The Magic Of Gilbert & Sullivan

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F R I D AY 1 7 A U G U S T - M O N D AY 2 0 A U G U S T

UTOPIA THEATRE INTERNATIONAL GILBERT & SULLIVAN FESTIVAL HARROGATE

THE MAGIC OF GILBERT & SULLIVAN Thirty one presentations from speakers from ten countries will make this event the most interesting programme ever presented at the Festival. It is for lovers of G&S, musical historians and those with an interest in Victorian England. The first three days are definitely not academic. We take a look at the life and times of Gilbert and Sullivan – the Victorian theatre; costumes; choreography; set design. We have probably the world’s greatest authority on Sullivan’s overtures introducing one of the most exciting conductors of his time – James Hendry – who will conduct them all in the Royal Hall. We look at education or the lack of it; we have a session on Gilbert, on Sullivan and on Gilbert and Sullivan. And we finish with an academic day which features some of the world’s greatest authorities.

All we want now is an audience. The speakers are travelling from USA, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, from Croatia, Switzerland, Russia and Germany. You can book for a half day session; a full day session with lunch; a full three day package and the one day academic programme. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Friday Morning August 17

THE LIFE & TIMES OF GILBERT and SULLIVAN...

Introduction Ian Smith (UK)

10.30am

For 100 years Gilbert and Sullivan filled every theatre they visited.

Why? How? Can they continue to survive without the all male productions; horses, sheep, re-writes and gimmicks? Is it a fact that we are allowing G&S to go the same way as so many other national treasures – down the Great British plug-hole?

The Victorian Theatre and its (lack of) facilities David Wilmore (UK) 11.00am David Wilmore will examine the context of the audience and convention within the Savoy Opera cannon examining with fascinating illustrations the social graces and etiquette of nineteenth century theatre-going. He will also discuss the way in which Richard D’Oyly Carte changed the experience of the theatre audience during his tenure at both the Opera Comique and the Savoy Theatre.”

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G&S Historic Costumes - Original but not necessarily traditional

Christine Parfitt (UK)

11.30am

The archaeological discoveries of the 19th Century created an interest in producing plays in ‘accurate’ historical settings. Five of the G&S Operas have defined period settings. Princess Ida and The Yeomen of the Guard are early 16th Century, The Gondoliers and The Grand Duke mid 18th Century and Ruddigore early 19th Century.

Productions of the G&S Operas are frequently described as ‘Traditional’ as ‘ if they have been unchanged since their very First Night. This illustrated presentation will examine some of the ‘original’ costumes as worn in those early productions.

The Original choreography of the Operas Michael Symes (UK) 12.00noon What do we know about the original dances composed for the operas? Who created them and how they contributed to the overall style and effect? Often the numbers with dance were the most popular and appealing. What about ‘tradition’ and what has survived of the original choreography.

Scenic Design of the Sets for the Savoy Operas 100 Years of - Raymond Walker(UK) 12.30pm The original presentation of the operas by Richard D’Oyly Carte made sure that their appearance, in costume and scenery, was always of the highest quality. It is likely that the appearance of the Savoy operas would have been vastly different had their favourite scenic painter and designer not emigrated after Pinafore. Remarkably, this painter’s partner later became the Savoy’s house scenic artist, yet had to wait until 1896 before this happened. The importance of the scenery can be measured by the fact that Carte and Irving built Joseph Harker his own studio and for over 70 years was key to preparing and refreshing the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company’s scenery. By a remarkable stroke of luck a series of photographs have been uncovered, never seen in Britain before, that give us a good understanding of how some of those original productions appeared to their audiences.

Lunch Break 2

Friday August 17th 17th Fridayafternoon afternoon August

THE THESULLIVAN SULLIVANovertures overtures...

Introducing the Savoy Opera Overtures

David Russell Hulme(Wales)

2.30pm

James Hendry (UK) conducts the NATIONAL FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA And the SULLIVAN OVERTURES

Saturday morning August 18th

Saturday morning August 18th

IN THIS USEFUL KNOWLEDGE IN THISCOLLEGE COLLEGE USEFUL KNOWLEDGE...

The G&S Scene today in University and College Ian Bradley (Scotland) 10.30am Although school productions of G&S are declining, more and more young people are being initiated into the joys of the Savoy operas as University and college students. Ian Bradley, himself the Honorary Life President of the St Andrews University Gilbert and Sullivan Society, surveys the healthy state of G&S performances and appreciation in higher education establishments in Britain and the United States, speculates on what draws students to the Savoy operas and suggests how their enthusiasm might be harnessed to keep the tradition alive and flourishing in future decades.

