Iolanthe

" closed, and ran for 398 performances.

Background

The opening night of "Iolanthe" was an occasion for what must have seemed a truly magical event in 1882. The Savoy Theatre was the first theatre in the world to be wired for electricity, and such stunning special effects as sparkling fairy wands were possible.

Gilbert had targeted the aristocracy for satiric treatment before, but in this "fairy opera", the House of Lords is lampooned as a bastion of the ineffective, privileged and dim-witted. The political party system and other institutions also come in for a dose of satire. Among many potshots that Gilbert takes at lawyers in this opera, the Lord Chancellor sings that he will "work on a new and original plan" that the rule (which holds true in other professions, such as the military, the church and even the stage) that diligence, honesty, honour, and merit should lead to promotion "might apply to the bar". Throughout "Iolanthe", however, both author and composer managed to couch the criticism among such bouncy, amiable absurdities that it is all received as good humour. In fact, Gilbert later refused to allow quotes from the piece to be used as part of the campaign to diminish the powers of the House of Lords.

Although titled "Iolanthe" all along in Gilbert's plot book [Tillett "et al." 1982, p. 5] for a time the piece was advertised as "Perola". According to an often-repeated story, Gilbert and Sullivan didn't change the name to "Iolanthe" until just before the première: "At the final rehearsal of "Iolanthe" at the Savoy, Sullivan addressed the assembled company: 'Ladies and gentlemen. You have been rehearsing "Perola" but when the curtain goes up the opera will be called "Iolanthe". Will you please change the name Perola to Iolanthe throughout.'" [Baily 1952, p. 209] In fact, the title was advertised as "Iolanthe" as early as November 13, 1882 – eleven days before the opening – so the cast had at least that much time to learn the name. It is also clear that Sullivan's musical setting was written to match the cadence of the word "Iolanthe," and could only accommodate the word "Perola" by preceding it (awkwardly) with "O", "Come" or "Ah". [Tillett, "et al." 1982, pp. 6–7] The piece was subtitled "The Peer and the Peri." In 1843, Robert Schumann wrote an oratorio called "Paradise and the Peri", based on a tale from "Lalla-Rookh" by Thomas Moore. In that story, the peri, after expulsion from Paradise, regains entrance by giving the gift of a tear from the cheek of a repentant old sinner.

[
right|thumb|Capt._Eyre Massey Shaw] A glittering crowd attended the first night, including Captain (later Captain Sir) Eyre Massey Shaw, head of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, whom the Fairy Queen apostrophizes in the second act ("Oh, Captain Shaw/Type of true love kept under/Could thy brigade with cold cascade/Quench my great love, I wonder?"). On the first night, Alice Barnett as the Fairy Queen sang the verses directly to the Captain, to the great delight of the audience.

Musical and textual analysis

At the time they wrote "Iolanthe", both Gilbert and Sullivan were in their peak creative years, and "Iolanthe", their seventh work together, drew the best from both composer and author. " [Sullivan] had composed a brilliant new score (his most subtle yet) to a scintillating libretto.... Iolanthe is the work in which Sullivan's operetta style takes a definite step forward, and metamorphosis of musical themes is its characteristic new feature.... By recurrence and metamorphosis of themes Sullivan made the score more fluid...." [Jacobs 1984, pp. 176-79] Much of Sullivan's "fairy" music pays deliberate homage to the incidental music written by Felix Mendelssohn for a production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The music for the fairies also makes references to the music of other composers, including Richard Wagner. Gilbert, too, was influenced by earlier works, including "The Mountain Sylph" by John Barnett.

