Bridget D'Oyly Carte
Encyclopedia
Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era...
and the only daughter of Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte was an English hotelier, theatre owner and impresario, best known as proprietor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from 1913 to 1948....
. She was head of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
from 1948 until 1982.
Though as a child she was not enthusiastic about Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
, after her father's death in 1948, Bridget D'Oyly Carte inherited the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which performed and controlled the copyrights to the joint works of W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
and Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, as well as all of her family's business interests. She had begun to assist her father in managing the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
in 1933, also undertaking child welfare work.
She hired Frederic Lloyd
Frederic Lloyd
Frederic Lloyd, OBE , was an English theatre manager. Most notably, Lloyd was the General Manager of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1951 until its closure in 1982.-Biography:...
as General Manager of the opera company in 1951 and moved to keep the Savoy opera
Savoy opera
The Savoy Operas denote a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house...
s fresh, marketing them as a bridge between popular and classical music. After the copyrights to the Gilbert and Sullivan works expired in 1961, she transferred the opera company to a charitable trust that she headed. Mounting losses, and the refusal of the Arts Council to provide a grant, forced the closure of the company in 1982, although the company re-formed after Carte's death and mounted several productions through 2003.
In 1972, Carte founded the D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust to support charitable causes in the fields of the arts, medical welfare and the environment. She was created a DBE in 1975. With no children of her own or surviving siblings, she was the end of her family line.
Life and career
Bridget D'Oyly Carte was born at Suffolk Street, Pall MallPall Mall, London
Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...
, London, and educated in England and abroad. Her father was Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte was an English hotelier, theatre owner and impresario, best known as proprietor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from 1913 to 1948....
, and her mother was the former Lady Dorothy Milner Gathorne-Hardy (1889–1977), the youngest daughter of the 2nd Earl of Cranbrook.
Earl of Cranbrook
Earl of Cranbrook, in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1892 for the prominent Conservative politician Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Viscount Cranbrook. He notably held office as Home Secretary, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State...
(1900–1978), an explorer and naturalist. As a result of her marriage, Carte was styled as Countess of Cranbrook, and her married name was Gathorne-Hardy. They soon separated and finally divorced in 1931; she relinquished her title and resumed her maiden name by deed poll
Deed poll
A deed poll is a legal document binding only to a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an active intention...
in 1932, also dropping the name Cicely, which she disliked. She then resumed her education at Dartington Hall
Dartington Hall
The Dartington Hall Trust, near Totnes, Devon, United Kingdom is a charity specialising in the arts, social justice and sustainability.The Trust currently runs 16 charitable programmes, including The Dartington International Summer School and Schumacher Environmental College...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
from 1931 to 1933, a school with a long musical tradition, taking courses in dance, teacher training, art and design. There she met designer Peter Goffin
Peter Goffin
Peter Goffin F.R.S.A. , was an English set and costume designer and stage manager, known for his work with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Biography:...
who became a long-time friend.
The accidental death of her only brother, Michael (1911–1932), made Carte the heir to her father's hotel and theatre interests. As a child, however, she had been reluctant to assume the family legacy. She later told The Gramophone magazine: "At home, you know, we weren't allowed to hum Gilbert and Sullivan; in fact we were fined for it, because it annoyed my father. We were allowed to sing it properly, but my brother and I couldn't – in my family the fact that I wasn't Mozart at about three years old was thought of as rather disappointing. So I went through a phase when I was very anti-Gilbert and Sullivan; I became rather a highbrow, and my father thought I was a bit of a snake-in-the-grass because of it."
From 1933 to 1939, Carte was an assistant to her father at the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
, taking responsibility for furnishing and interior decoration, for which she had training and aptitude. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, however, she undertook child welfare work and continued with it until her father's death in 1948. The family home was Coleton Fishacre
Coleton Fishacre
Coleton Fishacre is a property consisting of a garden and a house in the Arts and Crafts style, situated in Kingswear, Devon, England. The property has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1982.-The house:...
, a house that her parents had built in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
between Paignton
Paignton
Paignton is a coastal town in Devon in England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton's population in the United Kingdom Census of 2001 was 48,251. It has...
and Kingswear
Kingswear
Kingswear is a village and civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town of Dartmouth...
in 1925. The house is still known for its design features and garden with exotic tropical plants.
