Savoy opera

Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces, and later those by other composer–librettist teams. The great bulk of the non-G&S Savoy Operas either failed to achieve a foothold in the standard repertory, or have faded over the years, leaving the term "Savoy Opera" as practically synonymous with Gilbert and Sullivan. The Savoy operas (in both senses) were seminal influences on the creation of the modern musical.

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 often risqué 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 operettas.[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, for over a century, 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)

c.1881 Savoy Theatre

Other definitions

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.[4] 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 (10 October 1881) until The Gondoliers closed on 20 June 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 3 April 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 28 November 1899 – 28 June 1900.

Gilbert, Workman and German at a rehearsal

After Carte's death, his wife Helen 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 and the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company 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 8 December 1906, when she produced two seasons of G&S revivals in repertory, with Gilbert returning to direct.

In March 1909, Charles H. Workman assumed control of the theatre, producing three 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, and Hartley Carrick, with music by Orlando Morgan. The contemporary press referred to these works as "Savoy Operas",[5] and S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald regarded Workman's pieces as the last Savoy Operas.[6]

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, all of the works produced at the Savoy by composers and librettists other than Gilbert and Sullivan were largely forgotten. The term "Savoy Opera" came to be synonymous with the thirteen extant 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. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the phrase as: "Designating any of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas originally presented at the Savoy Theatre in London by the D'Oyly Carte company. Also used more generally to designate any of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, including those first presented before the Savoy Theatre opened in 1881, or to designate any comic opera of a similar style which appeared at the theatre".[7]

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.

Title	Librettist(s)	Composer(s)	Theatre	Opening Date	Closing Date	Perf's.
Thespis	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Gaiety	26 December 1871	8 March 1872	64
Trial by Jury	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Royalty	25 March 1875	18 December 1875	131
The Sorcerer	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Opera Comique	17 November 1877	24 May 1878	178
H.M.S. Pinafore	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Opera Comique	25 May 1878	20 February 1880	571
The Pirates of Penzance	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Bijou, Paignton	30 December 1879	30 December 1879	1
			Fifth Avenue, NY	31 December 1879	5 June 1880	100
			Opera Comique	3 April 1880	2 April 1881	363
Patience	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Opera Comique	23 April 1881	8 October 1881	170
			Savoy	10 October 1881	22 November 1882	408
Iolanthe	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	25 November 1882	1 January 1884	398
Princess Ida	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	5 January 1884	9 October 1884	246
The Mikado	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	14 March 1885	19 January 1887	672
Ruddygore	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	22 January 1887	5 November 1887	288
The Yeomen of the Guard	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	3 October 1888	30 November 1889	423
The Gondoliers	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	7 December 1889	20 June 1891	554
The Nautch Girl	George Dance & Frank Desprez	Edward Solomon	Savoy	30 June 1891	16 January 1892	200
The Vicar of Bray	Sydney Grundy	Edward Solomon	Savoy	28 January 1892	18 June 1892	143
Haddon Hall	Sydney Grundy	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	24 September 1892	15 April 1893	204
Jane Annie	J. M. Barrie & Arthur Conan Doyle	Ernest Ford	Savoy	13 May 1893	1 July 1893	50
Utopia Limited	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	7 October 1893	9 June 1894	245
Mirette	Harry Greenbank & Fred E. Weatherly (revised by Adrian Ross)	André Messager	Savoy	3 July 1893	11 August 1894	41
				6 October 1894	6 December 1894	61
The Chieftain	F. C. Burnand	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	12 December 1894	16 March 1895	97
The Grand Duke	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	7 March 1896	10 July 1896	123
His Majesty	F. C. Burnand, R. C. Lehmann, & Adrian Ross	Alexander Mackenzie	Savoy	20 February 1897	24 April 1897	61
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein	Charles H. Brookfield & Adrian Ross	Jacques Offenbach	Savoy	4 December 1897	12 March 1898	104
The Beauty Stone	A. W. Pinero & J. Comyns Carr	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	28 May 1898	16 July 1898	50
The Lucky Star	Charles H. Brookfield, Adrian Ross, & Aubrey Hopwood	Ivan Caryll	Savoy	7 January 1899	31 May 1899	143
The Rose of Persia	Basil Hood	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	29 November 1899	28 June 1900	213
The Emerald Isle	Basil Hood	Arthur Sullivan & Edward German	Savoy	27 April 1901	9 November 1901	205
Ib and Little Christina	Basil Hood	Franco Leoni	Savoy	14 November 1901	29 November 1901	16[8]
The Willow Pattern	Basil Hood	Cecil Cook
Merrie England	Basil Hood	Edward German	Savoy	2 April 1902	30 July 1902	120
				24 November 1902	17 January 1903	56
A Princess of Kensington	Basil Hood	Edward German	Savoy	22 January 1903	16 May 1903	115
The Mountaineers	Guy Eden	Reginald Somerville	Savoy	29 September 1909	27 November 1909	61
Fallen Fairies	W. S. Gilbert	Edward German	Savoy	15 December 1909	29 January 1910	51
Two Merry Monarchs	Arthur Anderson, George Levy, & Hartley Carrick	Orlando Morgan	Savoy	10 March 1910	23 April 1910	43

