Princess Ida

"Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant", is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. "Princess Ida" opened at the Savoy Theatre on January 5 1884, for a run of 246 performances. The piece concerns a princess who founds a women's university and teaches that women are superior to men and should rule in their stead. The prince to whom she had been married in infancy sneaks into the university, together with two friends, with the aim of collecting his bride. They disguise themselves as women students but are discovered, and all soon face a literal war between the sexes.

The opera satirizes feminism, women's education, and Darwinian evolution, which were controversial topics in conservative Victorian England. "Princess Ida" is based on a narrative poem by Alfred Tennyson called "The Princess", and Gilbert had written a farcical musical play, based on the poem, in 1870. He lifted much of the dialogue of "Princess Ida" directly from his 1870 farce. It is the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera in three acts and the only one with dialogue in blank verse.

By Savoy Opera standards, "Princess Ida" was not considered a success due, in part, to a particularly hot summer in London in 1884, and it was not revived in London until 1919. Nevertheless, the piece is performed regularly today by both professional and amateur companies, although not as frequently as the most popular of the Savoy operas.

Background

Genesis

"Princess Ida" is based on Tennyson's serio-comic narrative poem of 1847, "The Princess: A Medley". Gilbert had written a blank verse musical farce burlesquing the same material in 1870 called "The Princess". He reused a good deal of the dialogue from this earlier play in the libretto of "Princess Ida". He also retained Tennyson's blank verse style and the basic story line about a heroic princess who runs a women's college and the prince who loves her. He and his two friends infiltrate the college disguised as female students. [http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/britlit/tenn/tenn2.html Scott, Patrick. "Tennyson, Interpreter of Mid-Victorian Britain", 1992 exhibit on Tennyson's works, including "The Princess"] ] Gilbert had to write entirely new lyrics for "Princess Ida", since the lyrics to his 1870 farce were written to previously existing music by Jacques Offenbach, Rossini and others.Ainger, p. 219]

Tennyson's poem was written, in part, in response to the founding of Queen's College, London, the first college of women's higher education, in 1847. When Gilbert wrote "The Princess" in 1870, women's higher education was still an innovative, even radical concept. Girton College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge, was established in 1869. However, by the time Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated on "Princess Ida" in 1883, a women's college was a more established concept. Westfield College, the University of London's first women's college, had opened in 1882. Thus, women's higher education was in the news in London, and Westfield is cited as a model for Gilbert's Castle Adamant. [In 1983, Janet Sondheimer published a history of the college called "Castle Adamant in Hampstead." ISBN-10|0904188051]

Increasingly viewing his work with Gilbert as unimportant, beneath his skills, and repetitious, Sullivan had intended to resign from the partnership with Gilbert and Richard D'Oyly Carte after "Iolanthe", but after a recent financial loss, he concluded that his financial needs required him to continue writing Savoy operas. Therefore, in February 1883, with "Iolanthe" still playing strongly at the Savoy Theatre, Gilbert and Sullivan signed a new five-year partnership agreement to create new operas for Carte upon six months' notice. [Baily, p. 251] He also gave his consent to Gilbert to continue with the adaptation of "The Princess" as the basis for their next opera. Later that spring, Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria and the honour was announced in May at the opening of the Royal College of Music. Although it was the operas with Gilbert that had earned him the broadest fame, the honour was conferred for his services to serious music. [Jacobs, p. 162] The musical establishment, and many critics, believed that Sullivan's knighthood should put an end to his career as a composer of comic opera — that a musical knight should not stoop below oratorio or grand opera.Baily, p. 250] Having just signed the five-year agreement, Sullivan suddenly felt trapped. [Jacobs, p. 188]

By the end of July 1883, Gilbert and Sullivan were revising drafts of the libretto for "Ida". [Stedman, p. 198] Sullivan finished some of the composition by early September when he had to begin preparations for his conducting duties at the triennial Leeds Festival, held in October. In late October, Sullivan turned his attentions back to "Ida", and rehearsals began in November.Ainger, p. 224] Gilbert was also producing his one-act drama, "Comedy and Tragedy", and keeping an eye on a revival of his "Pygmalion and Galatea" at the Lyceum Theatre by Mary Anderson's company. [Stedman, pp. 199-200] In mid-December, Sullivan bade farewell to his sister-in-law Charlotte, the widow of his brother Fred, who departed with her young family to America, never to return. Sullivan's oldest nephew, Herbert, stayed behind in England as his uncle's ward, and Sullivan threw himself into the task of orchestrating the score of "Princess Ida". As he had done with "Iolanthe", Sullivan wrote the overture himself, rather than assigning it to an assistant as he did in the case of most of his operas.Ainger, p. 225]

Production

.

