The Sorcerer
Encyclopedia
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. A young man, Alexis, is obsessed with idea of love levelling all ranks and social distinctions. To promote his beliefs, he invites the proprietor of J. W. Wells & Co., Family Sorcerers, to brew a love potion. This causes everyone in the village to fall in love with the first person they see and results in the pairing of comically mismatched couples. In the end, Wells must sacrifice himself to break the spell.
The opera opened on 17 November 1877 at the Opera Comique
in London, where it ran for 178 performances. It was considered a success by the standards of that time and encouraged the collaborators to write their next opera, H.M.S. Pinafore
. The Sorcerer was revised for an 1884 revival, and it is in that version that it is usually performed today. The Sorcerer was the first Savoy opera
for which the author and composer had nearly total control over the production and the selection of cast. Several of the actors chosen went on on to create principal roles in most of the later Gilbert and Sullivan
operas. It was their first opera to use all the major character types and typical range of songs that would appear in their later collaborations, such as comic duets, a patter song
, a contrapuntal double chorus, a tenor and soprano love duet, a soprano showpiece and so forth.
The modest success of The Sorcerer was overshadowed by the extraordinary popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan's later collaborations, and the opera remains one of the team's less popular ones. The satire in the piece concerns Victorian-era
class distinctions and operatic conventions with which modern audiences are less familiar. Nevertheless, the opera was important to the development of the Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and is still regularly played.
and Arthur Sullivan
had written Thespis, an extravaganza
for the Gaiety Theatre
's holiday season that did not lead immediately to any further collaboration. Three years later, in 1875, talent agent and producer Richard D'Oyly Carte
was managing the Royalty Theatre
, and he needed a short opera to be played as an afterpiece to Jacques Offenbach
's La Périchole
. Carte was able to bring Gilbert and Sullivan
together again to write the one-act piece, called Trial by Jury
, which became a surprise hit. The piece was witty, tuneful and very "English", in contrast to the bawdy burlesques and adaptations of French operetta
s that dominated the London musical stage at that time. Trial by Jury proved even more popular than La Périchole, becoming an unexpected hit, touring extensively and enjoying revivals and a world tour.
After the success of Trial by Jury, several producers attempted to reunite Gilbert and Sullivan, but difficulties arose. Plans for a collaboration for Carl Rosa in 1875 fell through because Gilbert was too busy with other projects, and an attempted Christmas 1875 revival of Thespis by Richard D'Oyly Carte failed when the financiers backed out. Gilbert and Sullivan continued their separate careers, though both continued writing light opera. Finally, in 1877, Carte organized a syndicate of four financiers and formed the Comedy Opera Company, capable of producing a full length work. By July 1877, Gilbert and Sullivan were under contract to produce a two-act opera. Gilbert expanded on his own short story that he had written the previous year for The Graphic
, "An Elixir of Love," creating a plot about a magic love potion that – as often occurs in opera – causes everyone to fall in love with the wrong partner.
Now backed by a company dedicated to their work, Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte were able to select their own cast, instead of using the players under contract to the theatre where the work was produced, as had been the case with their earlier works. They chose talented actors, most of whom were not well-known stars; and so did not command high fees, and whom they felt they could mould to their own style. Then, they tailored their work to the particular abilities of these performers. Carte approached Mrs Howard Paul to play the role of Lady Sangazure in the new opera. Mr and Mrs. Howard Paul had operated a small touring company booked by Carte's agency for many years, but the couple had recently separated. She conditioned her acceptance of the part on the casting of her 24-year-old protégé, Rutland Barrington
. When Barrington auditioned before W. S. Gilbert
, the young actor questioned his own suitability for comic opera
, but Gilbert, who required that his actors play their sometimes-absurd lines in all earnestness, explained the casting choice: "He's a staid, solid swine, and that's what I want." Barrington was given the role of Dr Daly, the vicar, which was his first starring role on the London stage.
For the character role of Mrs. Partlet, they chose Harriett Everard
, an actress who had worked with Gilbert before. Carte's agency supplied additional singers, including Alice May
(Aline), Giulia Warwick
(Constance), and Richard Temple (Sir Marmaduke). Finally, in early November 1877, the last role, that of the title character, John Wellington Wells, was filled by comedian George Grossmith
. Grossmith had appeared in charity performances of Trial by Jury
, where both Sullivan and Gilbert had seen him (indeed, Gilbert had directed one such performance, in which Grossmith played the judge), and Gilbert had earlier commented favourably on his performance in Tom Robertson
's Society at the Gallery of Illustration. After singing for Sullivan, upon meeting Gilbert, Grossmith wondered aloud if the role shouldn't be played by "a fine man with a fine voice". Gilbert replied, "No, that is just what we don't want."
The Sorcerer was not the only piece on which both Gilbert and Sullivan were working at that time. Gilbert was completing Engaged
, a "farcical comedy", which opened on 3 October 1877. He also was sorting out the problems with The Ne'er-do-Weel
, a piece he wrote for Edward Sothern
. Meanwhile, Sullivan was writing the incidental music to Henry VIII
; only after its premiere on 28 August did he begin working on The Sorcerer. The opening was originally scheduled for 1 November 1877; however, the first rehearsals took place on 27 October, and the part of J. W. Wells was filled only by that time. The Sorcerer finally opened at Opera Comique
on 17 November 1877.
, and the blue-blooded Aline Sangazure ("Ring forth, ye bells"). Only a young village maiden named Constance Partlet seems unwilling to join in the happy mood, and we learn as she tells her mother that she is secretly in love with the local vicar, Dr. Daly ("When he is here, I sigh with pleasure"); and the cleric himself promptly soliloquises that he has been unlucky in love ("The air is charged with amatory numbers"). However, despite Mrs. Partlet's best attempts at matchmaking, the middle-aged Dr. Daly seems unable to conceive that a young girl like Constance would be interested in him.
Alexis and Aline arrive ("With heart and with voice"), and it soon becomes clear that his widower father Sir Marmaduke and her widowed mother Lady Sangazure are concealing long-held feelings for one another, which propriety however demands remain hidden ("Welcome joy, adieu to sadness"). The betrothal ceremony is carried out, and left alone together Alexis reveals to his fiancée his plans for practical implementation of his principle that love should unite all classes and ranks ("Love feeds on many kinds of food, I know"). He has invited a representative from a respectable London firm of sorcerers to Ploverleigh ("My name is John Wellington Wells"). Aline has misgivings about hiring a real sorcerer. Alexis instructs Wells to prepare a batch of love potion sufficient to affect the entire village, except that on married people, it will have no effect.
Wells mixes the potion, assisted by sprites, fiends, imps, demons, ghosts and other fearsome magical beings in an incantation ("Sprites of earth and air"). The village gathers for the wedding feast ("Now to the Banquet we Press"), and the potion is added to a teapot. All of the villagers, save Alexis, Aline and Wells, drink it and, after experiencing some hallucinations ("Oh, marvellous illusion"), they fall unconscious.
At midnight that night ("'Tis twelve, I think"), the villagers awake and, under the influence of the potion, each falls in love with the first person of the opposite sex that they see ("Why, where be Oi"). All of the matches thus made are highly and comically unsuitable; Constance, for example, loves the ancient notary who performed the betrothal ("Dear friends, take pity on my lot"). However, Alexis is pleased with the results, and now asserts that he and Aline should drink the potion themselves to seal their own love. Aline is hurt by his lack of trust and refuses, offending him ("Thou hast the power thy vaunted love"). Alexis is distracted, however, by the revelation of his upper-class father having fallen for the lower-class Mrs Partlet, but he determines to make the best of this union ("I rejoice that it's decided").
Wells, meanwhile, is regretting the results that his magic has caused, and regrets them still more when the fearsome Lady Sangazure fixes on him as the object of her affections ("Oh, I have wrought much evil with my spells"). Aline decides to yield to Alexis' persuasion and drinks the potion without telling Alexis. Upon awaking, she inadvertently meets Dr. Daly first and falls in love with him ("Oh, joyous boon"). Alexis desperately appeals to Wells as to how the effects of the spell can be reversed. It turns out that this requires that either Alexis or Wells himself yield up his life to Ahrimanes. The people of Ploverleigh rally against the outsider from London and Wells, resignedly, bids farewell and is swallowed up by the underworld in a burst of flames ("Or he or I must die"). The spell broken, the villagers pair off according to their true feelings, and celebrate with another feast (reprise of "Now to the banquet we press").
The Sorcerer opened on 17 November 1877 at the Opera Comique
, preceded by Dora's Dream
, a curtain-raiser composed by Sullivan's assistant Alfred Cellier
, with words by Arthur Cecil
, a friend of both Gilbert's and Sullivan's. Busy with last-minute cuts and changes the day before the show opened, Sullivan had no time to write an overture and used the "Graceful Dance" music from his incidental music
to Henry VIII
, together with a few measures of music from "Oh Marvellous Illusion", as an overture. For the 1884 revival, an overture was composed by Sullivan's assistant, Hamilton Clarke
. Gilbert's meticulous rehearsal of the cast was noticed and commented on favourably by the critics, and the opening-night audience was enthusiastic. The Sorcerer ran for 178 performances, making a profit. A touring company also began playing the opera in March 1878. D'Oyly Carte continued touring the piece in the early 1880s. Unauthorised productions played on Broadway
and elsewhere in the U.S. beginning by 1879.
The Sorcerer was revived in 1884, the first of Gilbert and Sullivan's full-length operas to be revived. Except for The Mikado
, it had a second London revival sooner than any of their other works, in 1898. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company generally played Trial by Jury as a companion piece with the opera. In America, The Sorcerer was played as early as 1879 by the Adah Richmond Comedy Opera Troupe at Boston
's Gaiety Theatre. In Australia, its first authorised production opened on 22 May 1886 at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne
, produced by J. C. Williamson
, starring Frank Thornton
, Nellie Stewart
and Alice Barnett
, conducted by Alfred Cellier
, although unauthorised productions had appeared by 1879.
In the early years of the 20th century, however, The Sorcerer gradually fell out of favour in Britain. As discussed below, it draws on a older theatrical traditions and satirises social and operatic conventions that are less accessible to modern audiences than the ones explored in the more famous G&S works starting with H.M.S. Pinafore. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
, which had exclusive rights to the opera in Britain, dropped The Sorcerer in 1901, and its principal repertory company did not play the piece again until 1916, after which it made its first professional London appearance in over twenty years in 1919. The company played the opera only intermittently during the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1938 and 1939, it was performed only in the company's London seasons, and only for a handful of performances. During the winter of 1941–42, the scenery and costumes for The Sorcerer and three other operas were destroyed in enemy action. The opera was not revived professionally in the UK until 1971. Amateur British companies followed suit, as many dropped it from their repertory of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas during these three decades, although American companies often continued their regular rotation of the eleven operas from Trial through The Gondoliers
.
Outside the U.K., however, the opera continued to be played regularly in Australasia by the J. C. Williamson
Opera Company, and it was revived on Broadway in 1915 with DeWolf Hopper
in the title role. It was played by the American Savoyards
in the United States from the 1950s and by other professional companies in the U.S. thereafter. After 1970, The Sorcerer was included in the D'Oyly Carte repertory through the 1975 centenary season, then dropped for several years, then restored for the company's last several seasons before it closed in 1982. Amateur companies that had dropped the opera restored it to their rotations after the 1970 revival, and it still receives regular productions, both professional and amateur.
The following table summarises the main London productions of The Sorcerer during Gilbert and Sullivan's lifetimes:
, The Sorcerer "achieved a genuine success, and, moreover, a success in every respect deserved". The Era praised both libretto and music: "the libretto, both in the prose and poetical portions, displays remarkable facility in writing fanciful and witty dialogue; and the lively flow of Mr. Sullivan's music, always tuneful, bright, and sparkling, and frequently reaching a very high standard of excellence, could hardly fail to please." Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper
called it "a very amusing work", and Reynolds's Newspaper
proclaimed it "one of the best entertainments of the kind that has yet been placed on the stage". As with their previous opera, Trial by Jury, the integration of Gilbert's words and Sullivan's music was emphasised. The Times commented that "the music is spontaneous, appearing invariably to spring out of the dramatic situations, as though it was their natural concomitant"; The Musical Times
mused that "it seems as if every composition had grown up in the mind of the author as he wrote the words"; and The Pall Mall Gazette called the union between composer and librettist "well-assorted", arguing that "the opera contains several very happily designed pieces, in which one cannot tell (and need not know) whether the merit of the original underlying idea belongs to the composer of the poem or to the author of the score".
A dissenting voice was Figaro, which claimed that there was nothing in The Sorcerer that could not have been written by "any theatrical conductor engaged at a few pounds a week". It also criticised Sullivan for wasting his talent on comic opera; such criticism would follow him through the rest of his career. Monthly Musical Record objected to the comic depiction of a clergyman, commenting that "the earnest, hard-working, and serious Clergy should not be made the subject of sneering caricature upon the stage", and Lewis Carroll
wrote in his 1888 essay:
Four numbers were encored
during the opening night: Aline's aria "Oh, happy young heart", "My name is John Wellington Wells", the Act II quintet "I rejoice that it's decided" and Sir Marmaduke's and Lady Sangazure's duet "Welcome joy, adieu to sadness". The Observer
called this duet "a masterpiece of construction. ... The Baronet sings to the accompaniment of a gavotte, and suddenly bursts forth into a rapid semi-quaver passage, expressive of his admiration of the lady. She follows his example, and while one sings a slow movement the other sings the presto movement alternatively". The Era called the quintet "the gem of the opera", because it is "written with delightful fluency and grace, is admirably harmonised, and the melody is as fresh as May dew." Punch argued that "the quintette and the old-fashioned duet with minuet step are the two best numbers" in the opera.
Most later assessments of the opera have mentioned both the opera's strong and weak points. Audrey Williamson wrote in a 1982 book that the virtues of The Sorcerer, "in spite of its defects ... justify its place in the repertoire." In 1996, Ian Bradley
commented in the introduction to his annotated edition of the Gilbert and Sullivan libretti, "It will certainly be a great pity if it gradually fades away. The Sorcerer contains two of W. S. Gilbert's best-drawn characters, the soulful Dr Daly ... and the flashy but ultimately tragic figure of John Wellington Wells. Sir Arthur Sullivan's music is delightful and guaranteed to weave a magic spell over all those who hear it, if not actually to make them fall instantly in love with their next-door neighbours. Isaac Goldberg
, one of the first Gilbert scholars, however, in 1913 called it "the weakest of Gilbert's productions".
librettos. For example, "Sir Marmaduke, my dear young friend Alexis", a recitative among Alexis, Sir Marmaduke and Dr. Daly, is a skit on the excessive politeness associated with early nineteenth-century aristocracy, and the incantation scene is a parody of the similar scene in Weber
's Der Freischütz
. Gilbert satirises the Victorian temperance movement by introducing a non-alcoholic brindisi
with jorums of tea; this is also a dig at Italian operas, many of which contained a brindisi scene. Another burlesque of Italian opera is "Prepare for sad surprises", which is similar to Alfredo's denunciation of Violetta in Verdi's La traviata
. Gilbert's satire of these subjects, like most of his satire in the operas, was blunted with gentle humour. As Gilbert scholar Andrew Crowther explains, Gilbert characteristically combines his criticisms with comic entertainment, which renders them more palatable, while at the same time underlining their truth: "By laughing at a joke you show that you accept its premise." Theatrical critic Allardyce Nicoll
compared J. W. Wells' speech about blessings being less popular than curses to Mr. Hen's satiric auction speech in The Historical Register for the Year 1736
by Henry Fielding
.
The characters in The Sorcerer have family names that characterize them. Pointdextre is French for dexter point, a heraldic term; Sangazure is French for blue blood. Partlet means hen. The two characters sing a duet, "Welcome, joy, adieu to sadness!" that contrasts and combines a "Mozart-like minuet" and rapid-fire patter
. Other musical numbers that characterise the opera are the quintet in Act II, "I rejoice that it's decided", which is "one of the prettiest things Sullivan ever wrote in the Mendelssohnian manner ... while in the duet that follows between Mr. Wells and Lady Sangazure there is a divertingly sepulchral andante and a no less comic tarentello-like allegro". The Sorcerer has certain technical difficulties in its production. It is the only Savoy opera to require trap, which many modern theatres do not have, and requires a pyrotechnical effect for a flash in the incantation scene.
In addition to Gilbert's story, An Elixir of Love, critics have traced several ideas in the opera to earlier sources. The concept of a love philtre was widespread in nineteenth century opera, and a philtre that causes people to fall in love with first person who they see is found in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
. The idea of depicting the sorcerer as a respectable tradesman is comparable to the respectable friar in E. L. Blanchard
's 1863 burlesque, Harlequin and Friar Bacon, who is described as a "Licensed Dealer in Black Art". A drinking-chorus with tea instead of alcoholic drink appeared in Gilbert's The Merry Zingara (1868), a burlesque of The Bohemian Girl
. In "My name Is John Wellington Wells", Gilbert reused rhymes from one of his Bab Ballads
, The Student.
The Sorcerer is one of the less popular Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Some commentators have argued that this is because its satire relies on Victorian era class distinctions; it may not be clear to the modern audience why a baronet cannot marry pew-opener, while in the Victorian era it was self-evident. Also, the humour in the piece relies in many instances on parodies of operatic conventions that may be unfamiliar to some audiences. In 1913, E. J. Dent
wrote in reference to The Sorcerer: "It seems as if a course of Mozart in English might be the best preliminary step towards educating our on-coming public to a really intelligent appreciation of Sullivan". Gilbert scholar Andrew Crowther argues that while both The Sorcerer and H.M.S. Pinafore satirise the idea of love levelling all ranks, the earlier opera attacks it more aggressively, offending audiences with which that idea was popular. Gilbert acknowledged that his position as a dramatist was similar to one of "a refreshment contractor who has engaged to supply a meal of one dish at which all classes of the community are to sit down", since he needed to suit needs of both "butcher-boy in the gallery" and "epicure in the stalls"; Crowther argues that he did not succeed as well at this in The Sorcerer as in some of the later works.
(J. W. Wells) and a tenor and soprano as young lovers (Alexis and Aline). Those types can be traced back to Italian comic opera and commedia dell'arte
. Character roles for a bass-baritone (Sir Marmaduke) and contralto (Lady Sangazure) are also repeated in the later Savoy operas. The vicar's song, "Time was when love and I were well acquainted" is one of the first in a string of meditative "Horatian
" lyrics in the Savoy operas, "mingling happiness and sadness, an acceptance and a smiling resignation". These would allow characters in each of the Savoy operas an introspective scene where they stop and consider life, in contrast to the foolishness of the surrounding scenes.
One notable innovation that is characteristic of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and confirmed by its extensive use in The Sorcerer, is the employment of the chorus as an essential part of the action. In most earlier operas, burlesques and comedies, the chorus had very little impact on the plot and served mainly as "noise or ornament". In the Savoy operas, however, the chorus is essential, taking part in the action and often acting as an important character in its own right. The Sorcerer also confirms a pattern that had been introduced in the earlier collaborations and would be repeated in the other Savoy operas, except for The Yeomen of the Guard
, to begin with a chorus number and end with a relatively short finale consisting of solos and chorus music. Sullivan later told his biographer, "Until Gilbert took the matter in hand choruses were dummy concerns, and were practically nothing more than a part of the stage setting." Another Gilbert innovation, following the example of his mentor, T. W. Robertson, was that the costumes and sets were made as realistic as possible. This attention to detail would be repeated in all of the operas. This was far from standard procedure in Victorian drama, where naturalism was still a relatively new concept, and where most authors had very little influence on how their plays and libretti were staged.
The Sorcerer also contained several musical techniques that would become typical in the operas. One of the most important ones is the comic baritone's lightly orchestrated, rapid-fire patter song, which would become one of the most distinguishing and popular features of Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Following Italian opera precedents, such as "Largo al factotum
" from The Barber of Seville
, these numbers juxtapose virtuosity in their speed of delivery (requiring clarity of elocution) with their often comic or satiric lyrics. In "My name is John Wellington Wells", the title character of The Sorcerer introduces himself as a tradesman of an ironic kind: "a dealer in magic and spells". Another typical Sullivanian musical technique is the contrapuntal
combination of slow and rapid tunes in one song and a tenor aria set in 6/8 time. Sullivan did this so frequently in the Savoy operas that comedienne Anna Russell
, in her comedy routine "How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera", exclaimed, "the tenor ... according to tradition, must sing an aria in 6/8 time". Another repeated musical technique was the emphasis of a single syllable to distinguish otherwise identical lines. For example, in the vicar's Act I song, the same melody is sung in each of the two stanzas using the following text:
In the second, the syllable trem has an optional high note to give it a unique character.
Several ideas from The Sorcerer were reused in later Savoy operas. Many images from "Have faith in me", Aline's cut ballad, are present in "None shall part us" in Iolanthe
. Another example is satire on the aristocracy: while in The Sorcerer Lady Sangazure is in direct descent from Helen of Troy, in The Mikado
Gilbert developed this idea, and Pooh-Bah can trace his ancestry "back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule".
to waltz time. It was a substitute for Aline's ballad, "Have faith in me", which was present in the license copy but cut before the first night and absent from the published version of libretto. Some of the text was reused in "None shall part us" in Iolanthe
.
Originally, in the Act II finale, there was a second incantation in which J. W. Wells summoned Ahrimanes (to be played by Mrs Paul), who told him that either he or Alexis must yield his life to quell the spell. This scene was cut, although its opening recitative in rewritten form was present in the first production.
, to replace Sullivan's "graceful dance" from his incidental music to Henry VIII
. The length of time between the acts was altered from a half hour to twelve hours, resulting in a different ending to Act I and a complete rewrite of the Act II opening. In the original production the chorus "resumed the Brindisi with a violent effort" after the "Oh marvellous illusion" chorus of the Act I finale; in the revised version, however, people who have tasted philtre "fall insensible on the stage". The original Act II started off with a patter chorus "Happy are we in our loving frivolity" – a pageant of mismatched couples. The revision changed the setting to nighttime, with a mysterioso trio for Alexis, Aline and John Wellington Wells to sing among the sleeping villagers. The villagers then awaken with a rustic chorus in West Country accent and pair up in the mismatched couples. There are also minor changes to the music leading into "Dear friends take pity on my lot," with the key of both of Constance's arias lowered to accommodate the 1884 Constance, Jessie Bond.
These revisions were not, however, done very carefully. The Act I Finale still says "Their hearts will melt in half-an-hour / Then will be felt the potion's power." Similarly, Aline drinks the potion in Act II, and falls insensible, but apparently falls in love with Dr. Daly immediately, instead of falling asleep for twelve hours as the revisions would require.
1This role is not credited in revivals, which used a revised libretto.
The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival
offers various video recordings of the opera, including its 2005 professional G&S Opera Company video.
Selected recordings
wrote a short story, "The Up-To-Date Sorcerer
", an homage to the opera consisting largely of a series of puns on phrases from it. Charlotte MacLeod's 1985 mystery novel, The Plain Old Man concerns an amateur production of the opera. A series of four Tom Holt
books, The Portable Door, In Your Dreams
, Earth, Air, Fire, and Custard and You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps, are based around "J. W. Wells & Co", a company of sorcerers well known for their love philtre. In Meet Mr Mulliner
by P. G. Wodehouse
, the title hero sings a fragment from Dr. Daly's ballad and characterises his nephew as "the sort of young curate who seems to have been so common in the 'eighties, or whenever it was that Gilbert wrote "The Sorcerer." It has also been referenced in popular TV series, such as in the Family Guy
episode "Patriot Games
", where characters sing the song "If you'll marry me" from Act II.
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...
, with a 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...
and 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...
. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration
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...
. The plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic
The Graphic
The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited....
magazine in 1876. A young man, Alexis, is obsessed with idea of love levelling all ranks and social distinctions. To promote his beliefs, he invites the proprietor of J. W. Wells & Co., Family Sorcerers, to brew a love potion. This causes everyone in the village to fall in love with the first person they see and results in the pairing of comically mismatched couples. In the end, Wells must sacrifice himself to break the spell.
The opera opened on 17 November 1877 at the Opera Comique
Opera Comique
The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
in London, where it ran for 178 performances. It was considered a success by the standards of that time and encouraged the collaborators to write their next opera, 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...
. The Sorcerer was revised for an 1884 revival, and it is in that version that it is usually performed today. The Sorcerer was the first 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...
for which the author and composer had nearly total control over the production and the selection of cast. Several of the actors chosen went on on to create principal roles in most of the later 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...
operas. It was their first opera to use all the major character types and typical range of songs that would appear in their later collaborations, such as comic duets, a patter song
Patter song
The patter song is characterized by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note...
, a contrapuntal double chorus, a tenor and soprano love duet, a soprano showpiece and so forth.
The modest success of The Sorcerer was overshadowed by the extraordinary popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan's later collaborations, and the opera remains one of the team's less popular ones. The satire in the piece concerns Victorian-era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
class distinctions and operatic conventions with which modern audiences are less familiar. Nevertheless, the opera was important to the development of the Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and is still regularly played.
Background
In 1871, W. S. GilbertW. 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...
and 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...
had written Thespis, an extravaganza
Extravaganza
An extravaganza is a literary or musical work characterized by freedom of style and structure and usually containing elements of burlesque, pantomime, music hall and parody. It sometimes also has elements of cabaret, circus, revue, variety, vaudeville and mime...
for the Gaiety Theatre
Gaiety Theatre, London
The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...
's holiday season that did not lead immediately to any further collaboration. Three years later, in 1875, talent agent and producer 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...
was managing the Royalty Theatre
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...
, and he needed a short opera to be played as an afterpiece to Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's La Périchole
La Périchole
La Périchole is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French-language libretto based on the 1829 one act play Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on 13 March 1850 at the Théâtre-Français...
. Carte was able to bring 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...
together again to write the one-act piece, called Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
, which became a surprise hit. The piece was witty, tuneful and very "English", in contrast to the bawdy burlesques and adaptations of French operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s that dominated the London musical stage at that time. Trial by Jury proved even more popular than La Périchole, becoming an unexpected hit, touring extensively and enjoying revivals and a world tour.
The Graphic
The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited....
, "An Elixir of Love," creating a plot about a magic love potion that – as often occurs in opera – causes everyone to fall in love with the wrong partner.
Now backed by a company dedicated to their work, Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte were able to select their own cast, instead of using the players under contract to the theatre where the work was produced, as had been the case with their earlier works. They chose talented actors, most of whom were not well-known stars; and so did not command high fees, and whom they felt they could mould to their own style. Then, they tailored their work to the particular abilities of these performers. Carte approached Mrs Howard Paul to play the role of Lady Sangazure in the new opera. Mr and Mrs. Howard Paul had operated a small touring company booked by Carte's agency for many years, but the couple had recently separated. She conditioned her acceptance of the part on the casting of her 24-year-old protégé, 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...
. When Barrington auditioned before 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...
, the young actor questioned his own suitability for comic opera
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...
, but Gilbert, who required that his actors play their sometimes-absurd lines in all earnestness, explained the casting choice: "He's a staid, solid swine, and that's what I want." Barrington was given the role of Dr Daly, the vicar, which was his first starring role on the London stage.
For the character role of Mrs. Partlet, they chose Harriett Everard
Harriett Everard
Harriett Everard was an English singer and actress best known for creating the role of Little Buttercup in the Gilbert and Sullivan hit H.M.S. Pinafore. Her career was cut short by an onstage accident during a rehearsal, from which she never fully recovered.Everard had a stage career of 20 years,...
, an actress who had worked with Gilbert before. Carte's agency supplied additional singers, including Alice May
Alice May
Alice May , sometimes known as Louise Allen, was an English singer and actress, perhaps best remembered as the creator of the soprano role of Aline in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer ....
(Aline), Giulia Warwick
Giulia Warwick
Giulia Warwick was an English operatic soprano and actress, best known for roles in with Richard D'Oyly Carte's and the Carl Rosa Opera Company in the last quarter of the 19th century.-Life and career:...
(Constance), and Richard Temple (Sir Marmaduke). Finally, in early November 1877, the last role, that of the title character, John Wellington Wells, was filled by comedian George Grossmith
George Grossmith
George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades...
. Grossmith had appeared in charity performances of Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
, where both Sullivan and Gilbert had seen him (indeed, Gilbert had directed one such performance, in which Grossmith played the judge), and Gilbert had earlier commented favourably on his performance in Tom Robertson
Thomas William Robertson
Thomas William Robertson , usually known professionally as T. W. Robertson, was an Anglo-Irish dramatist and innovative stage director best known for a series of realistic or naturalistic plays produced in London in the 1860s that broke new ground and inspired playwrights such as W.S...
's Society at the Gallery of Illustration. After singing for Sullivan, upon meeting Gilbert, Grossmith wondered aloud if the role shouldn't be played by "a fine man with a fine voice". Gilbert replied, "No, that is just what we don't want."
The Sorcerer was not the only piece on which both Gilbert and Sullivan were working at that time. Gilbert was completing Engaged
Engaged (play)
Engaged is a three-act farcical comic play by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Haymarket Theatre on 3 October 1877, the same year as The Sorcerer, one of Gilbert's comic operas written with Arthur Sullivan, which was soon followed by the collaborators' great success in H.M.S. Pinafore...
, a "farcical comedy", which opened on 3 October 1877. He also was sorting out the problems with The Ne'er-do-Weel
The Ne'er-do-Weel
The Ne'er-do-Weel is a three-act drama written by the English dramatist W. S. Gilbert. It is the second of three plays that he wrote at the request of the actor Edward Sothern. The story concerns Jeffery Rollestone, a gentleman who becomes a vagabond after Maud, the girl he loves, leaves him. He...
, a piece he wrote for Edward Sothern
Edward Askew Sothern
Edward Askew Sothern was an English actor known for his comic roles in Britain and America, particularly Lord Dundreary in Our American Cousin.- Early years :...
. Meanwhile, Sullivan was writing the incidental music to Henry VIII
Henry VIII (play)
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight is a history play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication...
; only after its premiere on 28 August did he begin working on The Sorcerer. The opening was originally scheduled for 1 November 1877; however, the first rehearsals took place on 27 October, and the part of J. W. Wells was filled only by that time. The Sorcerer finally opened at Opera Comique
Opera Comique
The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
on 17 November 1877.
Roles
- Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre, an Elderly BaronetBaronetA baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
(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...
) - Alexis, of the Grenadier GuardsGrenadier GuardsThe Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
, his son (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...
) - Dr. Daly, VicarVicarIn the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of Ploverleigh (lyric 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...
) - NotarySolicitorSolicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
(bass) - John Wellington Wells, of J. W. Wells & Co., Family Sorcerers (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...
) - Lady Sangazure, a Lady of Ancient Lineage (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...
) - Aline, her Daughter, betrothed to Alexis (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...
) - Mrs. Partlet, a Pew Opener (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...
) - Constance, her Daughter (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...
(1877) or 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...
or soprano (1884)) - Chorus of villagers
- Note: In the 1877 production, Constance was played by a soprano, Giulia WarwickGiulia WarwickGiulia Warwick was an English operatic soprano and actress, best known for roles in with Richard D'Oyly Carte's and the Carl Rosa Opera Company in the last quarter of the 19th century.-Life and career:...
. Parts of the role were lowered in 1884 for mezzo-soprano Jessie BondJessie BondJessie 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...
.
Act I
The villagers of Ploverleigh are preparing to celebrate the betrothal of Alexis Pointdextre, the son of the local baronetBaronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, and the blue-blooded Aline Sangazure ("Ring forth, ye bells"). Only a young village maiden named Constance Partlet seems unwilling to join in the happy mood, and we learn as she tells her mother that she is secretly in love with the local vicar, Dr. Daly ("When he is here, I sigh with pleasure"); and the cleric himself promptly soliloquises that he has been unlucky in love ("The air is charged with amatory numbers"). However, despite Mrs. Partlet's best attempts at matchmaking, the middle-aged Dr. Daly seems unable to conceive that a young girl like Constance would be interested in him.
Wells mixes the potion, assisted by sprites, fiends, imps, demons, ghosts and other fearsome magical beings in an incantation ("Sprites of earth and air"). The village gathers for the wedding feast ("Now to the Banquet we Press"), and the potion is added to a teapot. All of the villagers, save Alexis, Aline and Wells, drink it and, after experiencing some hallucinations ("Oh, marvellous illusion"), they fall unconscious.
Act II
Wells, meanwhile, is regretting the results that his magic has caused, and regrets them still more when the fearsome Lady Sangazure fixes on him as the object of her affections ("Oh, I have wrought much evil with my spells"). Aline decides to yield to Alexis' persuasion and drinks the potion without telling Alexis. Upon awaking, she inadvertently meets Dr. Daly first and falls in love with him ("Oh, joyous boon"). Alexis desperately appeals to Wells as to how the effects of the spell can be reversed. It turns out that this requires that either Alexis or Wells himself yield up his life to Ahrimanes. The people of Ploverleigh rally against the outsider from London and Wells, resignedly, bids farewell and is swallowed up by the underworld in a burst of flames ("Or he or I must die"). The spell broken, the villagers pair off according to their true feelings, and celebrate with another feast (reprise of "Now to the banquet we press").
