Ruddigore
Encyclopedia
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
and libretto by W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
. It is one of the Savoy Opera
Savoy opera
The Savoy Operas 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 name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house...
s and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
. It was first performed by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
in London on 22 January 1887.
The first night was not altogether a success, as critics and the audience felt that Ruddygore (as it was originally spelled) did not measure up to its predecessor, The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
. After some changes, including respelling the title, it achieved a run of 288 performances. The piece was profitable, and the reviews were not all bad. For instance, the Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...
praised the work and both Gilbert and, especially, Sullivan: "Sir Arthur Sullivan has eminently succeeded alike in the expression of refined sentiment and comic humour. In the former respect, the charm of graceful melody prevails; while, in the latter, the music of the most grotesque situations is redolent of fun."
There were further changes and cuts, including a new overture, when Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte was an English hotelier, theatre owner and impresario, best known as proprietor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from 1913 to 1948....
revived Ruddigore after the First World War. Although never a big money-spinner, it remained in the repertoire until the company closed in 1982. A centenary revival at Sadler's Wells in London restored the opera to almost its original first-night state. In 2000, Oxford University Press published a scholarly edition of the score and libretto, edited by Sullivan scholar David Russell Hulme
David Russell Hulme
David Russell Hulme is a Welsh conductor and musicologist known for his research and publications on the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan, the Victorian era composer who, with Sir W. S...
. This restores the work as far as possible to the state in which its authors left it and includes a substantial introduction that explains many of the changes, with appendices containing some music deleted early in the run. After the expiration of the copyright on Gilbert and Sullivan works in 1961, and especially since the Sadler's Wells production and recording, various directors have experimented with restoring some or all of the cut material in place of the 1920s D'Oyly Carte version.
Background
After The MikadoThe Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
opened in 1885, Gilbert, as usual, promptly turned his thoughts to finding a subject for a next opera. Some of the plot elements of Ruddigore had been introduced by Gilbert in his earlier one-act opera, Ages Ago
Ages Ago
Ages Ago is a musical entertainment with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Frederic Clay that premiered on 22 November 1869 at the Royal Gallery of Illustration. It marked the beginning of a seven year long collaboration between the two. The piece was revived many times, including at St...
(1869), including the tale of the wicked ancestor and the device of the ancestors stepping out of their portraits. Heinrich Marschner
Heinrich Marschner
Heinrich August Marschner , was the most important composer of German Romantic opera between Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, and is remembered principally for his operas Hans Heiling , Der Vampyr , and Der Templer und die Jüdin...
's 1828 opera, Der Vampyr
Der Vampyr
Der Vampyr is a Romantic opera in two acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück is based on the play Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut by Heinrich Ludwig Ritter, which itself was based on the short novel The Vampyre by John Polidori...
, involves a Lord Ruthven who must abduct and sacrifice three maidens or die. Locals claim that the Murgatroyd ancestors in Ruddigore are based on the Murgatroyd family of East Riddlesden Hall
East Riddlesden Hall
East Riddlesden Hall is a 17th century manor house in Keighley, West Yorkshire, now owned by the National Trust. The hall was built in 1642 by a wealthy Halifax clothier, James Murgatroyd. There is a medieval tithebarn in the grounds....
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
. According to his biographers, Dark and Grey, Gilbert also drew on some of his earlier verse, the Bab Ballads
Bab Ballads
The Bab Ballads are a collection of light verse by W. S. Gilbert, illustrated with his own comic drawings. Gilbert wrote the Ballads before he became famous for his comic opera librettos with Arthur Sullivan...
for some plot elements. The song "I know a youth who loves a little maid," can be traced back to the Bab Ballad, "The Modest Couple", in which the very shy and proper Peter and Sarah are betrothed but are reluctant to shake hands or sit side by side. Sir Roderic's Act II "Ghost song" had its forerunner in one of Gilbert's verses published in Fun
Fun (magazine)
Fun was a Victorian weekly magazine, first published on 21 September 1861. The magazine was founded by the actor and playwright H. J. Byron in competition with Punch magazine.-Description:...
magazine:
Fair phantom, come I/ The moon's awake.
The owl hoots gaily from its brake,
The blithesome bat's a-wing.
Come, soar to yonder silent clouds,
The other teems with peopled shrouds:
We’ll fly the lightsome spectre crowds,
Thou cloudy, clammy thing!
The opera also includes and parodies elements of melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
, popular at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
. There is a priggishly good-mannered poor-but-virtuous heroine, a villain who carries off the maiden, a hero in disguise and his faithful old retainer who dreams of their former glory days, the snake-in-the-grass sailor who claims to be following his heart, the wild, mad girl, the swagger of fire-eating patriotism, ghosts coming to life to enforce a curse, and so forth. But Gilbert, in his customary topsy-turvy fashion, turns the moral absolutes of melodrama upside down: The hero becomes evil, the villain becomes good, and the virtuous maiden changes fiancés at the drop of a hat. The ghosts come back to life, foiling the curse, and all ends happily.
Sullivan delayed in setting Ruddigore to music through most of 1886. He had committed to a heavy conducting schedule and to compose a cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
, The Golden Legend, for the triennial Leeds Music Festival
Leeds Festival (classical music)
The Leeds Festival was a classical music festival which took place between 1858 and 1985 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.The first festival celebrated the opening of Leeds Town Hall by Queen Victoria on 7 September 1858...
in October 1886. He also was squiring Fanny Ronalds
Fanny Ronalds
Mary Frances "Fanny" Ronalds , was an American socialite and amateur singer who is best known for her long affair with the composer Arthur Sullivan in London in the last decades of the nineteenth century....
to numerous social functions. Fortunately, The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
was still playing strongly, and Sullivan prevailed on Gilbert to delay production of Ruddigore. He got down to business in early November, however, and rehearsals began in December. During the Act II ghost scene, it would be impossible for the cast to see Sullivan's baton when the stage was darkened for the Ancestors' reincarnation. A technological solution was found: Sullivan used a glass tube baton containing a platinum wire that glowed a dull red.
The opera encountered some criticism from audiences at its opening on 22 January 1887, and one critic wondered if the libretto showed "signs of the failing powers of the author". After a run shorter than any of the earlier Gilbert and Sullivan operas premiered at the Savoy except Princess Ida
Princess Ida
Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. Princess Ida opened at the Savoy Theatre on January 5, 1884, for a run of 246 performances...
