Anderson, George Levy, Hartley Carrick, and Orlando Morgan. S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald regards this piece as the last of the Savoy Operas.
Fitz-Gerald wrote his book, ''The Story of the Savoy Opera'', in 1924, when these other pieces were still within living memory. But over time, anything produced at the Savoy by other composers or librettists was largely forgotten. The term "Savoy Opera" came to be synonymous with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.
The first collaboration of Gilbert and Sullivan—the 1871 opera ''Thespis''—was not a Savoy Opera under any of the definitions mentioned to this point, as Richard D'Oyly Carte did not produce it, nor was it ever performed at the Savoy Theatre. Given its lack of a D'Oyly Carte or Savoy connection, ''Thespis'' has a tenuous claim to be a "Savoy Opera." However, Rollins & Witts include it in their compendium of the Savoy Operas, as does Geoffrey Smith.
Complete list
The following table shows all of the full-length operas that could be considered "Savoy Operas" under any of the definitions mentioned above. Only first runs are shown. Curtain-raisers and afterpieces that played with the Savoy Operas are included in the next table below.
Companion pieces
During the original runs of the Savoy Operas, each full-length work was normally accompanied by one or two short companion pieces. A piece that began the performance was called a curtain-raiser, and one that ended the performance was called an afterpiece.
The following table lists the known companion pieces that appeared at the Opera Comique or the Savoy Theatre during the original runs and principal revivals of the Savoy Operas through 1909. There may have been more such pieces that have not yet been identified. In a number of cases, the exact opening and closing dates are not known. Date ranges overlap, since it was common to rotate two or more companion pieces at performances during the same period to be played with the main piece.
Many of these pieces also played elsewhere (and often on tour by D'Oyly Carte touring companies). Only the runs at the Opera Comique and the Savoy are shown here.
★ Indicates an approximate date.
Notes
1. See German Reeds, Frederic Clay, and F. C. Burnand
2. See Crowther, Stedman, Bailey, Bradley, Ainger, and Jacobs
3. ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', ed. Amanda Holden, Penguin Books, London 2001 and ''The Penguin Concise Guide to Opera'', ed. Amanda Holden, Penguin Books, London 2005 both note: "Operetta is the internationally recognized term for the type of work on which William Schwenck Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated under Richard D'Oyly Carte's management (1875-96), but they themselves used the words 'comic opera'". See also the ''Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', ed. John Warrack and Ewan West, Oxford University Press 1992 and the ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', 4 vols, ed. Stanley Sadie, Macmillan, New York 1992
References
★ The Story of the Savoy Opera, , S. J. Adair, Fitz-Gerald, Stanley Paul & Co., 1924,
★ The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas, , Cyril, Rollins, Michael Joseph Ltd, 1962,
Further reading
★ Gilbert and Sullivan, a Dual Biography, , Michael, Ainger, Oxford University Press, 2002,
★ The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion, , Leslie, Ayre, Pan Books Ltd, 1972, Foreword by Martyn Green.
★ The Gilbert and Sullivan Book, , Leslie, Baily, Spring Books, 1966,
★ Gilbert & Sullivan and Their World, , Leslie, Baily, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1973,
★ The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, , Ian, Bradley, Oxford University Press, 1996,
★ Contradiction Contradicted – The Plays of W. S. Gilbert, , Andrew, Crowther, Associated University Presses, 2000, ISBN 0-8386-3839-2
★ Gilbert and Sullivan, , Michael, Ffinch, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1993,
★ The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan, , W. S., Gilbert, W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1976,
★ The Savoy Operas, , W. S., Gilbert, Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1994,
★ Treasury of Gilbert & Sullivan, , Martyn, Green, Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1961,
★ Gilbert & Sullivan and Their Victorian World, , Christopher, Hibbert, American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc, 1976,
★ Gilbert & Sullivan, , Alan, James, Omnibus Press, 1989,
★ Arthur Sullivan – A Victorian Musician, , Arthur, Jacobs, Amadeus Press, 1992,
★ The Savoy Operas, , Geoffrey, Smith, Robert Hale Limited, 1983,
★ W. S. Gilbert, A Classic Victorian & His Theatre, , Jane W., Stedman, Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-19-816174-3
★ Gilbert and Sullivan Opera, , Audrey, Williamson, Marion Boyars, 1953,
★ Gilbert & Sullivan – The Official D'Oyly Carte Picture History, , Robin, Wilson, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1984,
★ Final Curtain – The Last Gilbert and Sullivan Operas, , John, Wolfson, Chappell & Company Limited, 1976,
External links
★ The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
★ Information about curtain raisers and companion pieces at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
★ The Gilbert and Sullivan Discography
★ Savoynet - an email-based G&S listserv
★ Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
★ Memories of the D'Oyly Carte website
★ Reviews of the operas
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