Gilbert and Sullivan: Class and the Savoy Tradition, 1875-1896. By Regina B. Oost.

Abstract

This book appears in what is primarily a literary series, rather than Ashgate's nineteenth-century British music series. The emphasis, therefore, falls predictably on W. S. Gilbert, even though these comic operas were written with Arthur Sullivan as an equally creative partner. Regina Oost explains that her intention in this study is ‘to examine the Savoy operas in the context of their production and performance’ (p. 3), which means paying due attention to ticket pricing, audience demographics, programmes, and advertising. The author situates the G & S productions in the competitive world of London theatre, and examines D'Oyly Carte's strategies for attracting audiences. A picture is painted of rival entrepreneurs, all seeking the profit they desperately need to ensure their theatre's survival. A key question is how these comic operas achieved their status. Oost's comment that they were ‘considered classics a few short years after their premières’ is probably overstating the case. Whatever it felt like for Gilbert, there was no doubt that Sullivan was acutely aware that some critics thought he had embarked on a downward course. A reviewer in The World remarked of the premiere of The Sorcerer (1877): ‘It was hoped that he would soar with Mendelssohn, whereas he is, it seems, content to sink with Offenbach.’ The next comic opera, H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), may have been a success with the audience, but was slammed in the press as undistinguished, disappointing, and feeble. Sullivan was to encounter such accusations often in the succeeding years, and they coloured the reception of these operas for many years in Britain. As president of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society at the University of Hull in the early 1970s, I remember just how second-rate these stage works were considered to be by the Department of Music. It is remarkable how much more status G & S have always been accorded in the USA.