Musical numbers
- Overture (includes "With heart and with voice", "When he is here", "Dear friends, take pity on my lot", and "My name is John Wellington Wells")
Act I
- 1. "Ring forth ye bells" (Double Chorus)
- 2. "Constance, my daughter, why this strange depression?" (Mrs. Partlet and Constance)
- 2a. "When he is here" (Constance)
- 3. "The air is charged with amatory numbers" (Dr. Daly)
- 3a. "Time was when Love and I were well acquainted" (Dr. Daly)
- 4. "Sir Marmaduke, my dear young friend Alexis" (Sir Marmaduke, Dr. Daly, and Alexis)
- 4a. (Dance)
- 5. "With heart and with voice" (Chorus of Girls)
- 6. "My kindly friends" (Aline)
- 6a. "Happy young heart" (Aline)
- 7. "My child, I join in these congratulations" (Lady Sangazure)
- 8. "With heart and with voice" (Chorus of Men)
- 9. "Welcome, joy!" (Lady Sangazure and Sir Marmaduke)
- 10. "All is prepared" (Aline, Alexis, Notary, and Chorus)
- 10a."With heart and with voice" (Double Chorus)
- 11. "Love feeds on many kinds of food" (Alexis)
- 12. "My name is John Wellington Wells" (Mr. Wells)
- 13. "Sprites of earth and air" (Aline, Alexis, Mr. Wells, and Chorus)
- 14. Act I Finale (Ensemble)
- "Now to the banquet we press"
- The Tea-Cup BrindisiBrindisi (music)A is a song in which a company is exhorted to drink, a drinking song.The word is Italian, but it derives from an old German phrase, – " offer it to you", which at one time was used to introduce a toast...
("Eat, drink and be gay") - "Oh love, true love"
- "Oh marvellous illusion"
- Tea-Cup Brindisi reprise – 1877 version only
Act II
- 15 "Happy are we in our loving frivolity" (Chorus) – 1877 version only
- 15. "'Tis twelve, I think" and "Why, where be Oi?... If you'll marry me" (Aline, Alexis, Mr. Wells, and Chorus) – 1884 version
- 16. "Dear friends, take pity on my lot" (Constance, Notary, Aline, Alexis, and Chorus)
- 17. "Thou hast the pow'r thy vaunted love" (Alexis)
- 18. "I rejoice that it's decided" (Aline, Mrs. Partlet, Alexis, Dr. Daly, and Sir Marmaduke)
- 19. "Oh, I have wrought much evil with my spells" (Lady Sangazure and Mr. Wells)
- 20. "Alexis! Doubt me not, my loved one" (Aline)
- 21. "Oh, my voice is sad and low" (Dr. Daly)
- 22. "Oh, joyous boon! oh, mad delight" (Aline, Alexis, Dr. Daly, and Chorus)
- 23. "Prepare for sad surprises" (Alexis)
- 24. Act II Finale: "Or he or I must die" (leading to a reprise of "Now to the banquet we press") (Ensemble)
Productions
Opera Comique
The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
, preceded by Dora's Dream
Dora's Dream
Dora's Dream is a one-act operetta, with music composed by Alfred Cellier and a libretto by Arthur Cecil.The piece was first performed at the Royal Gallery of Illustration on 3 July 1873, with Fanny Holland and Arthur Cecil starring in the two roles...
, a curtain-raiser composed by Sullivan's assistant Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor.In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing the overtures to some of them, Cellier conducted at many theatres in London, New York and...
, with words by Arthur Cecil
Arthur Cecil
Arthur Cecil Blunt, better known as Arthur Cecil was an English actor, comedian, playwright and theatre manager. He is probably best remembered for playing the role of Box in the long-running production of Cox and Box, by Arthur Sullivan and F. C...
, a friend of both Gilbert's and Sullivan's. Busy with last-minute cuts and changes the day before the show opened, Sullivan had no time to write an overture and used the "Graceful Dance" music from his incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
to Henry VIII
Henry VIII (play)
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight is a history play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication...
, together with a few measures of music from "Oh Marvellous Illusion", as an overture. For the 1884 revival, an overture was composed by Sullivan's assistant, Hamilton Clarke
Hamilton Clarke
James Hamilton Siree Clarke , better known as Hamilton Clarke, was an English conductor, composer and organist...
. Gilbert's meticulous rehearsal of the cast was noticed and commented on favourably by the critics, and the opening-night audience was enthusiastic. The Sorcerer ran for 178 performances, making a profit. A touring company also began playing the opera in March 1878. D'Oyly Carte continued touring the piece in the early 1880s. Unauthorised productions played on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and elsewhere in the U.S. beginning by 1879.
The Sorcerer was revived in 1884, the first of Gilbert and Sullivan's full-length operas to be revived. Except for 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...
, it had a second London revival sooner than any of their other works, in 1898. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company generally played Trial by Jury as a companion piece with the opera. In America, The Sorcerer was played as early as 1879 by the Adah Richmond Comedy Opera Troupe at Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's Gaiety Theatre. In Australia, its first authorised production opened on 22 May 1886 at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, produced by 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....
, starring Frank Thornton
Frank Thornton (Savoyard)
Frank Thornton was an English actor, singer, comedian and producer. Despite a successful stage career in comedies in London, on tour and abroad, Thornton is probably best remembered as the understudy to George Grossmith in a series of Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1884.Thornton began...
, Nellie Stewart
Nellie Stewart
Nellie Stewart was an Australian actress and singer, known as "Our Nell" and "Sweet Nell".Born into a theatrical family, Stewart began acting as a child. As a young woman, she built a career playing in operetta and Gilbert and Sullivan operas. In the mid-1880s, she began a long relationship with...
and Alice Barnett
Alice Barnett
Alice Barnett was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
, conducted by Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor.In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing the overtures to some of them, Cellier conducted at many theatres in London, New York and...
, although unauthorised productions had appeared by 1879.
In the early years of the 20th century, however, The Sorcerer gradually fell out of favour in Britain. As discussed below, it draws on a older theatrical traditions and satirises social and operatic conventions that are less accessible to modern audiences than the ones explored in the more famous G&S works starting with H.M.S. Pinafore. 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...
, which had exclusive rights to the opera in Britain, dropped The Sorcerer in 1901, and its principal repertory company did not play the piece again until 1916, after which it made its first professional London appearance in over twenty years in 1919. The company played the opera only intermittently during the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1938 and 1939, it was performed only in the company's London seasons, and only for a handful of performances. During the winter of 1941–42, the scenery and costumes for The Sorcerer and three other operas were destroyed in enemy action. The opera was not revived professionally in the UK until 1971. Amateur British companies followed suit, as many dropped it from their repertory of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas during these three decades, although American companies often continued their regular rotation of the eleven operas from Trial through The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...
.
Outside the U.K., however, the opera continued to be played regularly in Australasia 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....
Opera Company, and it was revived on Broadway in 1915 with DeWolf Hopper
DeWolf Hopper
William DeWolf Hopper was an American actor, singer, comedian, and theatrical producer. Although a star of the musical stage, he was best-known for performing the popular baseball poem Casey at the Bat. -Biography:...
in the title role. It was played by the American Savoyards
American Savoyards
American Savoyards was an Off-Broadway and touring repertory theatre company that produced light operas, principally the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, in New York City between 1948 and 1967.-Beginnings:...
in the United States from the 1950s and by other professional companies in the U.S. thereafter. After 1970, The Sorcerer was included in the D'Oyly Carte repertory through the 1975 centenary season, then dropped for several years, then restored for the company's last several seasons before it closed in 1982. Amateur companies that had dropped the opera restored it to their rotations after the 1970 revival, and it still receives regular productions, both professional and amateur.
The following table summarises the main London productions of The Sorcerer during Gilbert and Sullivan's lifetimes:
| Theatre | Opening Date | Closing Date | Perfs. | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opera Comique | 17 November 1877 | 24 May 1878 | 178 | Trial by Jury was added to the bill from 23 March 1878 |
| Savoy Theatre | 11 October 1884 | 12 March 1885 | 150 | Revised version; played with Trial by Jury |
| Savoy Theatre | 22 September 1898 | 31 December 1898 | 102 | Played with Trial by Jury |
1877 reaction
The early reviews were generally favourable. According to 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...
