Savoy tenor

Speranza

I notice that, besides an entry for "Savoy Theatre" with a segment on
operas, wiki indeed has a separate one specifically on "Savoy opera", well worth
a look. I excerpt and comment on some of the information below. Again, my
interest is to survey and review the ('heroic') tenor repertoire by
Sullivan, and especially, his 'heirs', as we examine a typical Late
Victorian/Edwardian genre.


References:
Farrell, Scott (2009). The Savoy Operas.
Fitz-Gerald, S. J. Adair (1924). The Story of the Savoy Opera. London:
Stanley Paul & Co.
Gilbert, W. S. (1994). The Savoy Operas. Hertfordshire, England:
Wordsworth Editions Ltd. ISBN 1-85326-313-3.
Smith, Geoffrey (1983). The Savoy Operas. London: Robert Hale Limited.

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(a) Defining a genre. "The Savoy Operas", wiki writes, "denote 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 Savoy operas ... were seminal influences on the creation of the modern
musical." "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."

"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."

"Carte mounted G&S revivals, Sullivan operas with different librettists,
and works by other composer–librettist teams."

"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."

"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." "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", and S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald regarded Workman's pieces as the LAST
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, all of the works produced at the Savoy by composers and
librettists other than Gilbert and Sullivan were largely forgotten."

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(b) A chronological catalogue of SAVOY OPERAS -- excerpted from "Savoy
opera" wiki entry.

"THESPIS"
"TRIAL BY JURY"
"SORCERER"
"PINAFORE"
"PIRATES OF PENZANCE"
"PATIENCE"
"IOLANTHE"
"Princess Ida"
"Mikado"
"Ruddygore"
"Yeomen of the Guard"
"Gondoliers"
"Nautch Girl" (George Dance & Frank Desprez -- Edward Solomon -- Savoy 30
June 1891 16 Jan. 1892 -- 200
"Vicar of Bray, The" Sydney Grundy -- Edward Solomon -- Savoy -- 28 Jan.
1892 -- 18 June 1892 -- 143
"Haddon Hall" Sydney Grundy -- Arthur Sullivan -- Savoy -- 24 Sep. 1892 --
15 Apr. 1893 -- 204
"Jane Annie" J. M. Barrie & Arthur Conan Doyle Ernest Ford Savoy 13 May
1893 1 July 1893 50
"Utopia Limited"
"Mirette" Harry Greenbank & Fred E. Weatherly (revised by Adrian Ross)
André Messager Savoy 3 July 1893 11 Aug. 1894 41
"Chieftain, The" F. C. Burnand Arthur Sullivan Savoy 12 Dec. 1894 16 Mar.
1895 97
Grand Duke, The.
"His Majesty" F. C. Burnand, R. C. Lehmann, & Adrian Ross -- Alexander
Mackenzie -- Savoy -- 20 Feb. 1897 -- 24 Apr. 1897 -- 61
"Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, The" Charles H. Brookfield & Adrian Ross
Jacques Offenbach Savoy 4 Dec. 1897 12 Mar. 1898 104
"Beauty Stone, The" A. W. Pinero & J. Comyns Carr Arthur Sullivan Savoy 28
May 1898 16 July 1898 50
"Lucky Star, The" Charles H. Brookfield, Adrian Ross, & Aubrey Hopwood
Ivan Caryll Savoy 7 Jan. 1899 31 May 1899 143
"Rose of Persia, The" Basil Hood Arthur Sullivan Savoy 29 Nov. 1899 28
June 1900 213
"Emerald Isle, The" Basil Hood Arthur Sullivan & Edward German Savoy 27
Apr. 1901 9 Nov. 1901 205
"Ib and Little Christina" Basil Hood Franco Leoni Savoy 14 Nov. 1901 29
Nov. 1901 16
"Willow Pattern, The" Basil Hood Cecil Cook
"Merrie England" Basil Hood Edward German Savoy 2 Apr. 1902 30 July 1902
120 24 Nov. 1902 17 Jan. 1903 56
"Princess of Kensington, A" Basil Hood Edward German Savoy 22 Jan. 1903 16
May 1903 115
"Mountaineers, The" Guy EdenReginald Somerville Savoy 29 Sep. 1909 27 Nov.
1909 61
"Fallen Fairies" W. S. Gilbert Edward German Savoy 15 Dec. 1909 29 Jan.
1910 51
"Two Merry Monarchs" Arthur Anderson, George Levy, & Hartley Carrick
Orlando Morgan 1910
"Dora's Dream" -- Arthur Cecil -- Alfred Cellier 1877
"Spectre Knight, The" James Albery -- Alfred Cellier 1878
"Beauties on the Beach" George Grossmith 1878
'Silver Wedding, A" -- George Grossmith 1878
'Five Hamlets" George Grossmith 1878
"Cups and Saucers" George Grossmith 1878.
"After All!" Frank Desprez -- Alfred Cellier 1878
"In the Sulks" Frank Desprez -- Alfred Cellier 1880
"Uncle Samuel" Arthur Law George Grossmith
"Mock Turtles" Frank Desprez Eaton Faning 1881
"Private Wire, A" -- Frank Desprez -- Percy Reeve 1883
"The Carp" -- Frank Desprez & Arnold Felix -- Alfred Cellier . 1886
"Mrs. Jarramie's Genie" Frank Desprez -- Alfred Cellier & François
Cellier 1888
"Captain Billy" Harry Greenbank François Cellier 1891
"Mr. Jericho" Harry Greenbank Ernest Ford 1893
"Quite an Adventure" Frank Desprez Edward Solomon 1894
"Cox & Box" F. C. Burnand Arthur Sullivan 1894
"Weather or No" (Adrian Ross & William Beach -- Bertram Luard-Selby 1896)
"Old Sarah" (Harry Greenbank François Cellier 1897)
"Pretty Polly" (Basil Hood François Cellier 1900
"Outpost, The" Albert O'Donnell Bartholeyns Hamilton Clarke Savoy 1900
'Willow Pattern, The" Basil Hood Cecil Cook 1901
'Welsh Sunset, A' -- Frederick Fenn Philip Michael Faraday 1908

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(c) A closer analysis at the tenor repertory and the role creators. Under
"Savoy Theatre", as per previous post, there is a passing reference is made
to what we may call the "Savoy operas" (not just by Gilbert and Sullivan,
but, to cite the names in "Record of "D'Oyly Carte Productions" in wiki, by

(i) Caryll,
(ii) Grundy (librettist),
(iii) Hood and
(iv) German.

(i) CARYLL. In the Caryll wiki entry, the only Savoy reference is
apparently to "The Lucky Star". The wiki reads: "[Caryll's] "The Lucky Star" was a
less successful three-act comic OPERA (1899, produced by the D'Oyly Carte
Opera Company, based on L'Etoile, an opéra-bouffe by Emmanuel Chabrier). It
may have been too risqué for the Savoy Theatre audiences." The individual
wiki entry for The Lucky Star" states that it opened "at the Savoy Theatre on
7 January 1899 for a run of 143 performances". "It was unable to achieve a
long run. The Cartes discovered that they were presenting a good [opera]
at the wrong theatre". "The opera starred the usual Savoy Theatre cast from
that period, including Walter Passmore, Henry Lytton, TENOR ROBERT EVETT,
Ruth Vincent, Emmie Owen and Isabel Jay."

A SAVOY TENOR (all singers above).
EVETT plays TAPIOCA, in a rather convoluted plot, which, alas, fails to
mention him (in wiki synopsis): "King Ouf is a superstitious monarch. The King
is informed by his astrologer Siroco that his destiny is linked with that
of an itinerant painter named Lazuli, who is in love with the King's
intended bride, the Princess Laoula. Siroco's astrological charts reveal that
Lazuli's death will result in the King's. The King decrees that Siroco will be
executed moments after the King's death, and so both have an interest in
keeping Lazuli alive." Ah well, I hope his aria was catchy enough. Indeed,
it is cited as in "Act III - A Summer-Room in the Palace", as "No. 16":
"Dreaming in the dark, your vision comes upon my lonely slumber" -- Lyrics by
Adrian Ross and Aubrey Hopwood. (I haven't searched for the lyrics (yet),
but they don't seem to be easily available online).

The wiki includes a nice photo of him (dressed as Tapioca -- extravagant
costume designed by Percy Anderson).

(ii) GRUNDY, and his libretti. The second name cited in the wiki for "Savoy
opera" (under "Savoy Theatre") is Grundy, who was a librettist. There is a
wiki entry for his "Haddon Hall" with Sullivan: "an English light opera
with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Sydney Grundy. It premiered
at the Savoy Theatre on September 24, 1892 for a modestly successful run of
204 performances."

For the record, the "Savoy tenors" were the "ROYALIST": "John Manners"
(tenor), played by the unimitable Courtice Pounds -- and "Oswald" (tenor),
played by Charles Kenningham. Two beautiful photographs of C. Pounds as Manners
included in the wiki.