The previous Savoy opera, "Iolanthe", closed after 398 performances on 1 January 1884, the same day that Sullivan composed the last of the musical numbers for "Ida". Despite grueling rehearsals over the next few days, and suffering from exhaustion, Sullivan conducted the opening performance on 5 January 1884 and collapsed from exhaustion immediately afterwards. [Ainger, pp. 225-26] The reviewer for the "Sunday Times" wrote that the score of "Ida" was "the best in every way that Sir Arthur Sullivan has produced, apart from his serious works.... Humour is almost as strong a point with Sir Arthur... as with his clever collaborator...." ["Sunday Times", 6 January 1884, p.5] The humour of the piece also drew the comment that Gilbert and Sullivan's work "has the great merit of putting everyone in a good temper." ["The Times", 7 January 1884, p. 7] The praise for Sullivan's effort was unanimous, though Gilbert's work received some mixed notices.Allen, pp. 207-08]

Aftermath

Sullivan's close friend, composer Frederic Clay, had suffered a serious stroke in early December 1883 that ended his career. Sullivan, reflecting on this, his own precarious health, and his desire to devote himself to more serious music, informed Richard D'Oyly Carte on 29 January 1884 that he had determined "not to write any more 'Savoy' pieces."Ainger, p. 226] Sullivan fled the London winter to convalesce in Monte Carlo as seven provincial tours (one with a 17 year old Henry Lytton in the chorus) and the U.S. production of "Ida" set out. [Ainger, p. 229]

Bab illustration for "Princess Ida"As "Princess Ida" began to show signs of flagging early on, Carte sent notice, on 22 March 1884, to both Gilbert and Sullivan under the five-year contract, that a new opera would be required in six months' time. [Jacobs, p. 187] Sullivan replied that "it is impossible for me to do another piece of the character of those already written by Gilbert and myself." [cite web |url=http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/html/quarrel.html |title=The Carpet Quarrel Explained |accessdate=2007-11-06 |last=Crowther |first=Andrew |date=28 June 1997 |publisher=The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive] Gilbert was surprised to hear of Sullivan's hesitation and had started work on a new opera involving a plot in which people fell in love against their wills after taking a magic lozenge – a plot that Sullivan had previously rejected. Gilbert wrote to Sullivan asking him to reconsider, but the composer replied on 2 April that he had "come to the end of my tether" with the operas:

Gilbert was much hurt, but Sullivan insisted that he could not set the "lozenge plot." In addition to the "improbability" of it, it was too similar to the plot of their 1877 opera, "The Sorcerer", and was too complex a plot. Sullivan returned to London, and, as April wore on, Gilbert tried to rewrite his plot, but he could not satisfy Sullivan. The parties were at a stalemate, and Gilbert wrote, "And so ends a musical & literary association of seven years' standing – an association of exceptional reputation – an association unequalled in its monetary results, and hitherto undisturbed by a single jarring or discordant element." [Ainger, p. 232] However, by 8 May, Gilbert was ready to back down, writing, "...am I to understand that if I construct another plot in which no supernatural element occurs, you will undertake to set it? ... a consistent plot, free from anachronisms, constructed in perfect good faith & to the best of my ability."Ainger, p. 233] The stalemate was broken, and on 20 May, Gilbert sent Sullivan a sketch of the plot to "The Mikado".

A particularly hot summer in London did not help ticket sales for "Princess Ida" and forced Carte to close the theatre during the heat of August. The piece ran for a comparatively short 246 performances, and for the first time since 1877, the opera closed before the next Savoy opera was ready to open. "Princess Ida" was not revived in London until 1919.

Musical and textual analysis

[
Charles Darwin contemplating a bustle, in "Fun", 1872] The opera satirizes feminism, women's education, and Darwinian evolution, all of which were controversial topics in conservative Victorian England. In the 15 years between the time that Gilbert wrote "The Princess" and the premiere of "Princess Ida", the movement for women's education had gained momentum in Britain, with the founding of Girton College (1869) and Newnham College (1871) at the University of Cambridge; and Somerville (1878) and Lady Margaret Hall (1878) at the University of Oxford. Westfield College in Hampstead, the University of London's first women's college, opened in 1882.