, Ruddigore closed in November 1887, to make way for a revival of H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
. To allow the revival of the earlier work to be prepared at the Savoy, the last two performances of Ruddigore were given at the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
, on 8 and 9 November. It was not revived in the lifetimes of the composer or author.
Roles
- Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd Disguised as Robin OakappleOak appleOak apple is the common name for a large, round, vaguely apple-like gall commonly found on many species of oak. Oak apples range in size from 2-5cm. Oak apples are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. The adult female wasp lays single...
, a Young Farmer (comic baritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
) - Richard Dauntless His Foster-Brother – A Man-o'-war's-man (tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
) - Sir Despard Murgatroyd of Ruddigore, A Wicked Baronet (bass-baritoneBass-baritoneA bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
or baritone) - Old Adam Goodheart Robin's Faithful Servant (bass)
- Rose Maybud A Village Maiden (sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
) - Mad Margaret (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
) - Dame Hannah Rose's Aunt (contraltoContraltoContralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
) - Zorah Professional Bridesmaid (soprano)
- Ruth Professional Bridesmaid (speaking/chorus)
Ghosts
- Sir Rupert Murgatroyd The First Baronet
- Sir Jasper Murgatroyd The Third Baronet
- Sir Lionel Murgatroyd The Sixth Baronet
- Sir Conrad Murgatroyd The Twelfth Baronet
- Sir Desmond Murgatroyd The Sixteenth Baronet
- Sir Gilbert Murgatroyd The Eighteenth Baronet
- Sir Mervyn Murgatroyd The Twentieth Baronet
- Sir Roderic Murgatroyd The Twenty-first Baronet (bass-baritoneBass-baritoneA bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
)
- Chorus of Officers, Ancestors, Professional Bridesmaids and Villagers
Act I
In the town of Rederring, in CornwallCornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, a chorus of professional bridesmaid
Bridesmaid
The bridesmaids are members of the bride's wedding party in a wedding. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman, and often a close friend or sister. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony...
s frets that there have been no weddings for the last six months. All of the eligible young men are hopeful of a union with Rose Maybud, the prettiest maiden in the village, yet they are too timid to approach her. The desperate bridesmaids ask Rose's aunt, Dame Hannah, if she would consider marrying, but she has vowed to remain eternally single. Many years previously, she had been betrothed to "a god-like youth" who turned out to be Sir Roderic Murgatroyd, one of the bad baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
s of Ruddigore. Only on her wedding day had she discovered his true identity.
After the horrified bridesmaids exit, Dame Hannah greets her niece, Rose, and inquires whether there is any young man in the village whom she could love. Rose, who takes her ideas of Right and Wrong from a book of etiquette, replies that all of the young men she meets are either too rude or too shy. Dame Hannah asks particularly about Robin Oakapple, a virtuous farmer, but Rose replies that he is too diffident to approach her, and the rules of etiquette forbid her from speaking until she is spoken to. Robin enters, claiming to seek advice from Rose about "a friend" who is in love. Rose says that she has such a friend too, but Robin is too shy to take the hint. Rose's devotion to etiquette prevents her from taking the first step, and so they part.
Mad Margaret appears, dishevelled and crazed
Mad scene
In opera, a mad scene is an enactment of insanity in an opera or play. It was a popular convention of Italian and French opera in the early decades of the nineteenth century....
. She has been driven to madness by her love for Sir Despard, the "Bad Baronet." She is jealously seeking Rose Maybud, having heard that Sir Despard intends to carry Rose off as one of his daily "crimes." Rose tells her, however, that she need not fear, as she is pledged to another. They leave just in time to avoid the arrival of Sir Despard, who muses that although he must commit a heinous crime every day, for the rest of the day, he does good works. He then proceeds to frighten the village girls and the Bucks and Blades who have come to court the girls. Despard explains that he is baronet only because of the death of his elder brother, Ruthven. Richard approaches him, and under a poor guise of moral soul-searching, discloses that Robin Oakapple is Despard's long-lost brother Ruthven, in disguise. The elated Despard declares that he is "free at last".
The village gathers to celebrate the nuptials of Rose and Robin. Sir Despard interrupts, revealing that Robin is his elder brother and must accept his rightful title as the Bad Baronet. Rose, horrified at Robin's true identity, resolves to marry Despard – who refuses her: now free of the curse, the ex-baronet takes up with his old love and fiancée Mad Margaret, who is ecstatic. Rose then accepts Richard, as he "is the only one that's left." Robin leaves to take up his rightful identity as Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd.
Act II
At Ruddigore Castle, Robin (now Sir Ruthven) tries to come to grips with being a bad baronet, a task at which he proves to be spectacularly lacking. Old Adam suggests various evil crimes, but Robin prefers minor acts that are not criminal, but "merely rude". Richard and Rose enter to ask Robin's consent to their marriage, which he gives grudgingly.
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
return "Nothing at all", say the ghosts, "Everybody does that. It's expected of you.") Robin's uncle, the late Sir Roderic Murgatroyd, orders him to "carry off a lady" that day or perish in horrible agony. After the ghosts treat him to a sample of the agonies he would face, Robin reluctantly agrees. He tells Adam to go to the village and abduct a lady – "Any lady!"
Despard has atoned for his previous ten years of evil acts and has married Mad Margaret. The two of them now live a life of moderately-paid public service. They come to the castle and urge Robin to renounce his life of crime. When Robin asserts that he has done no wrong yet, they remind him that he is morally responsible for all the crimes Despard had done in his stead. Realising the extent of his guilt, Robin resolves to defy his ancestors.
Meanwhile, Adam has complied with Robin's orders but has unfortunately chosen to abduct Dame Hannah. The dame proves formidable indeed, and Robin cries out for his uncle's protection. Sir Roderic duly appears, recognises his former love, and, angered that his former fiancée has been abducted, dismisses Robin. Left alone, he and Dame Hannah enjoy a brief reunion. Robin interrupts them, accompanied by Rose, Richard, and the bridesmaids. He quibbles
Quibble (plot device)
In literature, a quibble is a common plot device, used to fulfill the exact verbal conditions of an agreement in order to avoid the intended meaning. Its most common uses are in legal bargains and, in fantasy, magically enforced ones....
that, under the terms of the curse, a Baronet of Ruddigore can die only by refusing to commit a daily crime. Refusing is therefore "tantamount to suicide", but suicide is, itself, a crime. Thus, he reasons, his predecessors "ought never to have died at all."* Roderic follows this logic and agrees, stating that he is "practically" alive.