Two characters in "Iolanthe", Strephon and Phyllis, are described as "Arcadian" shepherds. Arcadia was a legendary site of rural perfection, first described by the Ancient Greeks, that was a popular setting for writers of the 19th century. Gilbert himself had written an earlier work called "Happy Arcadia". Gilbert had also created several "fairy comedies" at the Haymarket Theatre in the early 1870s. These plays, influenced by the fairy work of James Planché, are founded upon the idea of self-revelation by characters under the influence of some magic or some supernatural interference. [ [http://www.bartleby.com/223/0815.html "The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes" (1907–21). Volume XIII. "The Victorian Age", Part One. VIII. Nineteenth-Century Drama, § 15. W. S. Gilbert.] ] Several of "Iolanthe's" themes are continued from "Patience", including The war between the sexes and the satire on legal and political themes. "Iolanthe" is one of several of Gilbert's works, including "The Wicked World", "Broken Hearts", "Fallen Fairies", and "Princess Ida", 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" from the G&S Archive] ]

Roles

*The Lord Chancellor (comic baritone)
*George, Earl of Mountararat (baritone)
*Thomas, Earl Tolloller (tenor)
*Private Willis, of the Grenadier Guards (bass)
*Strephon, an Arcadian Shepherd (baritone)
*Queen of the Fairies (contralto)
*Iolanthe, a Fairy, Strephon's mother (mezzo-soprano)
*Celia, a Fairy (soprano)
*Leila, a Fairy (mezzo-soprano)
*Fleta, a Fairy (speaking role/chorus)
*Phyllis, an Arcadian Shepherdess and Ward in Chancery (soprano)
*Chorus of Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, Barons and Fairies

Synopsis

Act I

Twenty-five years prior to the beginning of the opera, Iolanthe, the mistress of fairy revels, who arranged all the fairy dances and songs, committed the capital crime (under fairy law) of marrying a mortal human. The Queen of the fairies commuted Iolanthe's sentence of death to banishment for life on the condition that Iolanthe left her husband and never communicated with him again. After the passage of 25 years, the fairies, still missing Iolanthe deeply, plead with the Queen to pardon Iolanthe and to restore her place in fairyland.

. The Fairy Queen promises her assistance. Soon Phyllis arrives, and she and Strephon share a moment of tenderness as they plan their future and possible elopement.

A cadre of the peers of the realm arrive. They are all smitten with Phyllis, and they have appealed to the Lord Chancellor to decide who will have her hand. The Lord Chancellor is hesitant to act upon his own regard for Phyllis passion due to his position as her guardian. The Lords send for Phyllis to choose one of their number, but she declares that she won't marry any of them, as virtue is found only in a "lowly" cottage. The peers are unhappy at her rejection and beg her not to scorn them simply because their blood is excessively blue. Strephon approaches the Lord Chancellor, pleading that Nature bids him marry Phyllis. But the Lord Chancellor wryly notes that Strephon has not presented sufficient evidence that Nature has interested herself in the matter. He refuses his consent to the marriage between Strephon and Phyllis.

Disappointed, Strephon calls on Iolanthe for help. She appears and promises to support him in every way. Spying on the two, the peers — led by the brainless and stuffy Earls Tolloller and Mountararat — together with Phyllis, see Iolanthe and Strephon in a warm embrace. All three jump to the obvious conclusion, since the centuries-old Iolanthe appears to be a girl of seventeen. The peers scoff at the seemingly absurd claim that Iolanthe is Strephon's mother ("She is, has been, my mother from my birth"). Phyllis angrily rejects Strephon for his supposed infidelity and declares that she will marry either Lord Tolloller or Lord Mountararat ("...and I don't care which!"). Strephon at last calls for help from the fairies. They appear on cue, but are mistaken by the peers for a girls' school on an outing. Offended, the Fairy Queen pronounces a magical "sentence" upon the peers: Strephon shall not only become a Member of Parliament, but will have the power to pass any bill he proposes, including throwing the peerage open to competitive examination. The curtain closes with the fairies threatening the peers.

Act II

The fairies have come to Westminster and tease the unhappy peers with the success and pronouncements of MP Strephon. As the Fairy Queen threatened in Act I, Strephon is advancing a bill to open the peerage to competitive examination. The peers ask the fairies to stop Strephon's mischief, stating that the House of Peers is not susceptible of any improvement. Although the fairies say that they cannot stop Strephon, they have become very much attracted to the peers, whom they find handsome and delightful. The fairy Queen is dismayed by this. Pointing to Private Willis of the First Grenadier Guards, who is the sentry on duty, the Queen claims that she is able to subdue her response to the effects of manly beauty.