The list of musical numbers doesn't seem to list an aria for the principal
tenor, but two duets with the soprano: "The earth is fair... Sweetly the
morn doth break" and "Oh, heart's desire". It is not easy (without
extra-linking) to check (from the Grundy wiki page) which other of the Grundy
libretti were staged at the Savoy, but I guess Haddon Hall was his claim to fame.

(iii) HOOD and (iv) GERMAN. Finally, the wiki under "Savoy Theatre" (Savoy
opera) cites Hood and German. Here I'm pretty sure my favourite must be
"English Rose" from Merrie England -- but there may be others.

(iii) HOOD.

The wiki for "Hood" states that he wrote "half a dozen" opera libretti for
the Savoy. The specific section states: "After Arthur Sullivan finished
collaborating with W. S. Gilbert (The Grand Duke, in 1896, was their last
joint work), Richard D'Oyly Carte, the proprietor of the Savoy Theatre, looked
for other librettists to provide librettos for Sullivan to set."

"Hood was introduced to Sullivan by the composer Wilfred Bendall, with whom
Hood had collaborated on The Gypsies in 1890."

"Sullivan's several operas written in the 1890s without Gilbert had not
been successful, but his new opera with Hood, The Rose of Persia (1899), ran
for 213 performances." "Hood also wrote the libretti for two short companion
pieces at the Savoy."

"The first was Pretty Polly, which ran with The Rose of Persia in 1900 and
with Patience in 1900–01, and the second was Ib and Little Christina
(1900), which played in several theatres including the Savoy (in 1901, as a
companion piece to Hood's The Willow Pattern)."

"After the success for Hood and Sullivan of The Rose of Persia, the pair
were soon writing a second opera, The Emerald Isle (1901)."

"Sullivan died while writing this new work, however, and the task of
completing it fell to Edward German."

"The production was another reasonable success, with 205 performances."
"Hood and German went on to collaborate on the successful Merrie England
(1902), which played at the Savoy for 120 performances, toured the provinces for
14 weeks, and then returned for another run at the Savoy."

"Of Merrie England, The Observer wrote, "It is not too much to say that
Capt. Basil Hood and Mr. Edward German have, by means of the latest Savoy
success, increased their reputations to an extent that will lead the musical
public to look to them in future for work as epoch-making in its peculiar
genre as that of Gilbert and Sullivan. Capt. Hood is the only writer of "words
for music" whose lyrics can compare with those of Mr. Gilbert for finish,
rhythmic piquancy, and verbal quaintness."" "When Merrie England finished
its second London run, German and Hood immediately followed it with A
Princess of Kensington (1903) which ran for 115 performances and then went on
tour."

"After that, their producer, William Greet, turned away from light opera,
which effectively ended their work together."

(iv) GERMAN

The "Edward German" wiki entry has a section on the comic operas: "Though
German had little experience with opera, Richard D'Oyly Carte invited him to
finish Arthur Sullivan's The Emerald Isle for the Savoy Theatre after
Sullivan's death in 1900."

"German accepted. The success of his score for the opera (which was
performed into the 1920s) opened up a new career for him." "His next comic opera,
in 1902, was Merrie England, with Basil Hood, the librettist for The
Emerald Isle."

"This was perhaps German's greatest success."

"Indeed, it was revived frequently, becoming a light opera standard in
Britain, and several of its songs, including "The English Rose", "O Peaceful
England" and "The Yeomen of England" were popular until the middle of the
twentieth century."

"Merrie England has been so frequently performed by amateur groups in
England that it probably has been performed more often than any other British
opera or operetta written in the twentieth century."

"After this, German and Hood collaborated again in 1903 to write A
Princess of Kensington." "This opera was unsuccessful, although it toured briefly
and had a New York production."

"Edward German collaborated with W. S. Gilbert on his final (and
unsuccessful) opera, Fallen Fairies, at the Savoy in 1909." "With German's
agreement, Gilbert cast his protege, Nancy McIntosh, as the Fairy Queen, Selene.
Critics found her performance weak. Shortly after the opening, acting at the
request of the syndicate he had gathered, producer C. H. Workman replaced
McIntosh with Amy Evans and asked for restoration of a song that Gilbert had
cut during rehearsals. Gilbert was outraged and threatened to sue, demanding
that German join him. This placed German in a distressing position, and
the composer, habitually preferring to avoid legal battles, declined."

"In maintaining the Savoy tradition of comic opera, German was composing a
style of piece for which public taste had dwindled as fashions in musical
theatre had changed with the new century."