Now that Robin is free of the curse, Rose once again drops Richard and happily resumes her engagement to Robin. Roderic and Dame Hannah embrace, while Richard settles for the First Bridesmaid, Zorah.
- Note: In the original ending, all of the ghosts came back to life at the end. In the revised ending substituted by Gilbert after the premiere, only Sir Roderic comes back to life.
Musical numbers
- Original Overture (arranged by Hamilton ClarkeHamilton ClarkeJames Hamilton Siree Clarke , better known as Hamilton Clarke, was an English conductor, composer and organist...
includes "I once was as meek", "Oh, why am I moody and sad?", "Welcome, gentry", "The battle's roar is over", and "When a man has been a naughty Baronet") - Revised Overture (arranged by Geoffrey ToyeGeoffrey ToyeEdward Geoffrey Toye , better known as Geoffrey Toye, was an English conductor, composer and opera producer....
, 1920; includes "I once was as meek", "When the night wind howls", "I know a youth", "My eyes are fully open", "I shipped, d'ye see" and Hornpipe)
Act I
- 1. "Fair is Rose" (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
- 2. "Sir Rupert Murgatroyd" (Hannah and Chorus)
- 3. "If somebody there chanced to be" (Rose)
- 4. "I know a youth" (Rose and Robin)
- 5. "From the briny sea" (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
- 6. "I shipp'd, d'ye see, in a revenue sloop" (Richard and Chorus)
- 6a. Hornpipe
- 7. "My boy, you may take it from me" (Robin and Richard)
- 8. "The battle's roar is over" (Rose and Richard)
- 9. "If well his suit has sped" (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
- 10. "In sailing o'er life's ocean wide" (Rose, Richard, and Robin)
- 11. "Cheerily carols the lark" (Margaret)
- 12. "Welcome, gentry" (Double Chorus)
- 13. "Oh, why am I moody and sad?" (Sir Despard and Chorus)
- 14. "You understand? I think I do" (Richard and Sir Despard)
- 15. Finale Act I
- "Hail the bride of seventeen summers" (Ensemble)
- Madrigal, "When the buds are blossoming" (Ensemble)
- "When I'm a bad Bart, I will tell taradiddles!" (Robin and Chorus)
- "Oh, happy the lily" (Ensemble)
Act II
- 16. "I once was as meek" (Sir Ruthven and Adam)
- 17. "Happily coupled are we" (Rose and Richard)
- 18. "In bygone days" (Rose with Chorus of Bridesmaids)
- 19. "Painted emblems of a race" (Sir Ruthven, Sir Roderic, and Chorus of Ancestors)
- 20. "When the night wind howls" (Sir Roderic and Chorus)
- 21. "He yields, he yields" (Chorus)
- 21a. (original) "Away, remorse!" ... "For thirty-five years I've been sober and wary" (Robin)
- 21a. (replaced) "Away, remorse!" ... "Henceforth all the crimes" (Robin) (The original song was replaced about a week into the original run. For the history of this number, see Versions.
- 22. "I once was a very abandoned person" (Margaret and Despard)
- 23. "My eyes are fully open" (Margaret, Sir Ruthven, and Despard)
- 24. "Melodrame"
- 25. "There grew a little flower" (Hannah with Sir Roderic)
- 26. Finale Act II (Ensemble)
- "When a man has been a naughty baronet"
- "For happy the lily" (reprise) (Ensemble) (See Versions).
"My eyes are fully open" (with some changed lyrics) was used in Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
's production of The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
. The tune of the song is also used as "The Speed Test" in the 2002 musical Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie (musical)
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan, and a book by Richard Morris and Scanlan. Based on the 1967 film of the same name, Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of a small-town girl, Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York City to marry for...
.
Premiere and reception
The first night was not as successful as the other Savoy opera premieres because of controversy over the title and revivification of the ghosts, and reservations about the plot and music. According to the St. James's Gazette, "The first act was well received by the audience. Number after number was rapturously encored, and every droll sally of dialogue was received with a shout of appreciative mirth." The interval was long (a half hour) as the elaborate picture gallery needed to be set up, but D'Oyly Carte had anticipated this and had printed indulgence slips which were distributed. It was marked by noisy hubbub when Lord Randolph ChurchillLord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill MP was a British statesman. He was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his wife Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane , daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry...
was spotted in the crowd, but a loud shout of "No politics!" brought relative calm. The second act, however, ended badly. On 23 January 1887, under the heading "Their First Flat Failure; The First Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Not a Success", The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported, "When the curtain finally fell there was hissing – the first ever heard in the Savoy Theatre. The audience even voiced sentiments in words and there were shouts and cries such as these: 'Take off this rot!' 'Give us The Mikado!'" The paper added, "(T)he name is decidedly against it."
Leonora Braham
Leonora Braham , born Leonora Lucy Abraham, was an English opera singer and actress primarily known as the creator of principal soprano roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas....
as Rose Maybud and by George Grossmith
George Grossmith
George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades...
's usual first night jitters, a week after which he fell dangerously ill and had to be replaced by his understudy, Henry Lytton
Henry Lytton
Sir Henry Lytton was an English actor and singer who was the leading exponent of the comic patter-baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the early part of the twentieth century...
, for almost three weeks. Sullivan noted in his diary, "Production of Ruddigore (sic) at Savoy. Very enthusiastic up to the last 20 minutes, then the audience showed dissatisfaction."
Critical reception
On the day of the premiere, The New York Times, whose correspondent attended the dress rehearsal the day before, warned, "The music is not up to the standard of Sir Arthur Sullivan. As a whole it is largely commonplace ... Gilbert's dialogue in the first act is here and there very amusing, but in the second it is slow and tedious." The press generally agreed with the Savoy audience that the second act of the premiere was inferior to the first. The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
opined that "the fun which runs alive in the first act runs completely dry in the second, which is long and tedious, and winds up with an anti-climax of inanity." The Times praised both the libretto and the music of the first act ("Everything sparkles with the flashes of Mr. Gilbert's wit and the graces of Sir Arthur Sullivan's melodiousness... one is almost at a loss what to select for quotation from an embarrassment of humorous riches.") but rated the score, as a whole, "of a fair average kind, being not equal to The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic magazine in 1876...
but certainly superior to Princess Ida." Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
also thought the second act weak: "The idea of the burlesque is funny to begin with, but not to go on with". The Pall Mall Gazette
Pall Mall Gazette
The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
thought the libretto "as witty and fanciful as any of the series" though "the second half of the last act dragged a little." The New York Times reported, "the second (act) fell flat from the beginning and was a gloomy and tedious failure." According to the St. James's Gazette, "gradually the enthusiasm faded away and the interest of the story began to flag, until at last the plot seemed within an ace of collapsing altogether."