Phyllis cannot decide which of the two selected peers, Tolloller or Mountararat, she ought to marry, and so she leaves the choice up to them. However, Tolloller tells Mountararat that his family's tradition would require the two Earls to duel to the death if the latter were to claim Phyllis. The two decide that their friendship is more important than love, and renounce their claims to her. Meanwhile, the Lord Chancellor has a nightmare due to his unrequited love for Phyllis. The two peers try to cheer him up. At their urging, the Lord Chancellor determines to make another effort to convince himself to award Phyllis to himself.

Although Strephon now leads both parties in Parliament, he is miserable at losing Phyllis. Seeing Phyllis, he finally explains to her that his mother is a fairy, which accounts for a good many things! Phyllis and Strephon ask Iolanthe to go to the Lord Chancellor and plead for him to allow their marriage, for "none can resist your fairy eloquence." Impossible, she replies, for the Lord Chancellor is her husband. The Lord Chancellor believes Iolanthe to have died childless, and she is bound not to "undeceive" him, under penalty of death. However, to save Strephon from losing his love, Iolanthe decides to present his case to the Lord Chancellor in disguise.

Although the Lord Chancellor is visibly moved by her appeal, which evokes the memory of his lost wife, he declares that he himself will marry Phyllis. Dismayed, Iolanthe desperately unveils, despite the warnings of the unseen Fairies, revealing that she is his long-lost wife, and that Strephon is his son. The Lord Chancellor is amazed to see her alive, but Iolanthe has again broken fairy law, and the Fairy Queen is now left with no choice but to punish Iolanthe with death. As she prepares to execute Iolanthe, the Queen learns that the rest of the fairies have all now chosen husbands from among the peers, thus also incurring death sentences—but the Queen blanches at the prospect of slaughtering the whole company of fairies. The Lord Chancellor suggests a solution: change the law by inserting a single word: every fairy who "don't" marry a mortal shall die. The Fairy Queen cheerfully agrees and, to save her life, the dutiful soldier, Private Willis, agrees to marry her. Likewise, seeing no reason to stay in the mortal realm if peers are to be recruited from persons of intelligence, the peers agree to join the fairy ranks. They all sprout wings, and "away [they] go to fairyland."

Musical numbers

*Overture

Act I
*1. "Tripping hither, tripping thither" (Celia, Leila, and Chorus of Fairies)
*2. "Iolanthe! From thy dark exile thou art summoned" (Queen, Iolanthe, Celia, Leila, and Chorus of Fairies)
*3. "Good-morrow, good mother" (Strephon and Chorus of Fairies)
*4. "Fare thee well, attractive stranger" (Queen and Chorus of Fairies)
*4a. "Good-morrow, good lover" (Phyllis and Strephon)
*5. "None shall part us from each other" (Phyllis and Strephon)
*6. "Loudly let the trumpet bray" (Chorus of Peers)
*7. "The law is the true embodiment" (Lord Chancellor and Chorus of Peers)
*8. "My well-loved Lord" and Barcarole, "Of all the young ladies I know" (Phyllis, Lord Tolloller, and Lord Mountararat)
*9. "Nay, tempt me not" (Phyllis)
*10. "Spurn not the nobly born" (Lord Tolloller and Chorus of Peers)
*11. "My lords, it may not be" (Phyllis, Lord Tolloller, Lord Mountararat, Strephon, Lord Chancellor, and Chorus of Peers)
*12. "When I went to the Bar" (Lord Chancellor)
*13. Finale Act I (Ensemble)
**"When darkly looms the day"
**"The lady of my love has caught me talking to another"
**"Go away, madam"
**"Henceforth Strephon, cast away"
**"With Strephon for your foe, no doubt / Young Strephon is the kind of lout"