As in "Patience" and "Iolanthe", the two previous Gilbert and Sullivan operas, "Princess Ida" concerns the war between the sexes. In "Patience", the aesthetic-crazed women are contrasted with vain military men; in "Iolanthe", the vague and flighty fairies (women) are pitted against the ineffective, dim-witted peers (men); and in "Ida", overly serious students and professors at a women's university (women) defy a marriage-by-force ultimatum by a militaristic king and his testosterone-laden court (men). "Princess Ida" is one of several Gilbert plays, including "The Wicked World", "Broken Hearts", "Fallen Fairies", and "Iolanthe", where the introduction of males into a tranquil world of women brings "mortal love" that wreaks havoc with the status quo. [ [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/other_gilbert/html/broken_hearts_synopsis.html Article on "Broken Hearts"] ]

Sullivan's score is majestic, and a sequence of songs in Act II, sometimes known as the "string of pearls", [http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/books/walbrook/chap9.html Walbrook's analysis of the music and libretto] ] is particularly well loved. Sullivan used chromatic and scalar passages and key modulations throughout the score, and commenters have called the Act II quartet "The World Is But a Broken Toy" one of Sullivan's "most beautiful, plaintive melodies." It has also been called "Gounodesque". [Review in "The Manchester Guardian," 28 September 1954, p. 5] Although Gilbert's libretto contains many funny lines, the iambic pentameter and three-act structure tend to make "Ida" more difficult to stage effectively than some of the other Savoy Operas. In addition, modern audiences sometimes find the libretto's dated portrayal of sex roles, and the awkward resolution of the opera, unsatisfying. It is also curious, after the string of successes that the partnership had experienced with George Grossmith, Richard Temple, and Rutland Barrington in starring roles, to choose a theme that relegated them to comparatively minor roles.

Roles

*King Hildebrand (bass-baritone)
*Hilarion, "King Hildebrand's Son" (tenor)
*Cyril, "Hilarion's Friend" (tenor)
*Florian, "Hilarion's Friend" (lyric baritone)
*King Gama (comic baritone)
*Arac, "King Gama's Son" (bass-baritone)
*Guron, "King Gama's Son" (bass-baritone)
*Scynthius, "King Gama's Son" (bass)
*Princess Ida, "King Gama's Daughter" (soprano)
*Lady Blanche, "Professor of Abstract Science" (contralto)
*Lady Psyche, "Professor of Humanities" (soprano)
*Melissa, "Lady Blanche's Daughter" (mezzo-soprano)
*Sacharissa, "Girl Graduate" (soprano)
*Chloe, "Girl Graduate" (speaking role/chorus)
*Ada, "Girl Graduate" (speaking role/chorus)
*Chorus of Soldiers, Courtiers, "Girl Graduates", "Daughters of the Plough", etc.

ynopsis

Act I

right|thumb|Lytton as Gama, 1921In a pavilion at King Hildebrand's palace, courtiers wait expectantly for the arrival of King Gama and his daughter Princess Ida, who was betrothed in infancy to Hildebrand's son, Prince Hilarion ("Search throughout the panorama"). Hildebrand promises to wage war against Gama if the Princess should fail to appear ("Now hearken to my strict command"), while Hilarion, who is in love with Ida, although he has not seen her since he was two years old, wonders how she may have changed over the ensuing twenty years ("Ida was a twelvemonth-old").

Ida's war-like (and dull) brothers Arac, Guron and Scynthius, arrive at Hildebrand's palace ("We are warriors three") preceding their father. King Gama enters, explains his misanthropy ("If you give me your attention I will tell you what I am"), and promptly displays it by insulting Hildebrand and his son. He then announces that Princess Ida has forsworn men and founded a women's university at Castle Adamant, one of his many country houses. The two Kings advise Hilarion to go to Castle Adamant to claim Ida, and that if she refuses him, Hildebrand will storm the castle ("Pr'haps if you address the lady"). But Hilarion plans to use romantic means, rather than force, to gain the princess's love. He explains that nature has "armed" him and his friends, the courtiers Cyril and Florian, to win this "war" ("Expressive glances will be our lances"). The three set off to Castle Adamant, while King Gama and his sons are to remain at Hildebrand's palace as hostages ("For a month to dwell in a dungeon cell").

