Season: Autumn 1981
Dramatis Personæ:
Production Staff:
About the Opera: (by Alan Fischler)
Our final performance of Iolanthe comes just three days before the 99th anniversary of its premiere at the Savoy Theatre on 25 November 1882. This "entirely original fairy opera" was the seventh collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan and the first to open at the Savoy, which Richard D'Oyly Carte had built expressly to house the productions of the enormously successful partnership. The Savoy was the first theatre in the world to be lit by electricity, and electric light bulbs were consequently worked into the design of the original program of Iolanthe (this design is reproduced on the cover of our own program; the light bulbs may be seen near the top).Gilbert had originally given out the title of the opera as Perola, largely to confuse the American "pirates" who had purloined versions of the previous Gilbert and Sullivan operas and paid no royalties to the authors when producing them. Only at the final rehearsal did Gilbert reveal the true title of the work, instructing the company to substitute "Iolanthe" everywhere that they had previously said or sung "Perola." One chorus member complained to Sullivan that she would not be able to remember the new name at the premiere, and the composer replied that she should use whatever name she like — the only person who might notice was Gilbert, who would not be in the audience anyway — his nervousness about first nights kept him pacing the streets of London until it was time for curtain calls.
As the Victorian era had seen an almost total transfer of power to a popularly elected House of Commons, the main target of Gilbert's satire in Iolanthe became the increasingly useless House of Peers, filled with well-born noblemen who would not have qualified if the criteria for admission were merit or intellectual distinction. The author also directs his fire at the legal profession (represented by the Lord Chancellor, the highest judge in all England) in which Gilbert himself had once been a less than successful participant. Sullivan, entranced by the fairy theme, turned for parody and inspiration to Mendelssohn's fairy music to A Midsummer Night's Dream and to Wagner's use of leitmotives (i.e. musical themes associated with particular characters) — indeed, the appearance of the Fairy Queen owes much to that of Wagner's Brunnhilde.
Of the thirteen surviving Gilbert and Sullivan operas, Iolanthe is one of only five for which Sullivan wrote and orchestrated the overture himself. Just an hour before conducting it at the premiere, though, Sullivan learned that his investment brokers had been ruined and his entire life saving had been wiped out. Still, as the new opera was about to begin a highly lucrative run of 398 performances, the composer did not remain a poor man for long. As one critic has said, "Seldom have fortunes been repaired so rapidly; but then, there were fairy wands at work on the Savoy stage that night."
An Iolanthe Glossary:
Peri: In Persian mythology, a fairy.
Ward in Chancery: A minor under the protection of the Lord Chancellor, who is the highest judicial authority in Britain and "the general guardian of infants, lunatics, idiots, etc." As Martyn Green says, Phyllis "must be among the etceteras."
On a division they'd be sure to take me into the wrong lobby: Strephon is worried about how his legs would behave during a Parliamentary vote. Such votes are conducted by having the legislators "divide" into two groups, those who wish to vote "yea" walking into one lobby and those who wish to vote "nay" walking into another.
Woolsack: The traditional seat of the Lord Chancellor in the House of Peers is a large bale of wool, covered in cloth.
Belgrave Square: A wealthy London neighborhood.
Seven Dials: In the 19th century, a London slum.
Exchequer, Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, or Divorce: These are divisions of the High Court of Justice.
Dolce far niente: Literally translated, it means "sweet doing-nothing."
Festina lente: "Make haste slowly."
Contradiciente: "Contradicting."
The cherished rights you enjoy on Friday nights: These sessions were devoted to consideration of bills introduced by individual members of Parliament (often for their own benefit) as opposed to bills introduced by the Government.
Marriage with deceased wife's sister: This was illegal throughout the 19th century: "without such a ban, it was argued, an unmarried woman might be tempted to poison her married sister and then snare her bereaved brother-in-law."
Canaille: French for a "pack of dogs"; the vile populace.
Plebs: Latin for "ordinary people."
Hoi polloi: Greek for "the common herd."
When in that House M.P.'s divide: "M.P.'s" are Members of Parliament; for "divide" see note above "On a division..."
He's a Parliamentary Pickford: Referring to Pickford's Ltd.; a moving company whose slogan was "We carry everything."
Ovidius Naso: The Latin poet Ovid, author of The Art of Love.
Captain Shaw: Eyre Massey Shaw was chief of the London Fire Brigade. He was in the first-night audience of Iolanthe, so that Alice Barnett (the original Fairy Queen) was able to address him directly. He was surprised.
Rothschild and Baring: Prominent British bankers.
Maravedi: A Spanish copper coin, worth a fraction of a cent.
Equity draftsman: "One who corrects laws to remedy injustices arising from overly rigorous, bureaucratic application."
Backstage at Iolanthe — 1981
Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture
Artwork by Anne Havens
Last updated: 03/05/10