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W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan - The Grand Duke: or The Stuatory Duel
The partnership between William Schwenck Gilbert and Arthur Seymour Sullivan and their canon of Savoy Operas is rightly lauded by all lovers of comic opera the world over. Gilbert's sharp, funny words and Sullivan's deliciously lively and hummable tunes create a world that is distinctly British in view but has the world as its audience. Both men were exceptionally talented and gifted in their own right and wrote much, often with other partners, that still stands the test of time. However, together as a team they created Light or Comic Operas of a standard that have had no rivals equal to their standard, before or since. That's quite an achievement. To be recognised by the critics is one thing but their commercial success was incredible. The profits were astronomical, allowing for the building of their own purpose built theatre - The Savoy Theatre. Beginning with the first of their fourteen collaborations, Thespis in 1871 and travelling through many classics including The Sorcerer (1877), H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1885), The Gondoliers (1889) to their finale in 1896 with The Grand Duke, Gilbert & Sullivan created a legacy that is constantly revived and admired in theatres and other media to this very day.
92 pages, Paperback
First published March 7, 1896
About the author
W.S. Gilbert
297 books29 followersBritish playwright and lyricist Sir William Schwenck Gilbert wrote a series of comic operas, including
Her Majesty's Ship Pinafore
(1878) and
The Pirates of Penzance
(1879), with composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. This English dramatist, librettist, poet, and illustrator in collaboration with this composer produced fourteen comic operas, which include
The Mikado
, one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre. Opera companies, repertory companies, schools and community theatre groups throughout and beyond the English-speaking world continue to perform regularly these operas as well as most of their other Savoy operas. From these works, lines, such as "short, sharp shock", "What, never? Well, hardly ever!", and "Let the punishment fit the crime," form common phrases of the English language.
Gilbert also wrote the Bab Ballads , an extensive collection of light verse, which his own comical drawings accompany.
His creative output included more than 75 plays and libretti, numerous stories, poems, lyrics and various other comic and serious pieces. His plays and realistic style of stage direction inspired other dramatists, including Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. According to The Cambridge History of English and American Literature , the "lyrical facility" of Gilbert "and his mastery of metre raised the poetical quality of comic opera to a position that it had never reached before and has not reached since."
Gilbert also wrote the Bab Ballads , an extensive collection of light verse, which his own comical drawings accompany.
His creative output included more than 75 plays and libretti, numerous stories, poems, lyrics and various other comic and serious pieces. His plays and realistic style of stage direction inspired other dramatists, including Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. According to The Cambridge History of English and American Literature , the "lyrical facility" of Gilbert "and his mastery of metre raised the poetical quality of comic opera to a position that it had never reached before and has not reached since."
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 19, 2017
2.5 stars. Has a few good lines and moments, but overall just wasn't quite as funny or memorable as other Gilbert & Sullivan plays I've read, such as, say, The Pirates of Penzance.
June 11, 2017
While not as bad as the previous "Utopia Limited," there's a feeling of creative schizophrenia here, as Gilbert and Sullivan try to write both their usual topsy-turvy farce full of grotesque characters and absurd plot contrivances, and a dignified European-style opera. Adding to the difficulty of analyzing the piece is that there are various extant versions of this piece, and the best song in the show lyrically and musically, "The Roulette Song (Take My Advice When Deep in Debt)" is commonly cut and does not even appear in the published version of the piece. There are a few clever ideas- an ongoing joke with sausage rolls being the most notable- but much of what's here feels like warmed-over Gilbert and Sullivan leftovers, including the odd preoccupation with dynamite from "Utopia Limited." Not an ignoble finish, but certainly not up to snuff compared to the classics.
May 28, 2021
This was the last G & S collaboration. It was, and remains, one of the least popular of the works, however I found the music really good and I think it should be produced more.
November 15, 2014
3½ stars. I read this on my Kindle as part of The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan while watching the video on YouTube.
Another fun outing with Gilbert & Sullivan. The production of this operetta I watched unfortunately had been more modified from the original than any of the others I have seen so far, which made reading along difficult. Some numbers (including one I thought hilarious) were omitted entirely, one was moved from the first act to the second (!?!), and a few were abridged. Ah well, the perils of the public domain...
Another fun outing with Gilbert & Sullivan. The production of this operetta I watched unfortunately had been more modified from the original than any of the others I have seen so far, which made reading along difficult. Some numbers (including one I thought hilarious) were omitted entirely, one was moved from the first act to the second (!?!), and a few were abridged. Ah well, the perils of the public domain...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews