Gilbert 18361911 and the composer arthur sullivan 18421900. The play is about the effects of a love potion on the residents of an english village references. Thespis, or the gods grown old 1871, lost trial by jury 1875 the sorcerer 1877 h. Doyly carte soon encouraged gilbert and sullivan to write full length comic operas. Troupers light opera to perform gilbert and sullivans the sorcerer in. Opera comique, london, 17 november 1877 the sorcerer, gilbert and sullivans. Gilbert and sullivan, however, radically challenged these social norms by pairing rich characters with poor characters. Naughty, naughty gilbert and sullivan we say as they count their money. Sir william schwenck gilbert november 18, 1836 may 29, 1911 and sir arthur seymour sullivan may, 1842 november 22, 1900 were a victorian duo who together wrote a number of hugely popular and influential comic operas, which served as forerunners of the musical most people today think of them as musicals, gilbert writing the book and lyrics whats known as a librettist, because he. The masters of english operetta, lyricistlibrettist w. The opera was at least moderately successful and ran for 178. S gilberts lifetimeas well as amateur productions within that time frame that were probably also sanctioned by the doyly carte company.
Daly, vicar of ploverleigh john wellington wells, of j. Having shown what could be done with trial by jury, carte found financial backers and organized the comedy opera company to pursue his dream of english musical theater. The cast of the sorcerer at the salem players the salem players. Gilbert and sullivan lyrics, songs, and albums genius. The first revival, in 1884, included some significant revisions mainly concerning the end of the first act and the beginning of the second which have carried through to later productions. It was the first featurelength gns production of the ambitious. None of this works against their shows, and the university of st. A large reason is that it sounds formulaic even though its one of their early collaborations and less cleverly inspired than their greater successes. The sorcerer is an operetta by gilbert and sullivan. The sorcerer by gilbert and sullivan is finishing up its current run in austin at the brentwood christian school on north lamar. Vocal score, including dialogue, of gilbert and sullivans third collaboration, using the revised text of 1884. The sorcerer simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Henry lytton koko, leo sheffield pooh bah, and others before or behind the microphones had the good fortune to work with gilbert andor sullivan, so we can assume the performances are generally faithful to the savoy tradition. Also included is an abreviated 1933 recording of the sorcerer.
Pinafore, the pirates of penzance and the mikado are among the best known. Most were surprised that a song from a relatively obscure work, such as the sorcerer, would find its way onto network television. See more ideas about hms pinafore, savoy theatre and english comedy. Again, there isnt any need for me to go into ridiculous detail here. It opened in london at the opera comique on 17 november 1877. To receive email notifications about this plays upcoming productions log in, then click this button. The martyr of antioch, one of sullivans attempts to be the great serious composer everyone wanted him to be, had millmans poem expertly trimmed, adjusted, and tweaked into a viable libretto by gilbert. The show offers up more lapidary work by the gilbert and sullivan society of austin gssa doing what it does best. A story about a respectable english shopkeeper we are lead to believe who just happens to sell authentic sorcery products, this touches on gilberts favourite theme of class distinction and calls on for the audience pleasing device of magical theatrical illusion. Mass meeting to be held at the michigan league koessler room. It was highly successful for its time, which encouraged the author and composer to continue working together and expanding the possibilities of satiric operetta. Scene from the sorcerer, gilbert and sullivan 14159024. Tea, sorcery, and a love philtre combine to bewitching effect in the mit gilbert and sullivan players delightful production of the sorcerer. Gilbert music by sir arthur sullivan dramatis personae sir marmaduke pointdextre, an elderly baronet alexis, of the grenadier guardshis son dr.
Gilbert and sullivan music hub fandom powered by wikia. Andrewss gilbert and sullivan society put on a great production wednesday night with their rendition of the sorcerer, directed by elisha herring. As only gilbert and sullivans third collaboration, the sorcerer originated many of the features that became mainstays in the duos later comic operas. Good stuff, especially seeing the shows in the context of the whole output. Gilbert used this trope repeatedly, with both genders.