Companion pieces

The fashion in the late Victorian era and Edwardian era was to present long evenings in the theatre, and so full-length pieces were often presented together with companion pieces.[9] 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. W. J. MacQueen-Pope commented, concerning the curtain raisers:

This was a one-act play, seen only by the early comers. It would play to empty boxes, half-empty upper circle, to a gradually filling stalls and dress circle, but to an attentive, grateful and appreciative pit and gallery. Often these plays were little gems. They deserved much better treatment than they got, but those who saw them delighted in them. …[They] served to give young actors and actresses a chance to win their spurs…the stalls and the boxes lost much by missing the curtain-raiser, but to them dinner was more important.[10]

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.[4]

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.[4]

Title	Librettist(s)	Composer(s)	Theatre	Opening Date	Closing Date	Played With
Dora's Dream	Arthur Cecil	Alfred Cellier	Opera Comique	17 November 1877	7 February 1878*	The Sorcerer
The Spectre Knight	James Albery	Alfred Cellier	Opera Comique	9 February 1878	23 March 1878	The Sorcerer
				28 May 1878	10 August 1878	Pinafore
Trial by Jury	W. S. Gilbert	Arthur Sullivan	Opera Comique & Savoy	23 March 1878	24 May 1878	The Sorcerer
				11 October 1884	12 March 1885
				22 September 1898	31 December 1898
				6 June 1899	25 November 1899	Pinafore
Beauties on the Beach	George Grossmith	George Grossmith	Opera Comique	25 May 1878	5 August 1878	Pinafore
				14 October 1878	5 December 1878*
A Silver Wedding	George Grossmith	George Grossmith	Opera Comique	part of 1878		Pinafore
Five Hamlets	George Grossmith	George Grossmith	Opera Comique	? 1878	12 October 1878	Pinafore
Cups and Saucers	George Grossmith	George Grossmith	Opera Comique	5 August 1878*	20 February 1880	Pinafore
After All!	Frank Desprez	Alfred Cellier	Opera Comique	16 December 1878*	20 February 1880	Cups and Saucers
				? Feb. 1880	20 March 1880	Children's Pinafore
			Savoy	23 November 1895	4 March 1896	Mikado & Grand Duke
				4 April 1896	8 August 1896
				7 May 1897	16 June 1897	Yeomen
In the Sulks	Frank Desprez	Alfred Cellier	Opera Comique	21 February 1880	?	Pirates
				21 February 1880	20 March 1880	Children's Pinafore
				3 April 1880	2 April 1881	Pirates
				23 April 1881*	2 May 1881	Patience
			Savoy	11 October 1881	14 October 1881
Uncle Samuel	Arthur Law	George Grossmith	Opera Comique	3 May 1881	8 October 1881	Patience
Mock Turtles	Frank Desprez	Eaton Faning	Savoy	11 October 1881	22 November 1882	Patience
				25 November 1882	30 March 1883	Iolanthe
A Private Wire	Frank Desprez	Percy Reeve	Savoy	31Mar. 1883	1 January 1884	Iolanthe
The Carp	Frank Desprez & Arnold Felix	Alfred Cellier	Savoy	13 February 1886	19 January 1887	Mikado
				21 February 1887	5 November 1887	Ruddigore
Mrs. Jarramie's Genie	Frank Desprez	Alfred Cellier & François Cellier	Savoy	14 February 1888	? Nov. 1889	Pinafore, Pirates, Mikado, Yeomen
Captain Billy	Harry Greenbank	François Cellier	Savoy	24 September 1891	16 January 1892	Nautch Girl
				1 February 1892	18 June 1892	Vicar of Bray
Mr. Jericho	Harry Greenbank	Ernest Ford	Savoy	18 March 1893	15 April 1893	Haddon Hall
				3 June 1893	1 July 1893	Jane Annie
Quite an Adventure	Frank Desprez	Edward Solomon	Savoy	15 December 1894	29 December 1894	The Chieftain
Cox & Box	F. C. Burnand	Arthur Sullivan	Savoy	31 December 1894	16 March 1895	The Chieftain
Weather or No	Adrian Ross & William Beach	Bertram Luard-Selby	Savoy	10 August 1896	17 February 1897	The Mikado
				2 March 1897	24 April 1897	His Majesty
Old Sarah	Harry Greenbank	François Cellier	Savoy	17 June 1897	31 July 1897	Yeomen
				16 August 1897	20 November 1897
				10 December 1897	12 March 1898	The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein
				22 March 1898*	21 May 1898	Gondoliers
Pretty Polly	Basil Hood	François Cellier	Savoy	19 May 1900	28 June 1900	Rose of Persia
				8 December 1900	20 April 1901	Patience
The Outpost	Albert O'Donnell Bartholeyns	Hamilton Clarke	Savoy	2 July 1900	3 November 1900	Pirates
				8 November 1900*	7 December 1900	Patience
The Willow Pattern	Basil Hood	Cecil Cook	Savoy	14 November 1901	29 November 1901	Ib and Little Christina
(revised version)				9 December 1901	29 March 1902	Iolanthe
A Welsh Sunset	Frederick Fenn	Philip Michael Faraday	Savoy	15 July 1908	17 October 1908	Pinafore & Pirates
				2 December 1908	24 February 1909

