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 the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces, and later, those by other composer–librettist teams. Virtually all of the non-G&S Savoy Operas failed to achieve a foothold in the standard repertory, leaving the term "Savoy Opera" as practically synonymous with Gilbert and Sullivan.
Patience (1881) was the first opera to appear at the Savoy Theatre, although the term "Savoy Opera" has always included the complete set of thirteen operas that Gilbert and Sullivan wrote for Richard D'Oyly Carte:
- Trial by Jury (1875)
- The Sorcerer (1877)
- H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass that Loved a Sailor (1878)
- The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty (1880)
- Patience, or Bunthorne's Bride (1881)
- Iolanthe, or The Peer and the Peri (1882)
- Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant (1884)
- The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu (1885)
- Ruddigore, or The Witch's Curse (1887)
- The Yeomen of the Guard, or The Merryman and his Maid (1888)
- The Gondoliers, or The King of Barataria (1889)
- Utopia Limited, or The Flowers of Progress (1893)
- The Grand Duke, or The Statutory Duel (1896)
Other definitions
During the years when the Gilbert and Sullivan (“G&S”) operas were being written, Richard D'Oyly Carte also produced operas by other composer–librettist teams, either as curtain-raisers to the G&S pieces, or to fill the theatre when no G&S piece was available. To their contemporaries, the term "Savoy Opera" referred to any opera that appeared at that theatre, regardless of who wrote it.
Aside from curtain-raisers, the G&S operas were the only works produced at the Savoy Theatre from the date it opened (October 10 1881) until The Gondoliers closed on June 20 1891. Over the next decade, there were only two new G&S pieces (Utopia Limited and The Grand Duke), both of which had comparatively brief runs. To fill the gap, Carte mounted G&S revivals, Sullivan operas with different librettists, and works by other composer–librettist teams.
Richard D'Oyly Carte died on April 3 1901. If the nexus of Carte and the Savoy Theatre is used to define "Savoy Opera," then the last new Savoy Opera was The Rose of Persia (music by Sullivan, libretto by Basil Hood), which ran from November 28 1899–June 28 1900.
After Carte's death, his wife Helen assumed management of the theatre. She continued to produce new pieces in the G&S style, along with G&S revivals. Counting the pieces that Helen D'Oyly Carte produced, the last Savoy Opera was A Princess of Kensington (music by Edward German, libretto by Basil Hood), which ran for four months in early 1903. This is the point that Cyril Rollins and R. John Witts adopt as the end of the Savoy Operas.
After A Princess of Kensington, Mrs. D'Oyly Carte relinquished control of the theatre until December 8 1906, when she produced a series of G&S revivals in repertory, with Gilbert returning to direct. In March 1909, Charles H. Workman assumed control of the theatre, producing several new pieces, including one by Gilbert himself, Fallen Fairies (music by Edward German). The last of these Workman-produced works came in early 1910, Two Merry Monarchs by Arthur Anderson, George Levy, Hartley Carrick, and Orlando Morgan. S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald regards this piece as the last of the Savoy Operas.
Fitz-Gerald wrote his book, The Story of the Savoy Opera, in 1924, when these other pieces were still within living memory. But over time, anything produced at the Savoy by other composers or librettists was largely forgotten. The term "Savoy Opera" came to be synonymous with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Lastly, it must be noted that Gilbert and Sullivan wrote one additional opera together — their first collaboration, Thespis, in 1871. This opera was not a Savoy Opera under any of the definitions mentioned to this point, as Richard D'Oyly Carte didn't produce it, and it never appeared at the Savoy Theatre. However, Rollins & Witts include it in their compendium of the Savoy Operas, as does Geoffrey Smith. Given its lack of a D'Oyly Carte or Savoy connection, Thespis probably has the most tenuous claim to be a "Savoy Opera."
Complete list
The following table shows all of the operas that could be considered "Savoy Operas" under any of the definitions mentioned above. Only first runs are shown. Curtain-raisers and afterpieces are excluded, aside from Trial By Jury.
References
- Fitz-Gerald, S. J. Adair (1924). The Story of the Savoy Opera. London: Stanley Paul & Co.
Further reading
- Ainger, Michael (2002). Gilbert and Sullivan, a Dual Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Ayre, Leslie (1972). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: Pan Books Ltd. Foreword by Martyn Green.
- Baily, Leslie (1966). The Gilbert and Sullivan Book (new ed. ed.). London: Spring Books.
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- Baily, Leslie (1973). Gilbert & Sullivan and Their World. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
- Bradley, Ian (1982). The Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd.
- Bradley, Ian (1984). The Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan 2. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd.
- Ffinch, Michael (1993). Gilbert and Sullivan. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
- Gilbert, W. S. (1976). The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.
- Gilbert, W. S. (1994). The Savoy Operas. Hertfordshire, England: Wordsworth Editions Ltd.
- Green, Martyn (1961). Treasury of Gilbert & Sullivan. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc.
- Hibbert, Christopher (1976). Gilbert & Sullivan and Their Victorian World. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.
- James, Alan (1989). Gilbert & Sullivan. Wiltshire, England: Omnibus Press.
- Smith, Geoffrey (1983). The Savoy Operas. London: Robert Hale Limited.
- Williamson, Audrey (1953). Gilbert and Sullivan Opera. London: Marion Boyars.
- Wilson, Robin (1984). Gilbert & Sullivan – The Official D'Oyly Carte Picture History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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- Wolfson, John (1976). Final Curtain – The Last Gilbert and Sullivan Operas. London: Chappell & Company Limited.