The why and wherefore of G&S at University - the appeal, the opportunities and the experience

Josip Martinčić(Croatia)

11.00am

Josip Martinčić, a final year English and Drama BA student at Royal Holloway, University of London, talks about the appeal, the opportunities and the experience of Gilbert and Sullivan at University. Through listing examples of opportunities provided and analysing the experience of engaging with G&S, he explores the academic and social benefits, as well as the development gained by being a member of this society and being exposed to the magic of Gilbert and Sullivan.

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Jimmy’s Cruise in the Pinafore: Juvenile productions Russ Sype (USA) 11.30am In this talk, Russ Sype will explore the phenomenon of children’s or juvenile productions of the G&S operas in the 1880s, beginning with the first juvenile production of “H.M.S. Pinafore” in Boston in 1880.

Though soon followed by productions in London under the supervision of the D’Oyly Carte company, juvenile productions originated in America! Louisa May Alcott’s short-story, “Jimmie’s Cruise in the Pinafore,” will be presented as an example of the influence of the juvenile productions on America’s infatuation with G&S. Though focusing on American productions, British productions will also be discussed.

G&S and a career in the Performing Arts John Savournin (UK) 12.00 NOON John Savournin grew up on G&S, and spent many summers as a child at the festival - indeed, his first major exposure to the repertoire came when he was cast as the Judge in Trial by Jury in the Festival Youth Production at the age of 11. He now works as a professional opera singer and director with major opera companies in the UK and is the Artistic Director of chamber company Charles Court Opera. He still maintains his links to G&S, through which he learnt much of his craft growing up; he has performed & directed several times for the National G&S Opera Company, and recently directed Trial by Jury for Opera North. John discusses the impact and presence of G&S in his own career, and it's value to any aspiring professional.

How G&S Helped my Career James Hendry (UK)

12.20PM

Many people have asked me how I got into Gilbert and Sullivan and how I managed to include Sullivan’s music within my career of playing and conducting Grand Opera. For me the fascination started by playing for an amateur show of The Mikado, from then I was hooked. Since then I have played, sung and conducted my way to a job at one of the worlds best opera houses.... when people ask me where I started, I don’t say with Puccini, Verdi and Wagner..... I say with Gilbert and Sullivan!

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The Festival's continuing contribution Ian Smith (UK) 12.40noon In schools it is depressing. On the other hand, the university G&S scene is scintillatingly stimulating. Why? Let’s not blame the government. They’re busy writing a new G&S Opera! We launched UNIFest five years ago. It is now a highlight of the social year for many students. Is it too late for schools?

Lunch Break

Saturday afternoon August 18th

IF YOU GIVE ME YOUR ATTENTION…MrrtGilbert Gilbert the Innovative Stage Director John Balls UK, 2.00pm (Chairman - The W.S.Gilbert Society) The talk will consider some of the ways in which Gilbert contributed to the development of stage-managing (stage-directing) in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century. We will look closely at Gilbert as a writer-director, and at his attempts to foster realism on the stage, Including a real attention to detail, a fresh look at the use of the Chorus in opera, and a realisation that it was necessary to work with performers who were new to the stage. His relationship with Sullivan was on a new level, and this contributed greatly to the success of the Savoy Operas.

Gilbert's stories, bab ballads and the operas Andrew Crowther (UK) 2.30 pm

G without S and S without G Alan Borthwick (Scotland)

3.00pm

“Gilbert and Sullivan” – The perfect partnership! But what about G-without-S, or S-without-G? How inspired were they when writing stage works with other partners?

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Oh South Kensington Vincent Daniels (UK)

3.30pm

Kensington was a popular area for artists and intellectuals and W. S. Gilbert lived there after he was married but before he bought Grims Dyke. The Great Exhibition of 1851, held in Kensington, was the first of several events aimed at increasing the standard and awareness of international art and design. Profits from the 1851 exhibition led to the formation of the South Kensington Museum now called the Victoria and Albert Museum. Gilbert and Sullivan probably took more notice of later exhibitions that took place in Kensington in 1862 and 1871. The International Exhibition of 1862 encouraged an enthusiasm for all things Japanese and Medieval which in turn influenced the aesthetic movement. A Kensington Japanese village opened in 1885.

This talk will illustrate how these exhibitions and institutions may have influenced Gilbert’s views on aestheticism and Japanese culture.

Gilbert at Grims Dyke Diana Burleigh (Australia)

4pm

Gilbert at Grims Dyke. This session will look at the last years of W.S.Gilbert's life. While he enjoyed the status of a country squire and magistrate, he continued to work, write, direct and support theatre and remained active in many diverse areas.

Gilbert and Sullivan as a Reflection of their Times Richard Wade (UK) 4.30pm Richard considers the ways in which the lives and careers of their creators influenced the nature of the works; how such musical structures as the Act One finales, Josephine's "The hours creep on apace" and Elsie's "Tis done" reflect the conventions of Italian opera, and what this indicates about Gilbert's libretti; whether the love interest in the operas is as "dull and sentimental" as Mike Leigh suggests, and how it can reflect Victorian attitudes, e.g. the idea that it may be advantageous for a young woman to marry an older man.

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Sunday afternoon August 19th

SEATED ONE DAY AT THE ORGAN… Mr Sullivan "Hideous and bad music?": Arthur Sullivan and Recorded Sound 1888-1938 Stephen Turnbull (UK) 2.00pm Arthur Sullivan was one of the first people in history whose voice was recorded and his music was at the forefront as the science of recording developed and became commercialised. Predictably, the record companies fell over each other to include the G&S operas in their catalogues, but the popularity of Sullivan's music outside the canon was reflected in the large amount of it recorded in the early days before things came to a virtual halt with the outbreak of World War II.

Sir Arthur and Mrs Ronalds J Donald Smith (USA)

2.30pm

This talk will focus on the relationship between Sullivan and Mrs. Ronalds and compare it, as far as possible, with the relationships of Sullivan and other women.

Sir Arthur -a famous British visitor to a Church in Pontresina Diane Conrad (Switzerland) 3.00pm A performance of Cox & Box starring Arthur Sullivan and Joseph Barnby in the Alps causes a stir and raises money for a new English church. British tourists, among them Arthur Sullivan, changed the lives of local residents in Pontresina, Switzerland, towards the end of the 19th Century. A performance in 1879 of Sullivan's first opera Cox & Box, starring the composer himself, brought English culture to the village and filled the new 'big room' at a local hotel to capacity, raising enough money to lay the foundation stone of Holy Trinity Church. The story is told mainly by the actors and theatre directors Marie & Squire Bancroft, in whose company Arthur Sullivan spent several holidays in the resort.

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Sir Arthur and the Great Leeds conspiracy Dr Anne Stanyon Ley , Ph.D. (Ireland) 3.20pm On 8 Oct. 1898, Sir Arthur Sullivan, having conducted an electrifying performance of Mendelssohn's Lobgesang, laid down his baton for the final time at a Leeds Triennial Musical Festival. With that performance, his career at Leeds ended and within a year his resignation was forced.

The obvious question to be asked is 'Why?' Contemporary reports reveal that Sullivan had made the Leeds Festival the highlight of the national triennial calendar. In 1898, he had delivered the most outstanding of all the nineteenth century Festivals, so forcing his resignation did not make sense. Using contemporary press coverage, and unpublished material from Leeds and elsewhere, it is possible to create a picture of Sullivan's final Leeds Festival and its aftermath.

Sullivan suspected that the coup had been organised against him by supporters of C.V. Stanford, and the evidence suggests that his suspicions were not unfounded. Certainly, Sullivan received appalling treatment by the Leeds authorities at the time of his resignation and following his death, became the subject of a dismissive mythology deliberately aimed to eliminate both his memory and his era.

The "semi-tone slide" in the Golden Legend Martin Yates (UK) 3.50pm The "semi-tone slide" in The Golden Legend and beyond. An example of "accidental modernism" or Sir Arthur deliberately stretching the accepted rules of modulation?

Sir Arthur Sullivan and his Teachers Dr. Jana Poljanovskaja (Russia) 4.20pm The famous piano-virtuosi of the 18th and 19th century played their compositions themselves. In the long history of music genies, there are many composers, who wrote outstanding piano works but were not able to play them. To what group did Sullivan belong? One can answer this question only by looking at his pianism - How and through whose influence did it form? Who were his teachers? What did he learn from them? Was he a distinguished pianist? Did he want to become one? What profit did he have from his piano skills? Illustrated with music of A. Sullivan, W.S. Bennett and I. Moscheles.

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The echoes of our Festival Ian Smith (UK)

4.50pm

Should Dame Bridget have left her Trust to help preserve the amateur productions? Perhaps what you don’t have you don’t miss. It might have been a struggle – but we have managed pretty well without it.

The echoes of our festival have indeed risen triumphant over all!