The Era (newspaper)
The Era was a British weekly paper, published from 1838 to 1939. Originally a general newspaper, it became noted for its sports coverage, and later for its theatrical content.-History:...
commented, "the libretto as a whole is very weak and loosely constructed." Fun
Fun (magazine)
Fun was a Victorian weekly magazine, first published on 21 September 1861. The magazine was founded by the actor and playwright H. J. Byron in competition with Punch magazine.-Description:...
asked, "Could it be possible that we were to have a dull play from the cleverest and most original humorist of the day? Alas! It could – it was." According to the Pall Mall Budget, "the players seemed to be nervous from the start. Miss Braham forgot her lines, and was not in voice. Mr. (George) Grossmith was in the same plight". The Times also criticised Braham, stating that she "acted most charmingly, but sang persistently out of tune". The staging was also criticised: The Times stated, "The ghost scene ... of which preliminary notices and hints of the initiated had led one to expect much, was a very tame affair." The Era thought Sullivan's score "far from being fresh and spontaneous as is his wont".
Not all newspapers were adversely critical. The Sunday Express headlined its review "Another Brilliant Success." The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
agreed and stated that the work was "received with every demonstration of delight by a distinguished and representative audience." The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
also praised the piece, though allowing that it "lacks something of the sustained brilliance" of The Mikado. The Daily News applauded the innovation of Sullivan (who conducted, as usual, on the first night), of conducting with a baton tipped with a small incandescent light. Scholar Reginald Allen suggested that the reviews in the Sunday papers may have been better than the others because their critics, facing deadlines (the premiere was on Saturday night, and finished late because of the long interval), may not have stayed to the end. Fun, having disparaged the libretto, said of the music, "Sir Arthur has surpassed himself". The Pall Mall Gazette praised the "charming melodies, fresh and delightful as ever"; The Daily News wrote that "Mr Gilbert retains in all its fulness his unique facility for humorous satire and whimsical topsy-turveydom" and praised Sullivan's "melodic genius which never fails". Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper said, "Sir Arthur Sullivan must be congratulated.
Subsequent reviews and reception
Subsequent reviews, written after Gilbert and Sullivan had renamed the show and made other changes, were generally more favourable. A week after the premiere, the Illustrated London NewsIllustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...
praised the work, the actors and both Gilbert and, especially, Sullivan: "Sir Arthur Sullivan has eminently succeeded alike in the expression of refined sentiment and comic humour. In the former respect, the charm of graceful melody prevails; while, in the latter, the music of the most grotesque situations is redolent of fun." On 1 February 1887, The Theatre wrote, "There can be no doubt that by its admirable production of Messrs. Gilbert and Sullivan's latest work the Savoy management has scored another of those shining and remunerative successes that its enterprise, intelligence, and good taste have repeatedly achieved – and merited." A week later, The Academy reckoned that Ruddygore (as it was still called in the review) was probably not so good as Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
or The Mikado, nor as "fresh" as H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
, but "it is better than ... Princess Ida
Princess Ida
Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. Princess Ida opened at the Savoy Theatre on January 5, 1884, for a run of 246 performances...
, the Pirates
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, and Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
". The Musical Times
The Musical Times
The Musical Times is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It is currently the oldest such journal that is still publishing in the UK, having been published continuously since 1844. It was published as The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular until...
called the work "one of the most brilliant examples which the associated art of Messrs. Gilbert and Sullivan has brought into existence," and said that Sullivan had "written some of his freshest and most delightful melodies." However, in the view of The Manchester Guardian, reviewing the Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
premiere in March 1887, "The weakness of his central idea has led Mr Gilbert into extravagance without wit and parody without point."
On 5 February 1887, The New York Times reported the change of name to Ruddigore. "In consequence of the criticisms on the piece, the second act has been changed. The pictures, with the exception of one, no longer come down from their frames. The houses are packed, as they always are in London, but the opinion is universal that the thing will be a worse failure in the provinces and America than Iolanthe." In a letter cabled to The New York Times and printed on 18 February, Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era...
denied that the piece was a failure, stating that box office receipts were running ahead of the same time period for The Mikado, despite the absence of the ailing Grossmith, who was by then recovering. He acknowledged that there had been "isolated hisses" on the first night because some audience members did not like the reappearance of the ghosts or a reference to the "Supreme Court" (according to D'Oyly Carte, misunderstood as "Supreme Being") but asserted that both objections had been addressed by the removal of the offending material, and that audience reaction had been otherwise enthusiastic. He added, "The theatre is crammed nightly."
Fifth Avenue Theatre
Fifth Avenue Theatre was a Broadway theatre in New York City in the United States located at 31 West 28th Street and Broadway. It was demolished in 1939....
sold them by public auction. A "large and brilliant" audience assembled for the New York premiere on 21 February 1887. "After the first half of the first act there was a palpable diminution of interest on the part of the audience, and it must be admitted that there were times during the course of the evening when people were bored." While the critic had praise for many members of the cast and felt the production would improve once the cast was more familiar with the work, the reviewer concluded that "Gilbert and Sullivan have failed." On the other hand, the American tour, beginning in Philadelphia six days later, met with a much more favourable audience reaction. "That the opera is a great success here and another "Mikado" in prospective popularity there can be no question.... The general verdict is that Sullivan never composed more brilliant music, while Gilbert's keen satire and pungent humor is (sic) as brilliant as ever." During the summer of 1886, Braham secretly married J. Duncan Young, previously a principal tenor with the company. In early 1887, shortly into the run of Ruddigore, Braham informed Carte that she was pregnant with her second child, a daughter, who would be born on 6 May. Geraldine Ulmar
Geraldine Ulmar
Geraldine Ulmar was an American singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:...
, the Rose in the New York cast, was summoned to London to take over the role.