Act II

! Oh hear me") and delivers a stern lecture, stating that women's brains are larger than men's, and predicting that woman shall conquer man, but that once having conquered, woman will treat man better than he has treated her. Lady Blanche resents the Princess and predicts that one day she will replace her as head of the university ("Come mighty must", a song often cut from the D'Oyly Carte productions).

"Man, sprung from an Ape, is Ape at heart" ("A lady fair of lineage high").

Melissa, Lady Blanche's daughter, has overheard them, but, fascinated by the first men she has ever seen, swears herself to secrecy. She falls in love with Florian at first sight, and the company celebrate joyously the discovery that men are not the monsters that Princess Ida had claimed ("The woman of the wisest wit"). Lady Blanche, who has not fallen for the men's disguises, confronts Melissa. Though indignant at first, she is persuaded to keep the men's secret when her daughter points out that if Hilarion is able to woo Princess Ida, Blanche will become head of the university ("Now, wouldn't you like to rule the roast?").

During lunch ("Merrily rings the luncheon bell"), Cyril gets tipsy and inadvertently gives away his friends' identity by singing a bawdy song ("Wouldn't you know the kind of maid"). In the ensuing confusion, Princess Ida falls into a stream, and Hilarion rescues her ("Oh joy, our chief is saved"). Despite her rescue, Ida condemns Hilarion and his friends to death. Hilarion counters that without her love to live for, he welcomes death ("Whom thou hast chained"). King Hildebrand and his soldiers arrive, with Ida's brothers in chains. He reminds her that she is bound by contract to marry Hilarion and gives her until the following afternoon to comply ("Some years ago") or incur the guilt of fratricide. The defiant Ida replies that, although Hilarion saved her life and is fair, strong, and tall, she would rather die than be his bride ("To yield at once to such a foe").

Act III

Princess Ida reviews her student troops' readiness to meet Hildebrand's soldiers in battle, but the terrified girls admit that they are afraid of fighting ("Death to the invader!"). Princess Ida is disgusted by their lack of courage and vows that, if necessary, she will fight Hildebrand's army alone ("I built upon a rock"). Her father, King Gama, arrives with a message that Hildebrand prefers not to go to war against women. He reveals that Hildebrand has been torturing him by treating him in luxury and giving him nothing to complain about ("Whene'er I spoke sarcastic joke"). He suggests that, instead of subjecting her women to all-out war, she pit her three strong, brave brothers against Hilarion and his friends, with Ida's hand to depend on the outcome. Ida is insulted to be "a stake for fighting men" but realises that she has no alternative.

Hildebrand's forces enter, together with Gama and his three sons ("When anger spreads his wing"). Hilarion, Cyril, and Florian are still in their women's robes, and King Gama and his sons ridicule them. In preparation for battle, Gama's sons shed their heavy armour, saying that it is too uncomfortable for combat ("This helmet I suppose"). The fight ensues, with Hilarion, Cyril, and Florian defeating Gama's sons ("It is our duty plain").

Her wager lost, Ida yields to Hilarion and bitterly asks Lady Blanche if she can resign her post with dignity. The delighted Blanche, who will succeed her as head of the university, assures her that she can. Ida laments the failure of her "cherished scheme," but King Hildebrand points out the fatal flaw in her logic:

:::"If you enlist all women in your cause,:::"And make them all abjure tyrannic Man,:::"The obvious question then arises, "How:::"Is this Posterity to be provided?"

Princess Ida admits, "I never thought of that!" Hilarion makes an emotional appeal, urging her to give Man one chance, while Cyril observes that if she grows tired of the Prince, she can return to Castle Adamant. Lady Psyche says that she, too, will return if Cyril does not behave himself, but Melissa swears that she will not return under any circumstances. Finally, Ida admits that she has been wrong, and declares that indeed she loves Hilarion, ending with a quotation directly from the Tennyson poem. All celebrate, ("With joy abiding").