, The Sorcerer "achieved a genuine success, and, moreover, a success in every respect deserved". The Era praised both libretto and music: "the libretto, both in the prose and poetical portions, displays remarkable facility in writing fanciful and witty dialogue; and the lively flow of Mr. Sullivan's music, always tuneful, bright, and sparkling, and frequently reaching a very high standard of excellence, could hardly fail to please." Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper
Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper
-Founding:The paper was launched by Edward Lloyd in 1842 as Lloyd's Illustrated London Newspaper, following the success of his Lloyd's Penny Weekly Miscellany. The new paper was intended as a rival for the Illustrated London News...
called it "a very amusing work", and Reynolds's Newspaper
Reynold's News
Reynold's News was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom.The paper was founded as Reynolds's Weekly Newspaper by George W. M. Reynolds in 1850, who became its first editor. By 1870, the paper was selling more than 350,000 copies per week...
proclaimed it "one of the best entertainments of the kind that has yet been placed on the stage". As with their previous opera, Trial by Jury, the integration of Gilbert's words and Sullivan's music was emphasised. The Times commented that "the music is spontaneous, appearing invariably to spring out of the dramatic situations, as though it was their natural concomitant"; 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...
mused that "it seems as if every composition had grown up in the mind of the author as he wrote the words"; and The Pall Mall Gazette called the union between composer and librettist "well-assorted", arguing that "the opera contains several very happily designed pieces, in which one cannot tell (and need not know) whether the merit of the original underlying idea belongs to the composer of the poem or to the author of the score".
A dissenting voice was Figaro, which claimed that there was nothing in The Sorcerer that could not have been written by "any theatrical conductor engaged at a few pounds a week". It also criticised Sullivan for wasting his talent on comic opera; such criticism would follow him through the rest of his career. Monthly Musical Record objected to the comic depiction of a clergyman, commenting that "the earnest, hard-working, and serious Clergy should not be made the subject of sneering caricature upon the stage", and Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
wrote in his 1888 essay:
Mr. Gilbert – to whom we owe a deep debt of gratitude for the pure and healthy fun he has given us in such comedies as "Patience" – seems to have a craze for making bishops and clergymen contemptible. Yet are they behind other professions in such things as earnestness, and hard work, and devotion of life to the call of duty? That clever song "The pale young curate", with its charming music, is to me simply painful. I seem to see him as he goes home at night, pale and worn with the day's work, perhaps sick with the pestilent atmosphere of a noisome garret where, at the risk of his life, he has been comforting a dying man – and is your sense of humour, my reader, so keen that you can laugh at that man?
Four numbers were encored
Encore (concert)
An encore is an additional performance added to the end of a concert, from the French "encore", which means "again", "some more"; multiple encores are not uncommon. Encores originated spontaneously, when audiences would continue to applaud and demand additional performance from the artist after the...
during the opening night: Aline's aria "Oh, happy young heart", "My name is John Wellington Wells", the Act II quintet "I rejoice that it's decided" and Sir Marmaduke's and Lady Sangazure's duet "Welcome joy, adieu to sadness". 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,...
called this duet "a masterpiece of construction. ... The Baronet sings to the accompaniment of a gavotte, and suddenly bursts forth into a rapid semi-quaver passage, expressive of his admiration of the lady. She follows his example, and while one sings a slow movement the other sings the presto movement alternatively". The Era called the quintet "the gem of the opera", because it is "written with delightful fluency and grace, is admirably harmonised, and the melody is as fresh as May dew." Punch argued that "the quintette and the old-fashioned duet with minuet step are the two best numbers" in the opera.
Revivals and later assessments
Both revivals during the composer's lifetime were successful. The Times called the 1884 revival "distinctly a step in the right direction" and in 1898 the paper claimed that "The Sorcerer is very far from having exhausted its popularity". A review of the 1886 Australian production ranked the opera in "a middle place in Gilbert and Sullivan compositions. Abounding in tuneful numbers, one or two of which rank with anything that has come from Sir Arthur Sullivan's pen, the orchestration is thin compared with that of his later operas and its melodies have never taken the same popular hold as those of Pinafore, a work of about equal calibre from a musical point of view. ... The libretto is sparkling and pungent, and the idea of presenting a British bagman in the guise of a controller of demons and vendor of family curses is as happy a conception as any which has taken form on this modern stage".Most later assessments of the opera have mentioned both the opera's strong and weak points. Audrey Williamson wrote in a 1982 book that the virtues of The Sorcerer, "in spite of its defects ... justify its place in the repertoire." In 1996, Ian Bradley
Ian Bradley
Ian Campbell Bradley is a British academic, author, theologian, Church of Scotland minister, journalist and broadcaster.At the University of St Andrews, he is Reader in Practical Theology and Church History and a University chaplain...
commented in the introduction to his annotated edition of the Gilbert and Sullivan libretti, "It will certainly be a great pity if it gradually fades away. The Sorcerer contains two of W. S. Gilbert's best-drawn characters, the soulful Dr Daly ... and the flashy but ultimately tragic figure of John Wellington Wells. Sir Arthur Sullivan's music is delightful and guaranteed to weave a magic spell over all those who hear it, if not actually to make them fall instantly in love with their next-door neighbours. Isaac Goldberg
Isaac Goldberg
Isaac Goldberg was an American journalist, author, critic, translator, editor, publisher, and lecturer. Born in Boston he studied at Harvard University and received a BA degree in 1910, a MA degree in 1911 and a PhD in 1912. He traveled to Europe as a journalist during World War I writing for the...
, one of the first Gilbert scholars, however, in 1913 called it "the weakest of Gilbert's productions".
Text and music
The satire in the opera is focused on old-fashioned customs, pastoral opera conventions, the "popularity of curates, the pose of aristocratic benevolence, and the inebriety of the working man" rather than the broad political satire that would feature in many of the later Savoy operaSavoy 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...
librettos. For example, "Sir Marmaduke, my dear young friend Alexis", a recitative among Alexis, Sir Marmaduke and Dr. Daly, is a skit on the excessive politeness associated with early nineteenth-century aristocracy, and the incantation scene is a parody of the similar scene in Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
's Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
. Gilbert satirises the Victorian temperance movement by introducing a non-alcoholic brindisi
Brindisi (music)
A is a song in which a company is exhorted to drink, a drinking song.The word is Italian, but it derives from an old German phrase, – " offer it to you", which at one time was used to introduce a toast...
with jorums of tea; this is also a dig at Italian operas, many of which contained a brindisi scene. Another burlesque of Italian opera is "Prepare for sad surprises", which is similar to Alfredo's denunciation of Violetta in Verdi's La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
. Gilbert's satire of these subjects, like most of his satire in the operas, was blunted with gentle humour. As Gilbert scholar Andrew Crowther explains, Gilbert characteristically combines his criticisms with comic entertainment, which renders them more palatable, while at the same time underlining their truth: "By laughing at a joke you show that you accept its premise." Theatrical critic Allardyce Nicoll
Allardyce Nicoll
John Ramsay Allardyce Nicoll was an English literary scholar and teacher.Allardyce Nicoll was born and educated in Glasgow. He became a lecturer at King's College London in 1920 and took the chair of English at East London College John Ramsay Allardyce Nicoll (28 June 1894 – 17 April 1976) was an...
compared J. W. Wells' speech about blessings being less popular than curses to Mr. Hen's satiric auction speech in The Historical Register for the Year 1736
The Historical Register for the Year 1736
The Historical Register for the Year 1736 is a 1737 play by Henry Fielding published by William W. Appleton. A denunciation of contemporary society and politics, it was presented for the first time in April 1737....
by Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
.
The characters in The Sorcerer have family names that characterize them. Pointdextre is French for dexter point, a heraldic term; Sangazure is French for blue blood. Partlet means hen. The two characters sing a duet, "Welcome, joy, adieu to sadness!" that contrasts and combines a "Mozart-like minuet" and rapid-fire patter
Patter song
The patter song is characterized by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note...
. Other musical numbers that characterise the opera are the quintet in Act II, "I rejoice that it's decided", which is "one of the prettiest things Sullivan ever wrote in the Mendelssohnian manner ... while in the duet that follows between Mr. Wells and Lady Sangazure there is a divertingly sepulchral andante and a no less comic tarentello-like allegro". The Sorcerer has certain technical difficulties in its production. It is the only Savoy opera to require trap, which many modern theatres do not have, and requires a pyrotechnical effect for a flash in the incantation scene.