Gilbert ranked Ruddigore along with The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and ran for 423 performances...
and Utopia Limited as one of his three favourite Savoy operas. Later assessments have found much merit in the piece. After it was revived by the D'Oyly Carte Opera company in 1920, the work remained in their regular repertory, and it has generally been given a place in the regular rotation of other Gilbert and Sullivan repertory companies. By 1920, in a reappraisal of the piece, Samuel Langford
Samuel Langford
Samuel Langford was an influential English music critic of the early twentieth century.Trained as a pianist, Langford became chief music critic of The Manchester Guardian in 1906, serving in that post until his death...
wrote in The Manchester Guardian that "the gruesome strain is the real Gilbertian element" but "the opera has abundant charm among its more forbidding qualities". In 1934 Hesketh Pearson
Hesketh Pearson
Edward Hesketh Gibbons Pearson was a British actor, theatre director and writer. He is known mainly for his popular biographies; they made him the leading British biographer of his time, in terms of commercial success....
rated the libretto among Gilbert's best. In a 1937 review, The Manchester Guardian declared,
- It is incomprehensible that Ruddigore should ever have been considered less attractive than the other comic operas in the Savoy series. The libretto gives us Gilbert at his wittiest, and in the music we hear Sullivan not only in his most tuneful vein but also as a master of more subtle rhythms than he commands elsewhere. Moreover, the parody is one that all can enjoy to the full, for here the satire is not pointed at a coterie, nor at this or that æsthetic movement, but at the absurdities of a melodramatic tradition which is nearly as old as the stage itself.
In 1984, Arthur Jacobs rated Ruddigore "One of the weaker of Gilbert's librettos, it was seen (especially after the freshness of invention in The Mikado) to be rather obviously relying on brushed-up ideas.... The plot is supposedly a burlesque of what was 'transpontine' melodrama.... But that brand of melodrama was itself hardly alive enough to be made fun of. As the Weekly Dispatch put it: 'If stage work of the kind caricatured in Ruddygore or The Witch's Curse is not extinct, it is relegated to regions unfrequented by the patrons of Mr D'Oyly Carte's theatre'." Nevertheless, the show has made its way into popular culture in several ways. At least three murder mysteries concern the show. Murder and Sullivan by Sarah Hoskinson Frommer, which involves a production of Ruddigore; Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood concerns murders taking place during a 1920s revival of the opera. The Ghost's High Noon by John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr was an American author of detective stories, who also published under the pen names Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn....
quotes the song of the same name from Ruddigore. In "Runaround
Runaround
"Runaround" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, featuring his recurring characters Powell and Donovan. It was written in October 1941 and first published in the March 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction...
", a story in I, Robot
I, Robot
I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are...
, by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
, a robot, while in a state similar to drunkenness, sings snippets of "There Grew a Little Flower" from Ruddigore. In the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio, Doctor Who and the Pirates
Doctor Who and the Pirates
Doctor Who and the Pirates is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, songs from Ruddigore and other G&S shows, are parodied. In the law case of Banks v. District of Columbia Dep’t of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, 634 A.2d 433, 441 fn. 1 (D.C. 1993), the judge cites Robin's admonition to "blow your own trumpet".
Musical content
The Sullivan scholar Gervase Hughes characterised Sir Roderic's song "When the night wind howls" as "unquestionably the finest piece of descriptive music that Sullivan ever wrote, worthy of a place beside SchubertFranz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's Erlkönig, Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's overture to The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman (opera)
Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner.Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write "The Flying Dutchman" following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, but in his 1843...
, and well above Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
' Danse macabre
Danse Macabre (Saint-Saëns)
Danse macabre, Op. 40, is a tone poem for orchestra, written in 1874 by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. It started out in 1872 as an art song for voice and piano with a French text by the poet Henri Cazalis, which is based in an old French superstition...
, all of which are tone-paintings in a similar colour. Although the vocal score gives not a hint of the uncanny brilliance of the orchestration, it demonstrates the sure footholds by which the music in a round dozen bars finds its way from D minor to A flat major and back and the shattering impact of the fortissimo chorus entry at an interrupted cadence on the chord of B flat major. The progressions that follow look to be unusual, but if we study them carefully we realise that here Sullivan is not feeling his way in unfamiliar territory. Rather we may find in these few bars an apotheosis of his matured harmonic resource."
Changes during the initial run
After the unfavourable reception that the opera received on opening night, Gilbert and Sullivan made numerous significant cuts and alterations: Sullivan recorded in his diary:- [23 January 1887]: Gilbert and Carte came. Pow-wow. Several changes and cuts decided on.
- [24 January]: Alterations made in finale [2nd act]: ghosts not brought back to life.
- [25 January]: Long rehearsal for cuts and changes (without band).
- [30 January] Wrote and scored new song (second act) for Grossmith.
- [31 January]: Busy all day. Went to American consulate to sign agreement for American "Ruddygore". Finished score of new finale
Gilbert and Sullivan made the following changes:
- The initial title, Ruddygore, was changed because of claims that "ruddy" was too similar to the then-taboo curse word "bloodyBloodyBloody is the adjectival form of blood but may also be used as an expletive attributive in Australia, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, South Africa , New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Anglophone Caribbean and Sri Lanka...
" it was shortly changed to Ruddigore. Gilbert's response to being told they meant the same thing was: "Not at all, for that would mean that if I said that I admired your ruddy countenance, which I do, I would be saying that I liked your bloody cheek, which I don't."
- "I once was as meek" (No. 16) originally had two verses. In the cut second verse, Robin's servant says that he has changed his name from Adam Goodheart to Gideon Crawle since he is now a "bad Bart.'s steward." Old Adam is then referred to as "Gideon Crawle" or "Gideon" for the rest of Act II. After the cut, he remained Old Adam throughout, except for a single erroneous reference ("Gideon Crawle, it won't do!") which persisted in many librettos well into the 20th century.
- "In bygone days" (No. 18) was cut from two verses to one.
- "Painted emblems of a race" (No. 19) originally had two extra passages, including a March of the Ghosts after they descend from their frames, both of which were cut. (This alteration may have occurred before the premiere). The dialogue between Robin and the ghosts afterwards was also shortened.
- The patter song after the recitative "Away, remorse!" (No. 21a) was changed from "For thirty-five years I've been sober and wary" to "Henceforth all the crimes that I find in the Times". The rewriting of the song was prompted by a letter from Gilbert, dated 25 January: "I can’t help thinking that the second act would be greatly improved if the recitation before Grossmith’s song were omitted and the song re-set to an air that would admit of his singing it desperately – almost in a passion, the torrent of which would take him off the stage at the end. After a long and solemn ghost scene, I fancy a lachrymose song is quite out of place".
- Despard's and Margaret's stated (in No. 22) place of employment was changed from "a Sunday School" to "a National School."
- The dialogue scene among Robin, Despard and Margaret before the patter trio (No. 23) was shortened.
