Presidential Address I am delighted to welcome you to this, the 60th anniversary production by the Northampton G&S Group. And how fitting that such an enduringly active and dedicated company should celebrate by performing one of the most enduringly popular of all the G&S operas. HMS Pinafore was the first major success of the celebrated partnership, establishing their world-wide fame, and setting in motion a canon of wonderful comic operas that continue to delight the English-speaking world. I have a personal theory that Gilbert, who we know greatly admired the work of Charles Dickens, was particularly influenced by the great novelist when he came to write Pinafore. The characters names clearly have a Dickensian ring. One of the Sketches by Boz tells of a snobbish resident of Clapham by the name of Mrs Joseph Porter. Another describes a marine-store dealer and lists the contents of the store: handkerchiefs, ribbons, watches, knives, tobacco boxes – virtually the contents of Buttercup’s basket. Josephine’s descriptions of differing social domestic scenes in the celebrated “pudding basin” aria are virtually sketches by Boz themselves. In later operas Gilbert successfully lampooned various English institutions, but nowhere did he focus so clearly on class prejudice in society as in HMS Pinafore. And, like Dickens, his fascination is with the middle class who can be quickly elevated to elegance and luxury on the one hand, and reduced to penury and misery on the other. HMS Pinafore with its three social ranks clearly outlined, is at the same time the most Victorian of the operas and also the most universal and enduring in its satire. And lest anyone should carp at the plausibility of the ending, let us not forget the great Victorian fascination with marriage not only out of one’s social class, but out of one’s generation. The famous music-hall song “Joshua, Joshua,” tells us that “Joshua courted Miss May” – but concludes by revealing that “Joshua married the mother instead”. And anyone who thinks that a young woman cannot be attracted to an older man, might care to speak to Catherine Zeta Jones, Minnie Driver, and Celine Dion who are all married to men old enough to be their fathers. Remember –“love levels all ranks”, - and ages. Well it does to an extent….. I am sure we are all in for a toe-tapping, gloriously nautical evening. Welcome aboard.
Jeff JEFF CLARKE is artistic director of Opera Della Luna, the country’s only full time professional company specialising in comic opera and operetta. As well as five of the G&S canon, the company has created new productions of La Belle Hélène, Robinson Crusoe, The Tales of Hoffmann, The Merry Widow, Il Mondo della Luna, L’Elisir d’Amore, Un Giorno di Regno, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni and the much acclaimed The Burglar’s Opera which is based on a story by Gilbert, using musical themes from Sullivan’s orchestral output. Jeff has worked for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Sydney Opera House, Scottish Opera, Lyric Opera of Queensland and the State Opera of South Australia.
Notes from the Chair I have the honour and privilege to be the Chair of the Group in its 60th Anniversary year. Achieving 60 years of performing Gilbert and Sullivan in Northampton is no mean feat, and I would like to pay tribute to all those people who over the years have been members of the Group, many of whom have given up their time and energy to ensure its ongoing success as members of the Council of Management. We could also not have achieved this milestone without the help and backing of our Presidents, Directors, Music Directors, Choreographers, Back Stage Crews, Orchestras and Front of House. Our Vice Presidents, Patrons and FROGS have been a tremendous support to the Group over the years and it was wonderful to see so many of them and also our past members at our 60 th Anniversary Concert and Reception on the 5th October 2013. This was such a success that we have been asked to think about staging a 65th Anniversary Concert! Finally, I would like to thank you, our audience, for all your support over the years and we hope that you continue to enjoy our performances in the years to come.