Musical numbers

*Overture (includes "We are warriors three" and "Minerva! oh, hear me")

;Act I
*1. "Search throughout the panorama" (Florian and Chorus)
*2. "Now hearken to my strict command" (Hildebrand and Chorus)
*3. "Today we meet" (Hilarion)
*4. "From the distant panorama" (Chorus)
*5. "We are warriors three" (Arac, Guron, Scynthius, and Chorus)
*6. "If you give me your attention" (Gama)
*7. Finale Act I (Gama, Hildebrand, Cyril, Hilarion, Florian, and Chorus)
** "P'raps if you Address the Lady"
** "Expressive glances"
** "For a month to dwell in a dungeon cell"

;Act II
*8. "Towards the empyrean heights" (Lady Psyche, Melissa, Sacharissa, and Chorus of Girls)
*9. "Mighty maiden with a mission" (Chorus of Girls)
*10. "Minerva! oh, hear me!" ... "Oh, goddess wise" (Princess)
*10a."And thus to Empyrean Heights" (Princess and Chorus)
*11. "Come, mighty Must" (Lady Blanche)¹
*12. "Gently, gently" (Cyril, Hilarion, and Florian)
*13. "I am a maiden, cold and stately" (Cyril, Hilarion, and Florian)
*14. "The world is but a broken toy" (Princess, Cyril, Hilarion, and Florian)
*15. "A lady fair, of lineage high" (Psyche with Cyril, Hilarion, and Florian)²
*16. "The woman of the wisest wit" (Psyche, Melissa, Cyril, Hilarion, and Florian)
*17. "Now wouldn't you like to rule the roast" (Melissa and Blanche)³
*18. "Merrily ring the luncheon bell" (Blanche, Cyril, and Chorus of Girls)
*19. "Would you know the kind of maid?" (Cyril)
*20. Finale Act II (Princess, Hildebrand, Melissa, Psyche, Blanche, Cyril, Hilarion, Florian, Arac, Guron, Scynthius, and Chorus)
** "Oh, joy! our chief is saved"
** "Whom thou hast chained must wear his chain"
** "Walls and fences scaling"
** "Some years ago, no doubt you know"
** "We may remark, though nothing can dismay us"
** "To yield at once to such a foe with shame were rife"

¹ Starting in the 1920s, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company traditionally deleted this song.

²As musical director, Harry Norris was responsible for adding prominent horn parts to the accompaniment to "A Lady Fair". They were expunged by Malcolm Sargent but subsequently restored by Royston Nash in the 1970s. These are customarily referred to as the ‘Norris’ horn parts, though they may have been written by Geoffrey Toye.

³ The first line of this song is often erroneously sung as "Now wouldn't you like to rule the roost" instead of "roast" (rhymes with "clear the coast" in the next couplet). This typographical error appeared in early vocal scores and still appears in a current Chappell vocal score edition, although some scores have corrected it.

;Act III
*21. "Death to the invader" (Melissa and Chorus of Girls)
*22. "Whene'er I spoke" (King Gama with Chorus of Girls)⁴
*23. "I built upon a rock" (Princess)
*24. "When anger spreads his wing" (Chorus of Girls and Soldiers)
*25. "This helmet, I suppose" (Arac with Guron, Scynthius, and Chorus)
*26. Chorus during the fight, "This is our duty plain" (Chorus)
*27. "With joy abiding" [Reprise of "Expressive glances"] (Ensemble)

⁴ In the original production, No. 22 "followed" No. 23. The present order first appeared in vocal scores published after the first London revival in 1919.

Versions of the text

"Princess Ida" was not revived in London during the authors' lifetimes, and there were no substantive changes to the text after the premiere. The one alteration was purely cosmetic: the first act had originally been called a "Prologue." It was re-designated Act I, with a consequent renumbering of the remaining acts.

At around the time of the first London revival, in 1919, there were changes to the running order of Act III. As written originally, the sequence of Act III is as follows:
# "Death to the invader"
# Princess Ida addresses the girls and then dismisses them
# "I built upon a rock" (Princess)
# The girls re-enter, shortly followed by King Gama
# "When e'er I spoke sarcastic joke" (King Gama, Ladies' Chorus)
# Dialogue in which the Princess agrees to let her brothers fight for her
# "When anger spreads his wing" (Double chorus)
# Dialogue preceding the fight
# "This helmet, I suppose" (Arac, Guron, Scynthius, Chorus)
# "This is our duty plain" (Chorus during the fight)
# Dialogue and finale

As re-ordered in the 1920s, the running order is as follows:

# "Death to the invader"
# Princess Ida addresses the girls and then dismisses them
# The girls re-enter, shortly followed by King Gama
# "When e'er I spoke sarcastic joke" (King Gama, Ladies' Chorus)
# Dialogue in which the Princess agrees to let her brothers fight for her
# "I built upon a rock" (Princess)
# "When anger spreads his wing" (Double chorus)
# "This helmet, I suppose" (Arac, Guron, Scynthius, Chorus)
# Dialogue preceding the fight
# "This is our duty plain" (Chorus during the fight)
# Dialogue and finale

The Chappell vocal score was re-issued to conform to this revised order.