Act II
*14. "When all night long a chap remains" (Private Willis)
*15. "Strephon's a member of Parliament" (Chorus of Fairies and Peers)
*16. "When Britain really ruled the waves" (Lord Mountararat and Chorus)
*17. "In vain to us you plead" (Leila, Celia, Chorus of Fairies, Mountararat, Tolloller, and Chorus of Peers)
*18. "Oh, foolish fay" (Queen with Chorus of Fairies)
*19. "Though p'r'aps I may incur thy blame" (Phyllis, Lord Mountararat, Lord Tolloller, and Private Willis)
*20. "Love, unrequited, robs me of my rest" ... "When you're lying awake" (Lord Chancellor)
*21. "If you go in you're sure to win" (Lord Tolloller, Lord Mountararat, and Lord Chancellor)
*22. "If we're weak enough to tarry" (Phyllis and Strephon)
*23. "My lord, a suppliant at your feet" (Iolanthe)
*24. "It may not be" (Lord Chancellor, Iolanthe, and Chorus of Fairies)
*25. "Soon as we may, off and away" (Ensemble)

Deleted songs

*18a. "De Belville was regarded as the Crichton of his age" (Mountararat) appeared soon after Mountararat's Act II entrance (after Phyllis's comment about Strephon going about with a mother considerably younger than himself.) After a short dialogue (which would also be cut) about how people become peers, Mountararat sings a song about De Belville, a polymath whose talents ranged from painting to literature to inventions. Government was at a loss as to how to reward him – until he inherited millions and obtained a seat in Parliament and "a taste for making inconvenient speeches in the House (of Commons)". He was promptly rewarded by being removed from that House by being given a peerage. The song, which is long and must have slowed down the action considerably, was cut soon after the first night. In fact, according to Reginald Allen's "The First Night Gilbert and Sullivan", as well as contemporaneous reviews, it was not actually sung on the first night, but rather recited, and the middle stanza omitted. The music does not survive.

*21a. "Fold your flapping wings" (Strephon) was sung on the first night and cut soon afterwards. The song, preceded by a recitative for Strephon ("My bill has now been read a second time") appeared shortly after #21, following the exit of the two Earls and Phyllis and the entrance of Strephon. It is a dark song, and the lyrics suggest that the only reason for bad behavior by the underclasses is circumstance: "I might be as bad – as unlucky, rather – if I only had Fagin for a father." The music to this song survives, and the song has been used in some modern productions. It also makes an interesting concert piece. However, its angry, dark tone is a departure from the generally genial tone of Iolanthe, and most productions continue to omit it. [ [http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/iolanthe/html/index.html Includes a brief introduction to "Fold your flapping wings" and a link to the lyrics and a midi file] ]

Productions

"Iolanthe", the first opera to premiere at the new Savoy Theatre, had a successful initial run in London of 398 performances, spanning the holiday seasons of both 1882 and 1883. In an unprecedented first, the New York premiere was given on the same date — November 25 1882, with the composer's assistant, Alfred Cellier, conducting. [ [http://www.library.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=4143 Information about early American productions] ] In Australia, it was first seen on 9 May 1885 at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, produced by J. C. Williamson.

In the British provinces, "Iolanthe" played — either by itself, or in repertory — continuously from February 1882 through 1885, then not again until late 1891. From then on, it was always present in the D'Oyly Carte touring repertory, being included in some part of every season until the company's closure in 1982. "Iolanthe" was not revived in London until 1901, making it the first of the operas to be revived after the composer's death the year before. It was also included in two Savoy repertory seasons, in 1906–07 and 1908–09.

"Iolanthe" had the distinction of being the first Gilbert and Sullivan opera performed professionally in London by a non-D'Oyly Carte company. It was produced at the Sadler's Wells Theatre on January 24 1962 at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, less than one month after the Gilbert copyrights expired.