In addition to Gilbert's story, An Elixir of Love, critics have traced several ideas in the opera to earlier sources. The concept of a love philtre was widespread in nineteenth century opera, and a philtre that causes people to fall in love with first person who they see is found in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
. The idea of depicting the sorcerer as a respectable tradesman is comparable to the respectable friar in E. L. Blanchard
Edward Litt Laman Blanchard
Edward Litt Laman Blanchard, often referred to as E. L. Blanchard, was an English writer who is best known for his contributions to the Drury Lane pantomime. He began writing plays and other literature to support himself as a teenager after his father died...
's 1863 burlesque, Harlequin and Friar Bacon, who is described as a "Licensed Dealer in Black Art". A drinking-chorus with tea instead of alcoholic drink appeared in Gilbert's The Merry Zingara (1868), a burlesque of The Bohemian Girl
The Bohemian Girl
The Bohemian Girl is an opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Cervantes tale, La Gitanilla.The opera was first produced in London at the Drury Lane Theatre on November 27, 1843...
. In "My name Is John Wellington Wells", Gilbert reused rhymes from one of his 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...
, The Student.
The Sorcerer is one of the less popular Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Some commentators have argued that this is because its satire relies on Victorian era class distinctions; it may not be clear to the modern audience why a baronet cannot marry pew-opener, while in the Victorian era it was self-evident. Also, the humour in the piece relies in many instances on parodies of operatic conventions that may be unfamiliar to some audiences. In 1913, E. J. Dent
Edward Joseph Dent
Edward Joseph Dent, generally known by his initials as E. J. Dent was a British writer on music....
wrote in reference to The Sorcerer: "It seems as if a course of Mozart in English might be the best preliminary step towards educating our on-coming public to a really intelligent appreciation of Sullivan". Gilbert scholar Andrew Crowther argues that while both The Sorcerer and H.M.S. Pinafore satirise the idea of love levelling all ranks, the earlier opera attacks it more aggressively, offending audiences with which that idea was popular. Gilbert acknowledged that his position as a dramatist was similar to one of "a refreshment contractor who has engaged to supply a meal of one dish at which all classes of the community are to sit down", since he needed to suit needs of both "butcher-boy in the gallery" and "epicure in the stalls"; Crowther argues that he did not succeed as well at this in The Sorcerer as in some of the later works.
Pattern for later Savoy operas
The opera establishes several important patterns for future Gilbert and Sullivan works. First, several recurring character types that would appear in their later operas are included: a comic baritone character with an autobiographical patter songPatter song
The patter song is characterized by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note...
(J. W. Wells) and a tenor and soprano as young lovers (Alexis and Aline). Those types can be traced back to Italian comic opera and commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
. Character roles for a bass-baritone (Sir Marmaduke) and contralto (Lady Sangazure) are also repeated in the later Savoy operas. The vicar's song, "Time was when love and I were well acquainted" is one of the first in a string of meditative "Horatian
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
" lyrics in the Savoy operas, "mingling happiness and sadness, an acceptance and a smiling resignation". These would allow characters in each of the Savoy operas an introspective scene where they stop and consider life, in contrast to the foolishness of the surrounding scenes.
One notable innovation that is characteristic of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and confirmed by its extensive use in The Sorcerer, is the employment of the chorus as an essential part of the action. In most earlier operas, burlesques and comedies, the chorus had very little impact on the plot and served mainly as "noise or ornament". In the Savoy operas, however, the chorus is essential, taking part in the action and often acting as an important character in its own right. The Sorcerer also confirms a pattern that had been introduced in the earlier collaborations and would be repeated in the other Savoy operas, except for 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...
, to begin with a chorus number and end with a relatively short finale consisting of solos and chorus music. Sullivan later told his biographer, "Until Gilbert took the matter in hand choruses were dummy concerns, and were practically nothing more than a part of the stage setting." Another Gilbert innovation, following the example of his mentor, T. W. Robertson, was that the costumes and sets were made as realistic as possible. This attention to detail would be repeated in all of the operas. This was far from standard procedure in Victorian drama, where naturalism was still a relatively new concept, and where most authors had very little influence on how their plays and libretti were staged.
The Sorcerer also contained several musical techniques that would become typical in the operas. One of the most important ones is the comic baritone's lightly orchestrated, rapid-fire patter song, which would become one of the most distinguishing and popular features of Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Following Italian opera precedents, such as "Largo al factotum
Largo al factotum
Largo al factotum is an aria from The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini, sung at the first entrance of the title character; the repeated "Figaro"s before the final patter section are an icon in popular culture of operatic singing...
" from The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
, these numbers juxtapose virtuosity in their speed of delivery (requiring clarity of elocution) with their often comic or satiric lyrics. In "My name is John Wellington Wells", the title character of The Sorcerer introduces himself as a tradesman of an ironic kind: "a dealer in magic and spells". Another typical Sullivanian musical technique is the contrapuntal
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
combination of slow and rapid tunes in one song and a tenor aria set in 6/8 time. Sullivan did this so frequently in the Savoy operas that comedienne Anna Russell
Anna Russell
Anna Russell, née Anna Claudia Russell-Brown was an English–Canadian singer and comedienne. She gave many concerts in which she sang and played comic musical sketches on the piano...
, in her comedy routine "How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera", exclaimed, "the tenor ... according to tradition, must sing an aria in 6/8 time". Another repeated musical technique was the emphasis of a single syllable to distinguish otherwise identical lines. For example, in the vicar's Act I song, the same melody is sung in each of the two stanzas using the following text:
- Stanza 1: A saintly youth, by worldly thought untainted
- Stanza 2: Did I look pale? Then half a parish trembled
In the second, the syllable trem has an optional high note to give it a unique character.
Several ideas from The Sorcerer were reused in later Savoy operas. Many images from "Have faith in me", Aline's cut ballad, are present in "None shall part us" in 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....
. Another example is satire on the aristocracy: while in The Sorcerer Lady Sangazure is in direct descent from Helen of Troy, in 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...
Gilbert developed this idea, and Pooh-Bah can trace his ancestry "back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule".
Initial cuts and changes
Gilbert initially wrote a duet for Aline and Lady Sangazure, "Oh, why thou art sad, my mother?", followed by a ballad for Sangazure, "In days gone by, these eyes were bright". The duet was never performed, while the ballad was included in the first published version of the libretto and was probably performed during the original run. Alexis's Act II ballad ("Thou hast the power") was revised, with the refrain changed from common timeCommon Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
to waltz time. It was a substitute for Aline's ballad, "Have faith in me", which was present in the license copy but cut before the first night and absent from the published version of libretto. Some of the text was reused in "None shall part us" in 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....
.
Originally, in the Act II finale, there was a second incantation in which J. W. Wells summoned Ahrimanes (to be played by Mrs Paul), who told him that either he or Alexis must yield his life to quell the spell. This scene was cut, although its opening recitative in rewritten form was present in the first production.
1884 revival
The opera was extensively revised for the 1884 revival. An overture was arranged by Sullivan's assistant, Hamilton ClarkeHamilton Clarke
James Hamilton Siree Clarke , better known as Hamilton Clarke, was an English conductor, composer and organist...
, to replace Sullivan's "graceful dance" from his incidental music to Henry VIII
Henry VIII (play)
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight is a history play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication...
. The length of time between the acts was altered from a half hour to twelve hours, resulting in a different ending to Act I and a complete rewrite of the Act II opening. In the original production the chorus "resumed the Brindisi with a violent effort" after the "Oh marvellous illusion" chorus of the Act I finale; in the revised version, however, people who have tasted philtre "fall insensible on the stage". The original Act II started off with a patter chorus "Happy are we in our loving frivolity" – a pageant of mismatched couples. The revision changed the setting to nighttime, with a mysterioso trio for Alexis, Aline and John Wellington Wells to sing among the sleeping villagers. The villagers then awaken with a rustic chorus in West Country accent and pair up in the mismatched couples. There are also minor changes to the music leading into "Dear friends take pity on my lot," with the key of both of Constance's arias lowered to accommodate the 1884 Constance, Jessie Bond.
These revisions were not, however, done very carefully. The Act I Finale still says "Their hearts will melt in half-an-hour / Then will be felt the potion's power." Similarly, Aline drinks the potion in Act II, and falls insensible, but apparently falls in love with Dr. Daly immediately, instead of falling asleep for twelve hours as the revisions would require.
Other revisions
The second verse of Constance's aria, "When he is here", was cut from the libretto in the 1920s. It was later restored in libretti and included in the 1966 D'Oyly Carte recording.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 | Opera Comique, 1877 | Savoy Theatre, 1884 | Savoy Theatre, 1898 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Marmaduke | Richard Temple | Richard Temple | Jones Hewson Jones Hewson John Jones Hewson , credited as Jones Hewson, was a Welsh singer and actor known for his creation and portrayal of baritone roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1896 to 1901.... |
| Alexis | George Bentham | 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.... |
Robert Evett Robert Evett Robert Evett was an English singer, actor, theatre manager and producer.-Acting career:In 1892 Evett joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company on tour in The Vicar of Bray, playing the Reverend Henry Sandford, the tenor lead. In 1893, Evett added the role of Oswald in Haddon Hall... |
| Dr. Daly | 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... |
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... |
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... |
| Notary | Fred Clifton | William Lugg William Lugg William Lugg was a British actor and singer of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. He had a long stage career beginning with roles in several Gilbert and Sullivan operas and continuing for over four decades in drama, comedy and musical theatre... |
Leonard Russell |
| J. W. Wells | George Grossmith George Grossmith George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades... |
George Grossmith George Grossmith George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades... |
Walter Passmore Walter Passmore Walter Henry Passmore was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... |
| Lady Sangazure | Mrs. Howard Paul | 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.... |
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.... |
| Aline | Alice May Alice May Alice May , sometimes known as Louise Allen, was an English singer and actress, perhaps best remembered as the creator of the soprano role of Aline in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer .... |
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.... |
Ruth Vincent Ruth Vincent Ruth Vincent was an English opera singer and actress, best remembered for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1890s and her roles in the West End during the first decade of the 20th century, particularly her role as Sophia in Tom... |
| Mrs. Partlet | Harriett Everard Harriett Everard Harriett Everard was an English singer and actress best known for creating the role of Little Buttercup in the Gilbert and Sullivan hit H.M.S. Pinafore. Her career was cut short by an onstage accident during a rehearsal, from which she never fully recovered.Everard had a stage career of 20 years,... |
Ada Doree | Ethel McAlpine |
| Constance | Giulia Warwick Giulia Warwick Giulia Warwick was an English operatic soprano and actress, best known for roles in with Richard D'Oyly Carte's and the Carl Rosa Opera Company in the last quarter of the 19th century.-Life and career:... |
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... |
Emmie Owen Emmie Owen Emmie Owen was an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company... |
| Oldest Inhabitant | Frank Thornton Frank Thornton Frank Thornton is an English actor who is best known for playing Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace & Favour and as Truly in Last of the Summer Wine.-Early life:... 1 |
— | — |
| Role | D'Oyly Carte Tour 1919 | D'Oyly Carte Tour 1930 | D'Oyly Carte Tour 1939 | D'Oyly Carte Tour 1971 | D'Oyly Carte Tour 1982 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Marmaduke | Frederick Hobbs Frederick Hobbs (singer) Frederick Hobbs was a New Zealand-born singer, actor and theatre manager. After performing as a concert singer in New Zealand and Australia and in opera and musicals in Britain, he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1914. There he played the baritone and bass-baritone roles of the Gilbert... |
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.... |
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:... |
Clive Harre |
| Alexis | 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:... |
Ralph Mason | 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:... |
| Dr. Daly | 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.... |
Leslie Rands Leslie Rands Leslie Rands was an English opera singer, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He married D'Oyly Carte soprano Marjorie Eyre in 1926.-Life and career:... |
Leslie Rands Leslie Rands Leslie Rands was an English opera singer, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He married D'Oyly Carte soprano Marjorie Eyre in 1926.-Life and career:... |
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.... |
| Notary | George Sinclair | Joseph Griffin | Richard Walker Richard Walker (singer) Richard Walker, was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Between 1932 and 1939 Walker was married to D'Oyly Carte chorister Ena Martin... |
John Broad | Bruce Graham |
| J. W. Wells | 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,... |
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... |
James Conroy-Ward James Conroy-Ward James Conroy-Ward is a music publisher and retired English actor and singer best known for performing the Gilbert and Sullivan principal comic roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Biography:... |
| Lady Sangazure | 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 | 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.... |
| Aline | Elsie Griffin Elsie Griffin Elsie Griffin was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... |
Winifred Lawson Winifred Lawson Winifred Lawson was an opera and concert singer in the first half of the 20th century. She is best remembered for her performances in the soprano roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas as a member of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:Lawson was born in Wolverhampton, England... |
Margery Abbott | 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... |
Pamela Field |
| Mrs. Partlet | Anna Bethell Anna Bethell Anna Bethell was an English actress, singer and stage director. She is best known for her performances in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After playing other small mezzo-soprano parts, she played the role of Mrs. Partlett in The Sorcerer for many years. She... |
Anna Bethell Anna Bethell Anna Bethell was an English actress, singer and stage director. She is best known for her performances in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After playing other small mezzo-soprano parts, she played the role of Mrs. Partlett in The Sorcerer for many years. She... |
Anna Bethell Anna Bethell Anna Bethell was an English actress, singer and stage director. She is best known for her performances in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After playing other small mezzo-soprano parts, she played the role of Mrs. Partlett in The Sorcerer for many years. She... |
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... |
Beti Lloyd-Jones |
| Constance | Catherine Ferguson | 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... |
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... |
Linda Anne Hutchison | Lorraine Daniels |
1This role is not credited in revivals, which used a revised libretto.
Recordings
The Sorcerer has not been recorded as often as most of the other Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the recordings have not been generally well received. The 1966 D'Oyly Carte Opera Company recording is considered the best of their efforts to record this opera. The 1982 Brent Walker video is considered to be one of the best of that series and is recommended.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...
offers various video recordings of the opera, including its 2005 professional G&S Opera Company video.
Selected recordings
- 1933 D'Oyly Carte, selections only – Conductor: Isidore GodfreyIsidore GodfreyIsidore Godfrey was musical director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for 39 years, from 1929 to 1968...
- 1953 D'Oyly Carte – New Symphony Orchestra of London; Conductor: Isidore Godfrey
- 1966 D'Oyly Carte – Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Conductor: Isidore Godfrey
- 1982 Brent Walker Productions – 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: Stephen Pimlott (video)
Cultural impact
The Sorcerer has made its way into popular culture. Isaac AsimovIsaac 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...
wrote a short story, "The Up-To-Date Sorcerer
The Up-To-Date Sorcerer
"The Up-To-Date Sorcerer" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the July 1958 issue of Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1969 collection Nightfall and Other Stories....
", an homage to the opera consisting largely of a series of puns on phrases from it. Charlotte MacLeod's 1985 mystery novel, The Plain Old Man concerns an amateur production of the opera. A series of four Tom Holt
Tom Holt
Tom Holt is a British novelist.He was born in London, the son of novelist Hazel Holt, and was educated at Westminster School, Wadham College, Oxford, and The College of Law, London....
books, The Portable Door, In Your Dreams
In Your Dreams (novel)
In Your Dreams is a fantasy novel by the British novelist Tom Holt. It is the second book featuring the J.W. Wells magic firm. The book was published in 2004. J. W. Wells is inspired by the title character in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer....
, Earth, Air, Fire, and Custard and You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps, are based around "J. W. Wells & Co", a company of sorcerers well known for their love philtre. In Meet Mr Mulliner
Meet Mr Mulliner
Meet Mr Mulliner is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in the United Kingdom on September 27, 1927 by Herbert Jenkins, and in the United States on March 2, 1928 by Doubleday, Doran, it introduces the irrepressible pub raconteur Mr Mulliner, who narrates all nine of...
by P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
, the title hero sings a fragment from Dr. Daly's ballad and characterises his nephew as "the sort of young curate who seems to have been so common in the 'eighties, or whenever it was that Gilbert wrote "The Sorcerer." It has also been referenced in popular TV series, such as in the Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode "Patriot Games
Patriot Games (Family Guy)
"Patriot Games" is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox on January 29, 2006, around the time of Super Bowl XL, which fit the sports theme of the episode. In it, Peter goes to his high school reunion and meets Tom Brady...
", where characters sing the song "If you'll marry me" from Act II.