The other significant change is that, at some point in the 1920s, it became traditional to delete Lady Blanche's Act II song, "Come, mighty must" (although it continued to be printed in the vocal score). The song is included in the 1924 D'Oyly Carte recording, but on none of the three recordings the Company made after that (1932, 1955, 1965).

Productions

"Princess Ida" was not as successful as the Gilbert and Sullivan operas that had preceded it. In the midst of an unusually hot summer of 1884, Richard D'Oyly Carte closed the Savoy Theatre for a month, starting in mid-August. The opera had been running for seven months, a short period by the partnership's past standards. The opera re-opened for just three weeks, starting in mid-September, before giving way to a revival of "The Sorcerer" (revised) and "Trial by Jury".

.

Provincial tours of "Princess Ida" began in early 1884 and ended by mid-1885. The opera was revived on tour in December 1895, remaining in the touring repertory through 1896. It re-appeared in late 1897 or early 1898, and from then on was never out of the D'Oyly Carte touring repertory through the early years of the twentieth century. The first London revival, however, did not come until 30 December 1919. From then on, it was included in every D'Oyly Carte touring season until the company disbanded at the outbreak of war in 1939.

During World War II, the Company played a smaller repertory. The scenery and costumes for "Princess Ida", which were in storage, were destroyed by enemy action over the winter of 1940–41. A new production was mounted at the Savoy Theatre on September 27, 1954. A guest artist, opera singer Victoria Sladen, was engaged to sing the title role for the London season. For the 1954 revival, the Act II line "And the ni**ers they'll be bleaching by and by," was changed to "And they'll practice what they're preaching by and by," to accommodate the sensibilities of modern audiences, following similar changes in other Gilbert and Sullivan works.

After the 1954 revival, "Princess Ida" was an irregular presence in the D'Oyly Carte repertory. While it never went unperformed more than two or three seasons at a time, it was usually performed only in London and a few other major cities. The demands of the title role were considered unusual by Gilbert and Sullivan standards, and often the Company brought in guest artists to play it. The Company's final performances of the opera were in February–April 1977. The Company's reduced repertory in its final five seasons did not accommodate it.

The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime:

Recordings

"Princess Ida" has received fewer professional recordings than most of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company recorded the piece four times, in 1924, 1932, 1955 and 1965, but the later two recordings have not been as well received as the earlier two. The BBC broadcast the piece in 1966 and 1989, but the recordings are unavailable. The 1982 Brent Walker Productions video is considered to be one of the weakest of the series. Ohio Light Opera recorded the opera in 2000. [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/ida.htm List and assessments of recordings of the opera] ]

The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival offers various video recordings of the opera, including its excellent 2003 professional G&S Opera Company video. [ [http://cnb-host4.clickandbuild.com/cnb/shop/musicalcollectablesltd?listPos=6&op=catalogue-products&prodCategoryID=43 G&S Opera Company 2003 recording] ]

*1924 D'Oyly Carte – Conductors: Harry Norris and George W. Byng [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/ida1924.htm Review of the 1924 recording] ]
*1932 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: Malcolm Sargent [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/ida1932.htm Review of the 1932 recording] ]
*1955 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: Isidore Godfrey [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/ida1955.htm Review of the 1955 recording] ]
*1965 D'Oyly Carte – Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor: Sir Malcolm Sargent [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/ida1965.htm Review of the 1965 recording] ]
*1982 Brent Walker Productions (video) – Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Conductor: Alexander Faris; Stage Director: Terry Gilbert [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/idawalk.htm Review of the 1982 video] ]
*2000 Ohio Light Opera – Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/idaoloc.htm Review of the 2000 Ohio Light Opera recording] ]

Notes

References

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* Also, five supplements, privately printed.
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External links

* [http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/princess_ida/html/index.html "Princess Ida" at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive]
* [http://www.concentric.net/~Oakapple/gasdisc/ida.htm "Princess Ida" at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography]
* [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/whowaswho/index.htm Site containing biographies of the people listed in the historical casting chart]
* [http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/other_gilbert/html/princess_home.html Gilbert's 1870 play, "The Princess"]