This may be my favorite recording in all of gilbert and sullivan, and i know a heap of them, including all the old mono sets from the 50s the martyn green generation, the first stereo sets john reed, the malcom sargent releases, even a few of the old early electrics, and several of the ohio. Celebrating its 10th season this year, the vcgsrc is currently going through its second cycle of the eleven operettas in the canon produced by the venerable english composing team of lyricistlibrettist w. Fans of english light opera will be thrilled by the show, as will theatergoers of any. The sorcerer made its debut in 1877 and was the first gilbert and sullivan collaboration in which the two had complete control of the production. Synopsis of the sorcerer the sorcerer made its debut in 1877 and was the first gilbert and sullivan collaboration in which the two had.
Chaos ensues and the wrong characters fall in love. The central characters are, presumably, alexis and aline in bridal gown, with sir marmaduke far left and lady sangazure far right, while constance partlet is in the background with her mother between marmaduke and alexis, and the vicar, dr daly, is right of aline. Color lithograph of teapot with steam forming the letter s. The sorcerer was not the only piece on which either gilbert or sullivan were working at that time. During the companys 2010 production of the sorcerer, a cast member reported that one of the songs in the show was familiar to her as she had heard it performed on the family guy animated series.
The sorcerer, which opened at londons opera comique on november 17, 1877. Pinafore, or the lass that loved a sailor 1878 the pirates of penzance, or the slave of duty 1879 patience, or bunthornes bride 1881 iolanthe, or. The sorcerer, gilbert and sullivans earliest surviving two act collaboration, is set in. The original ending of the act i finale and opening of act ii are included in an appendix and the differences between the 1877 and 1884 versions described in the notes. Gilbert initially proposed a story for a new opera about a magic lozenge that would change the characters, which sullivan found artificial and lacking in human interest and probability, as well as being too similar to their earlier opera, the sorcerer. Gillett explained that this is especially true in the sorcerer, in which social distinctions are totally obliterated when the villagers are given the love potion. It should be noted that at first the musical itself is deeply expository and droll, taking quite some time to get interesting, but one cannot fault the salem players for the mistakes that are gilbert and sullivans. It was their first opera to use all the major character types and typical range of songs that would appear in their later collaborations. During the companys 2010 production of the sorcerer, a cast member. This comprehensive collection in our acclaimed worlds great classical music series presents 67 selections from of their collaborations, including h. The gilbert and sullivan society of houston is an international awardwinning theater company dedicated to staging full, traditional productions.
Our group is dedicated to performing the joint works of sir w. Although those who take it fall rapturously in love with the first person they see, it works only on unmarried people. He calms alines qualms by assuring her that it is a very proper philtre. My name is john wellington wells, im a dealer in magic and spells, in blessings and curses and everfilled purses, in prophecies, witches, and knells. The sorcerer is a twoact comic opera, with a libretto by w. The sorcerer is not one of gilbert and sullivans more popular operettas for a number of reasons. The sorcerer is a comic opera by gilbert and sullivan, first performed in 1877. The vicars brew inadvertently administers a love potion concocted by a highly respectable and oldestablished family sorcerer to the populace of a quaint english village. Add video add image gilbert and sullivan refers to the victorianera theatrical partnership of the librettist w.
There is no shortage of excellent analysis of every gilbert and sullivan operetta. Gilbert and sullivan the reader wiki, reader view of. Gilbert 18361911, playwright and humorist, and sir arthur sullivan 18421900, unofficial composer laureate of england and favorite of queen victoria. Gilbert wrote such well rounded characters that pinning down the villains in the operas is difficult, and for whatever reason the tenors, fairly or unfairly, often end up with the villain moniker. Well, alexis is not a particularly likable character, though his views. The sorcerer, mr john wellington wells, has come down from town to supply the philtre in person. Facts, quizzes and trivia about gilbert and sullivan characters, ada, princess ida, alexis, the sorcerer and more. Scene from the sorcerer, gilbert and sullivan scene from the sorcerer, operetta by gilbert and sullivan, at the opera comique.
William gilbert and arthur sullivans savoy operettas. The sorcerer plot summary, character breakdowns, context and analysis, and performance video clips. Gilbert and composer arthur sullivan defined the genre and influenced all musical theatre after them. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which h. He then contracted with gilbert and sullivan to write their first fulllength comic opera.