- The dialogue scene before "There grew a little flower" (No. 25) was considerably shortened; the first version exploring the topsy-turvy idea that if Sir Roderic and Dame Hannah were married, her husband would be a ghost, and she would therefore be a wife and a widow at the same time (this concept was recycled in The Grand DukeThe Grand DukeThe Grand Duke; or, The Statutory Duel, is the final Savoy Opera written by librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, their fourteenth and last opera together. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on March 7, 1896, and ran for 123 performances...
). Roderic originally entered through a trap door in the floor, where red flames could be seen shooting around him. This was changed to an entrance from the picture frame.
- The second revivification of the ghosts was dropped, with only Roderic being revived. Somewhat implausibly, this required the "chorus of Bucks and Blades" from Act I to be present at the castle at the end of Act II, to provide a four-part chorus for the finale.
- The finale was revised and extended, ending with a common-time reworking of "Oh happy the lily", rather than a straight reprise as previously.
The original vocal score, published in March 1887, represented this revised version of the musical text.
A 1987 recording by the New Sadler's Wells Opera, for which David Russell Hulme was adviser, restored most of the surviving material from the first-night version, including "For thirty-five years I've been sober and wary", as well as the extra music from the ghost scene. The recording and the production were based on a pre-publication version of the 2000 Oxford University Press edition, in which the music for these passages was published for the first time.
Revisions in the 1920s
David Russell Hulme
David Russell Hulme is a Welsh conductor and musicologist known for his research and publications on the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan, the Victorian era composer who, with Sir W. S...
attributes the changes principally to Harry Norris
Harry Norris (conductor)
Harry Norris was a New Zealand-born conductor best remembered as musical director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company between 1919 and 1929. After leaving that company, Norris emigrated to Canada to teach but returned to retire in England in the 1960s.-Life and career:Norris was born in...
, musical director at the time of the Glasgow revival. Other changes were certainly made by Geoffrey Toye
Geoffrey Toye
Edward Geoffrey Toye , better known as Geoffrey Toye, was an English conductor, composer and opera producer....
, and possibly Malcolm Sargent
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
, but he is unable to say for sure which conductor was responsible for which change, except that Toye undoubtedly composed the new overture.
The most conspicuous changes that became traditional were as follows:
- Geoffrey Toye, the D'Oyly Carte musical director for the first London revival, supplied a new overture.
- The playoffs to Dame Hannah's Act I aria "Sir Rupert Murgatroyd" (No. 2) and Rose's song "If somebody there chanced to be" (No. 3) were shortened.
- Robin's Act I patter song "My boy, you may take it from me" (No. 7) has a shortened introduction, and repeats with Richard were deleted.
- Richard and Rose's Act I duet "The battle's roar is over" (No. 8) was cut.
- Some cuts were made within the Act I finale (No. 15) to shorten transitions between sections.
- Drum rolls and other orchestral effects were added to the ghost scene in Act II (Nos. 19–20)
- Robin's Act II recitative and patter song "Away, remorse" ... "Henceforth all the crimes" (No. 21a) was cut.
- The "Melodrame" (No. 24) was cut.
- The Act II finale was replaced. The finale as composed and revised by Sullivan had consisted of "When a man has been a naughty baronet," plus a modified reprise of "Oh, happy the lily" in 4/4 time. The replacement (ironically rather closer to Sullivan's discarded original) was a straight reprise of "Oh, happy the lily" in the form it had taken in the Act I finale, in 9/8 time.
The standard Chappell vocal score was revised in the late 1920s to reflect this new tradition, including the Toye overture, the deletion of Robin's Act II song, the revised finale, and numerous other changes. However, the Melodrame and "The battle's roar is over" continued to be printed. The G. Schirmer vocal score published in America agreed with the revised Chappell score, except that it also included Robin's Act II recitative and patter song "Henceforth all the crimes", the Melodrame and both versions of the Act II finale.
Until the Oxford University Press edition was published in 2000, the available orchestral parts reflected many of the standard D'Oyly Carte alterations, although the traditionally cut songs were available to those who wanted them. The Oxford edition has led to an increased interest in the opera as Gilbert and Sullivan wrote it, and has also made it easier to restore passages deleted from the opera. Due to the many different editions available and the work's complex textual history, there is no standard performing version of Ruddigore.
Comparing the two extant overtures, Gervase Hughes wrote:
It would be ungracious to track down the perpetrator of the original overture to Ruddigore, which is a crude "selection" hardly redeemed by its spirited ending. The final cadence is by no means typical of Sullivan. In this overture a "double chorus" ... is taken complete from the opera – an unsatisfactory move because it vitiates its effect in the proper place. Nor is the orchestration of the passage particularly skilful.... When Ruddigore was revived after some thirty-four years this jumble was found unsuitable ... and a new overture (which has been used ever since) was written by Geoffrey Toye. No precedents were followed and there is nothing Sullivanesque about it except the actual tunes; if one of them is momentarily developed in a manner that suggests a haunted ballroom rather than a haunted picture-gallery there is no great harm in that.
Productions
In contrast to its predecessor, The MikadoThe Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
, Ruddigore had a comparatively short original run of 288 performances. The provincial tour was very brief, closing by early June 1887. A production in New York with D'Oyly Carte personnel ran for 53 performances. The opera was not revived during Gilbert and Sullivan's lifetimes. Six portraits of the ancestors that appeared in Act II of the original London production have survived and are on display at Normansfield Hospital Entertainment Hall, southwest London.
The first revival was in December 1920 in Glasgow, and the first London revival was the following year. The opera was cut and heavily revised, including a new overture and a new second-act finale. The revival was a success, and from that point on, Ruddigore was a permanent fixture in the D'Oyly Carte repertory. It was included in every season until the winter of 1940–41, when the scenery and costumes (along with those of three other operas) were destroyed in enemy action.
In Australia, no authorised production of Ruddigore was seen until 23 June 1927, at the Theatre Royal, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, produced by the J. C. Williamson
J. C. Williamson
James Cassius Williamson was an American actor and later Australia's foremost theatrical manager, founding J. C. Williamson Ltd....
company. A new D'Oyly Carte production debuted on 1 November 1948. From then on, it was played in every season through 1976–77, aside from 1962–63 (a season that included a lengthy overseas tour). In the late 1970s, the Company started to play a reduced repertory. Ruddigore was included in the 1976–77 tour, then for five months in 1978–1979; and finally in 1981–82.