From New Zealand to Brazil. From Japan to South Africa and pretty well everywhere inbetween. Twenty-five years and thirty-three festivals since we began and we are still breaking records. Our National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company haven’t needed horses or sheep or gimmicks to ply their trade. They have ensured their audiences invariably leave the theatre with a smile on their face and a skip in their step demonstrating you don’t need gimmicks if you know your Gilbert & Sullivan and if you have intelligent dialogue, super acting and outstanding singing and presentation.

AN ACADEMIC LOOK AT GILBERT & SULLIVAN Monday August 20th

AN ACADEMIC LOOK AT GILBERT & SULLIVAN...

Editing Gilbert: The Variorum Gilbert and Sullivan Marc Shepherd (USA) 10.00am Who would have believed that Gilbert needed an editor? Known for strict control of his productions onstage, Gilbert was surprisingly careless about the accuracy of his texts in print. In this talk, Marc Shepherd will present The Variorum Gilbert & Sullivan, which traces the many versions of Gilbert’s libretti, from re-production drafts and the early productions, through revivals, twentieth-century D’Oyly Carte practice, and the contributions of later editors and editions.

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“The Savoy operas are our only national opera”

Legend, Icons and History in Sullivan’s Stage Works

Meinhard Saremba (Germany)

11.00am

It is not by chance that on an international level Arthur Sullivan was described by his and the next generation as “a national style builder“ (Maclean 1902) and the “founder of English national opera” (Scholtze, early 20th century), as people hear through the grapevine there should be such a thing as “The English Ring“. However, all relevant works by Balfe, Wallace and Benedict (premiered between 1843 and 1862) have Irish or German composers and are stylistically more suited to the continental stage than the English. What has been called an “English Ring” is just a delusion. It was Sullivan who portrayed English legends, icons and history from the 12th to the 19th century in his works. Edward Algernon Baughan’s (editor of The Musical Standard and music critic of the Daily News) statement in the Saturday Review of 8th October 1921 is justified: “The Savoy operas are our only national opera.” Sullivan’s works deserve – next to those of Britten – to be an integral part of the European repertoire. As a result of Britten’s achievements, English opera was accepted after World War II. However, it was Arthur Sullivan who, as a pioneer, established English opera.

Aesthetes and Idyllic Poets Carolyn Williams (USA)

12.00noon

W. S. Gilbert knew a great deal about Victorian poetry, and it’s high time he got credit for it. Of course we can demonstrate his detailed awareness through the allusions, jokes, and parodies in Patience.

Moreover, it was a brilliant critical move on his part to divide the world of Victorian poetry into “aesthetic” and “idyllic” factions, and this lecture will explain why. The lecture will explore the opera’s attitudes toward the history of nineteenth-century poetry and debates about poetics -- before focusing on the figure of Bunthorne in the history of homosexuality. No, Bunthorne is not characterized as a homosexual -- but his role within the history of poetry and sexuality is of great interest nonetheless

Lunch Break 10

Mrs. Ronalds: Myth and Reality J Donald Smith USA

2.00pm

Most biographers of Sullivan have always treated Mrs. Ronalds as a secondary associate of Sullivan, focussing on the ‘scandals’ of her background. This talk will present unpublished material which will help create a more complete picture of the woman who was Sullivan’s closest friend for more than 20 years.

Realising the Savoy piano reductions - a performer's perspective Prof Clive Woods (UK/USA) 3.00pm The provenance of the various piano reductions of the orchestral parts of the Savoy Operas has been the subject of recent research. However, there is little published literature on their actual performance, beyond the recordings made by various performers (necessarily fewer in number than orchestral recordings). This paper aims to fill the void.

The reasons why it is sometimes advisable in performance to deviate from the text are discussed. This is followed by some perspectives on the public performance of these reductions, with comments on how they might best be rendered when the use of orchestral forces is impractical.

Take life as it comes Ian Bradley (Scotland)

4.00pm

As we know, Gilbert and Sullivan had contrasting personalities and very different philosophies of life. Yet Ian Bradley believes that they came together in sharing the sentiments that underline the song 'Try we lifelong' in the Gondoliers. If anything, its lyrics and those of 'Hail Poetry', express the two men's belief in the philosophy of Carpe Diem, making the most of life and not getting too bogged down in trying to analyse or disentangle its absurdities, contradictions and misadventures. This paper seeks to analyse the life philosophies of composer and librettist, how they differed and where they came together.

INTERNATIONAL GILBERT AND SULLIVAN FESTIVALS +44(0) 1422 323 252 email: oliver@gsfestivals.org www.gsfestivals.org 11