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

elected recordings

Of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company recordings of this opera, the 1930 and 1960 recordings have been the best received, and the latter includes the dialogue. The revived D'Oyly Carte's 1991 recording contains Strephon's cut number "Fold Your Flapping Wings" as a bonus track. [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/iol.htm List and assessments of recordings of "Iolanthe"] ]

On video are the 1982 Brent Walker production [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/iolwalk.htm Reviews of the Brent Walker video recording] ] and various performances from the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, including its 2002 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 recordings] ]

*1930 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: Malcolm Sargent [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/iol1929.htm Review of 1920 recording] ]
*1951 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: Isidore Godfrey [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/iol1951.htm Review of 1951 recording] ]
*1960 D'Oyly Carte (with dialogue) – New Symphony Orchestra of London, Band of the Grenadier Guards, Conductor: Isidore Godfrey [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/iol1960.htm Review of 1960 recording] ]
*1982 Brent Walker Productions (video) – Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Conductor: Alexander Faris; Stage Director: David Pountney [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/iolwalk.htm Review of 1982 video] ]
*1991 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: John Pryce-Jones [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/iolndoc.htm Review of 1991 recording] ]

Cultural influence

;Impact upon Chief Justice Rehnquist and Lord Falconer
William H. Rehnquist, former Chief Justice of the United States, was a great Gilbert and Sullivan fan. He was inspired to add four golden stripes to the sleeves of his judicial robes after seeing the costume of the Lord Chancellor in a production of "Iolanthe." [Barrett, John Q. [http://new.stjohns.edu/download.axd/5665d1d62928417389ad9122506f43a1.pdf "A Rehnquist Ode on the Vinson Court",] "The Green Bag", vol. 11, no. 3, Spring 2008] The next Chief Justice, John G. Roberts Jr., has not continued the practice. Rehnquist, while an Associate Justice, quoted the Lord Chancellor ("The Law is the true embodiment/Of everything that's excellent./It has no kind of fault or flaw/And I, My Lords, embody the Law.") in his dissenting opinion in the 1980 case of "Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia". [ [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=448&invol=555 "Richmond Newspapers" cast at Findlaw.com] ] Rehnquist played the silent role of Mr. Bunthorne's Solicitor in "Patience" with the Washington Savoyards in 1986. [cite news |first=Guy D. |last=Garcia |title=People |url=http://205.188.238.109/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961521,00.html |publisher=Time |date=1986-06-02 |accessdate=2007-08-17 ]

Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer, on the other side of the Atlantic, objected so strongly to Iolanthe's comic portrayal of Lord Chancellors (like himself) that he supported moves to disband the office. [Green, Edward. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3634126.stm "Ballads, songs, and speeches"] (sic). BBC, 20 September 2004. Retrieved on 2007-05-21.]

;Adaptations"The Ratepayers' Iolanthe" was a 1984 musical that won a Laurence Olivier Award.

;LiteratureThe science fiction writer Isaac Asimov was a Gilbert and Sullivan fan. His Foundation Trilogy was inspired by "Iolanthe". [White, Michael. [http://books.google.com/books?id=EWbMiyS9v98C&dq=%22Gilbert+and+Sullivan+Society+of+New+York%22&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "Isaac Asimov: A Life of the Grand Master of Science Fiction",] p. 83, Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2005 ISBN 0786715189] Also, in "Runaround", a story in Asimov's "I, Robot", a robot, while in a state similar to drunkenness, sings snippets of Gilbert and Sullivan songs, including "The Nightmare Song" from "Iolanthe".

In Michael Chabon's 2004 novel "The Final Solution", Bruno the parrot sings bits from "Iolanthe".

ee also

Mount Ararat

Notes

References

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* Also, five supplements, privately printed.

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External links

* [http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/iolanthe/html/iolanthe_home.html "Iolanthe" at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive]
* [http://www.concentric.net/~Oakapple/gasdisc/iol.htm "Iolanthe" at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography]
* [http://www.sullivan-forschung.de/iolan.htm Online copy of the libretto]
* [http://www.savoyoperas.org.uk/iolanthe/io5.html Transcription of a review of "Iolanthe" by Clement Scott]
* [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/whowaswho/index.htm Site containing biographies of the people listed in the historical casting chart]
* [http://www.amiright.com/parody/performers/g/gilbertsullivan.shtml Gilbert & Sullivan song parodies, including some from "Iolanthe"]