In 1987, the New Sadler's Wells Opera produced Ruddigore using a new edition of the text that restored many of the passages that prior productions had cut. Among recent professional productions, both Britain's Opera North
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
and the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players
New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players
New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players is a professional repertory theatre company, based in New York City that has specialized in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan for over 35 years...
mounted well-regarded stagings in 2010. Opera North revived its production in 2011.
The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime:
| Theatre | Opening Date | Closing Date | Perfs. | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savoy Theatre | January 22, 1887 | November 5, 1887 | 288 | First London run. |
| Fifth Avenue Theatre Fifth Avenue Theatre Fifth Avenue Theatre was a Broadway theatre in New York City in the United States located at 31 West 28th Street and Broadway. It was demolished in 1939.... , New York |
February 21, 1887 | April 9, 1887 | 53 | Authorised American production. |
Historical casting
The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to the company's 1982 closure:| Role | Savoy Theatre 1887 | Fifth Avenue 1887 | D'Oyly Carte 1920 Tour | D'Oyly Carte 1930 Tour | D'Oyly Carte 1939 Tour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robin Oakapple | George Grossmith George Grossmith George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades... |
George Thorne George Thorne George Thorne, was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, especially on tour and in the original New York City productions... |
Henry Lytton Henry Lytton Sir Henry Lytton was an English actor and singer who was the leading exponent of the comic patter-baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the early part of the twentieth century... |
Henry Lytton Henry Lytton Sir Henry Lytton was an English actor and singer who was the leading exponent of the comic patter-baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the early part of the twentieth century... |
Martyn Green Martyn Green William Martyn-Green , better known as Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his work as principal comedian in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas, which he performed and recorded with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and other troupes.After army service in World War I,... |
| Richard Dauntless | Durward Lely Durward Lely Durward Lely was a Scottish opera singer primarily known as the creator of five tenor roles in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas, including Nanki-Poo in The Mikado.... |
Courtice Pounds Courtice Pounds Charles Courtice Pounds , better known by the stage name Courtice Pounds, was an English singer and actor known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his later roles in Shakespeare plays and Edwardian musical comedies.As a young member... |
Derek Oldham Derek Oldham Derek Oldham was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... |
Charles Goulding Charles Goulding Charles Goulding was an English operatic tenor best known for his performances with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the Gilbert and Sullivan repertory.-Early years:... |
John Dean John Dean (singer) John Dean was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:... |
| Sir Despard | Rutland Barrington Rutland Barrington Rutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades... |
Fred Billington Fred Billington Fred Billington was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company... |
Leo Sheffield Leo Sheffield Leo Sheffield was an English singer and actor best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... |
Sydney Granville Sydney Granville Sydney Granville was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... |
Sydney Granville Sydney Granville Sydney Granville was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... |
| Old Adam | Rudolph Lewis | Leo Kloss | Douglas Kirke | Leo Kloss | L. Radley Flynn L. Radley Flynn L. Radley "Rad" Flynn was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He married D'Oyly Carte contralto Ella Halman in 1940.... |
| Sir Roderic | Richard Temple | Frederick Federici | Darrell Fancourt Darrell Fancourt Darrell Fancourt was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances and recordings of the Savoy Operas.... |
Darrell Fancourt Darrell Fancourt Darrell Fancourt was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances and recordings of the Savoy Operas.... |
Darrell Fancourt Darrell Fancourt Darrell Fancourt was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances and recordings of the Savoy Operas.... |
| Rose Maybud | Leonora Braham Leonora Braham Leonora Braham , born Leonora Lucy Abraham, was an English opera singer and actress primarily known as the creator of principal soprano roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas.... |
Geraldine Ulmar Geraldine Ulmar Geraldine Ulmar was an American singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:... |
Sylvia Cecil Sylvia Cecil Sylvia Cecil was an English singer and actress. She began her career in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She soon moved on to musical comedy, including the musicals of Ivor Novello and Noël Coward, as well as variety and radio. Her career spanned at least... |
Sylvia Cecil Sylvia Cecil Sylvia Cecil was an English singer and actress. She began her career in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She soon moved on to musical comedy, including the musicals of Ivor Novello and Noël Coward, as well as variety and radio. Her career spanned at least... |
Margery Abbott |
| Mad Margaret | Jessie Bond Jessie Bond Jessie Bond was an English singer and actress best known for creating the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. She spent twenty years on the stage, the bulk of them with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.Musical from an early age, Bond began a concert singing... |
Kate Forster | Catherine Ferguson | Nellie Briercliffe Nellie Briercliffe Nellie Briercliffe was an English singer and actress best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... |
Marjorie Eyre Marjorie Eyre Marjorie Eyre was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the soprano and mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company... |
| Dame Hannah | Rosina Brandram Rosina Brandram Rosina Brandram was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for creating many of the contralto roles in the Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... |
Elsie Cameron | Bertha Lewis Bertha Lewis Bertha Lewis was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her work as principal contralto in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Early life and career:... |
Bertha Lewis Bertha Lewis Bertha Lewis was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her work as principal contralto in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Early life and career:... |
Evelyn Gardiner |
| Zorah | Josephine Findlay | Aida Jenoure | Marion Brignal | Sybil Gordon Sybil Gordon Sybil Gordon was a British singer. She is best remembered for her performances in Gilbert and Sullivan roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1926 to 1931. Gordon started out as a concert singer. After her career with the D'Oyly Carte company, she moved to Canada, where she broadcast on... |
Marjorie Flinn |
| Ruth | Miss Lindsay | Miss Murray | Mary Athol | Murielle Barron | Maysie Dean |
| Role | D'Oyly Carte 1948 Tour | D'Oyly Carte 1958 Tour | D'Oyly Carte 1966 Tour | D'Oyly Carte 1975 Tour | D'Oyly Carte 1982 Tour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robin Oakapple | Martyn Green Martyn Green William Martyn-Green , better known as Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his work as principal comedian in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas, which he performed and recorded with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and other troupes.After army service in World War I,... |
Peter Pratt Peter Pratt Peter Pratt was an English actor and singer who is best remembered for his comic roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas.... |
John Reed John Reed (actor) John Lamb Reed, OBE was an English actor, dancer and singer, known for his nimble performances in the principal comic roles of the Savoy Operas, particularly with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company... |