*Indicates an approximate date.

Notes

1. See German Reeds, Frederic Clay, Edward Solomon and F. C. Burnand
2. See, e. g., Crowther, Stedman, Bailey, Bradley, Ainger and Jacobs. Gilbert & Sullivan described 12 of their 14 collaborations as "operas":
   • The Sorcerer: a "Modern Comic Opera"
   • H.M.S. Pinafore: a "Nautical Comic Opera"
   • The Pirates of Penzance: a "Melo-Dramatic Opera"
   • Patience: an "Aesthetic Opera"
   • Iolanthe: a "Fairy Opera"
   • Princess Ida: "A respectful Operatic Perversion of Tennyson's Princess"
   • The Mikado: a "Japanese Opera"
   • Ruddygore: a "Supernatural Opera"
   • The Yeomen of the Guard: an "Opera"
   • The Gondoliers: a "Comic Opera"
   • Utopia, Limited, a "Comic Opera"
   • The Grand Duke: a "Comic Opera"
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 state: "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 New Grove Dictionary of Opera, 4 vols, ed. Stanley Sadie, Macmillan, New York 1992
4. Walters, Michael and George Low. "Curtain Raisers", The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 16 August, 2011, accessed 27 February 2017
5. See e.g., The Manchester Guardian, 17 September 1910, p. 1, advertising The Mountaineers.
6. See also Farrell, passim
7. "Savoy", Oxford English Dictionary", Oxford University Press, June 2017, accessed 9 December 2017 (subscription required)
8. The Willow Pattern continued to run after Ib and Little Christina closed, as a companion piece to Iolanthe, for an original run of 110 performances.
9. Lee Bernard. "Swash-buckling Savoy curtain-raiser", Sheffield Telegraph, 1 August 2008
10. MacQueen-Pope, Walter James. Carriages at Eleven (1947), London: Robert Hale and Co., p. 23

References

• Farrell, Scott (2009). The C. H. Workman Productions: A Centenary Review of the Final Savoy Operas. Scott Farrell.
• Fitz-Gerald, S. J. Adair (1924). The Story of the Savoy Opera. London: Stanley Paul & Co.
• Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1962). The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas: A Record of Productions, 1875–1961. London: Michael Joseph. OCLC 504581419.

Further reading

• Ainger, Michael (2002). Gilbert and Sullivan, a Dual Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Bradley, Ian (1996). The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
• Crowther, Andrew (2000). Contradiction Contradicted – The Plays of W. S. Gilbert. Associated University Presses. ISBN 0-8386-3839-2.
• Gilbert, W. S. (1994). The Savoy Operas. Hertfordshire, England: Wordsworth Editions Ltd. ISBN 1-85326-313-3.
• Jacobs, Arthur (1992). Arthur Sullivan – A Victorian Musician (Second ed.). Portland, OR: Amadeus Press.
• O'Brien, Christopher (2015). Savoy Curtain-Raisers, Musica Britannica series. London: Stainer & Bell.
• Smith, Geoffrey (1983). The Savoy Operas. London: Robert Hale Limited.
• Stedman, Jane W. (1996). W. S. Gilbert, A Classic Victorian & His Theatre. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-816174-3.
• Williams, Carolyn (2010). Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, Genre, Parody. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-14804-6.
• Wolfson, John (1976). Final Curtain – The Last Gilbert and Sullivan Operas. London: Chappell & Company Limited.

External links

• The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
• List of Savoy opera curtain raisers
• The Gilbert and Sullivan Discography
• Gilbert & Sullivan 101, with essays, bibliography, related links, etc.
• 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