John Reed John Reed (actor) John Lamb Reed, OBE was an English actor, dancer and singer, known for his nimble performances in the principal comic roles of the Savoy Operas, particularly with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company... |
Peter Lyon |
| Richard Dauntless | Leonard Osborn Leonard Osborn Leonard Osborn was an English opera singer, best known for his portrayal of the tenor roles in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. An accomplished actor and dancer, he later became a stage director for the company.-Life and career:Leonard Alfred George Osborn was born in... |
Leonard Osborn Leonard Osborn Leonard Osborn was an English opera singer, best known for his portrayal of the tenor roles in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. An accomplished actor and dancer, he later became a stage director for the company.-Life and career:Leonard Alfred George Osborn was born in... |
David Palmer | Meston Reid Meston Reid Alexander Meston Reid , better known as Meston Reid, was a Scottish opera singer, best known for his performances in tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:... |
Meston Reid Meston Reid Alexander Meston Reid , better known as Meston Reid, was a Scottish opera singer, best known for his performances in tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:... |
| Sir Despard | Richard Watson Richard Watson (singer) Richard Charles Watson was an Australian bass opera and concert singer and actor. He is probably best remembered as a long-time principal with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company who sang the comic bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas, but he appeared in a wide range of operas at the Royal Opera... |
Kenneth Sandford Kenneth Sandford Kenneth Sandford was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.... |
Kenneth Sandford Kenneth Sandford Kenneth Sandford was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.... |
Kenneth Sandford Kenneth Sandford Kenneth Sandford was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.... |
Kenneth Sandford Kenneth Sandford Kenneth Sandford was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.... |
| Old Adam | L. Radley Flynn L. Radley Flynn L. Radley "Rad" Flynn was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He married D'Oyly Carte contralto Ella Halman in 1940.... |
John Banks | George Cook | Jon Ellison | Michael Buchan |
| Sir Roderic | Darrell Fancourt Darrell Fancourt Darrell Fancourt was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances and recordings of the Savoy Operas.... |
Donald Adams Donald Adams Charles Donald Adams was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his own company, Gilbert and Sullivan for All.Adams began his career with the BBC Repertory Company in 1944... |
Donald Adams Donald Adams Charles Donald Adams was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his own company, Gilbert and Sullivan for All.Adams began his career with the BBC Repertory Company in 1944... |
John Ayldon John Ayldon John Ayldon is an English opera singer, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:... |
John Ayldon John Ayldon John Ayldon is an English opera singer, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:... |
| Rose Maybud | Margaret Mitchell | Jean Barrington | Ann Hood | Julia Goss Julia Goss Julia Goss , is an English singer and actress best known for her performances in the principal soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company... |
Jill Washington |
| Mad Margaret | Pauline Howard | Joyce Wright Joyce Wright Joyce Wright is an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She was married for a time to another D'Oyly Carte performer, Peter Pratt.... |
Peggy Ann Jones Peggy Ann Jones Peggy Ann Jones is an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company... |
Judi Merri | Lorraine Daniels |
| Dame Hannah | Ella Halman Ella Halman Ella Louise Halman was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She married another D'Oyly Carte performer, L. Radley Flynn, in 1940.-Life and career:Halman was born in Ealing, Middlesex... |
Ann Drummond-Grant Ann Drummond-Grant Ann Drummond-Grant was a British singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.Drummond-Grant began her career as a soprano... |
Christene Palmer | Lyndsie Holland | Patricia Leonard Patricia Leonard Patricia Leonard was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in mezzo-soprano and contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... |
| Zorah | Muriel Harding | Mary Sansom | Jennifer Marks | Anne Egglestone | Jane Stanford |
| Ruth | Joyce Wright Joyce Wright Joyce Wright is an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She was married for a time to another D'Oyly Carte performer, Peter Pratt.... |
Beryl Dixon | Pauline Wales Pauline Wales Pauline Wales is an English singer and actress best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:... |
Marjorie Williams | Helene Witcombe |
Recordings
The four D'Oyly Carte Opera Company recordings (1924, 1931, 1950, 1962) substantially reflect the 1920s cuts and alterations, although they differ in some details. None of these four recordings include Robin's Act II recitative and patter song. There is no commercial recording of Ruddigore as Gilbert and Sullivan left it, but the 1987 New Sadler's Wells recording largely presents the opera with the materials that were included on its first night.The Gilbert and Sullivan Discography judges that the best commercial recording is the New Sadler's Wells disc and that, of those by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the 1924 and 1962 recordings are best. It also asserts that the Brent Walker video of Ruddigore is one of the stronger entries in that series. The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival
International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival
The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is held every summer at the Opera House in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. The three-week Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan performances and fringe events attracts thousands of visitors, including performers, supporters, and G&S enthusiasts from all...
also offers various video recordings of the opera, including its excellent 2004 professional G&S Opera Company recording.
Selected recordings
- 1924 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: Harry NorrisHarry Norris (conductor)Harry Norris was a New Zealand-born conductor best remembered as musical director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company between 1919 and 1929. After leaving that company, Norris emigrated to Canada to teach but returned to retire in England in the 1960s.-Life and career:Norris was born in...
- 1931 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: Malcolm SargentMalcolm SargentSir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
- 1950 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: Isidore GodfreyIsidore GodfreyIsidore Godfrey was musical director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for 39 years, from 1929 to 1968...
- 1962 D'Oyly Carte – Orchestra of the Royal Opera, Conductor: Isidore Godfrey
- 1963 Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, Pro Arte OrchestraPro Arte Orchestra-Background:The Pro Arte Orchestra was founded as a limited company chaired by the double-bass player Eugene Cruft; directors also included Archie Camden and Antony English. The initial aim was to perform "the finest of the lighter classics in orchestral music"...
, Conductor: Malcolm Sargent - 1967 Halas and Batchelor Films (animation; abridged) – D'Oyly Carte, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor: James WalkerJames Walker (conductor)James Walker was an Australian musician, known both as a conductor of ballet and opera and as a recording producer, supervising classical recording sessions....
- 1982 Brent Walker Productions (video) – Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Conductor: Alexander FarisAlexander FarisAlexander "Sandy" Faris is an Irish composer, conductor and writer, known for his television theme tunes. He has composed and recorded many operas and musicals, and has composed film scores and orchestral works.-Life and career:...
; Stage Director: Christopher Renshaw - 1987 New Sadler's Wells – Conductor: Simon Phipps
External links
- Ruddigore at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive
- Ruddigore at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography
- Numerous photographs of productions of Ruddigore
- Watercolor drawings of scenes from Ruddigore
- Bab illustrations of lyrics from Ruddigore
- Biographies of the people listed in the historical casting chart
- Gilbert & Sullivan song parodies, including some from Ruddigore
- Images from D'Oyly Carte productions of Ruddigore, 1887 to 1974