After her parents' divorce in 1941, Bridget D'Oyly Carte took over the house, which her father, who lived in London, would visit for long weekends. Shortly after her father's death, she sold Coleton Fishacre, and it is now owned by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
. In 1949 she bought Shrubs Wood, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, designed by the art deco architect Serge Chermayeff
Serge Chermayeff
Serge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
. Here she pursued her love of gardening and gave summer parties for disadvantaged or disabled children. In 1953, Carte was a member of the committee overseeing the decorations for the Coronation Ball at the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
in honour of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Managing the family interests
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
, which presented the Savoy Operas from 1875 to 1982. She did not succeed Rupert D'Oyly Carte as chairman of the Savoy Hotel group, in which she retained a large shareholding, but she became an active director. She moved into a suite in the Savoy Hotel and resumed control of the furnishing and decoration departments. When the Savoy Group acquired them, she took interest in the soft-furnishing company, James Edwards, and was chairman of the royal florists, Edward Goodyear Ltd. She became vice-chairman of the Group in 1971 and was its president at the time of her death.
At first, Bridget D'Oyly Carte "did not feel qualified to sustain the responsibility" of running the opera company. Nevertheless, she was determined to prove herself. One of her early decisions proved especially unpopular and led to a wave of important defections from the company at the end of the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
season in 1951, most importantly, Martyn Green
Martyn Green
William Martyn-Green , better known as Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his work as principal comedian in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas, which he performed and recorded with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and other troupes.After army service in World War I,...
. This was the 1949 hiring, as stage director, of Eleanor Evans
Eleanor Evans
Eleanor Evans was a Welsh actress, singer and stage director. She performed in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas for over a span of more than 20 years with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company...
, Mrs. Darrell Fancourt
Darrell Fancourt
Darrell Fancourt was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances and recordings of the Savoy Operas....
, known as "Snookie" in the company. Green wrote in 1952:
"I ... told Miss Carte that I thought she was making a great psychological error. During Anna BethellAnna BethellAnna Bethell was an English actress, singer and stage director. She is best known for her performances in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After playing other small mezzo-soprano parts, she played the role of Mrs. Partlett in The Sorcerer for many years. She...
's regime (Mrs. Sydney GranvilleSydney GranvilleSydney Granville was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
), there had been growing signs of discontent and suggestions of favouritism.... But to appoint not only a woman who had for fifteen years worked in the chorus alongside several who were now principals, but the wife of one of the main principals, seemed to me to be a psychological error of the first magnitude. I felt that ... she would, rightly or wrongly, be accused of that very same favouritism. My views made no impression on Miss Carte, but time was to prove that I was right.... Production is done to a plan that takes no consideration of the individual, his personality or his histrionic ability – a stereotyped plan that results in a clockwork performance devoid of spontaneity.
The historian Tony Joseph wrote: "But Green was not the only member of the Company to leave.... Ella Halman
Ella Halman
Ella Louise Halman was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She married another D'Oyly Carte performer, L. Radley Flynn, in 1940.-Life and career:Halman was born in Ealing, Middlesex...
left too. So did Richard Watson
Richard Watson (singer)
Richard Charles Watson was an Australian bass opera and concert singer and actor. He is probably best remembered as a long-time principal with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company who sang the comic bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas, but he appeared in a wide range of operas at the Royal Opera...
... Margaret Mitchell ... Radley Flynn and no fewer than twenty-two other small part players and choristers. It was the largest single exodus of performers in D'Oyly Carte history, and that was why the sense of sadness that hovered over the season was so marked.... August 1951 was the end of an era. Cynthia Morey, who joined the Company just before the defections, wrote: I have never found out precisely why this great exodus took place.... We were always under the impression that we should feel honoured to be in the employ of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company; it was patently obvious that the management held firmly to the policy that nobody is indispensable". Morey noted that Evans had played several roles with the company and commented, "In 1927 she was apparently demoted to the chorus, and there she remained for [fifteen years]. ... I should not have thought these qualifications sufficient for such an important post; to spend all those years as a chorister seems to signify a lack of ambition or achievement. But I suppose a 'Director of Productions' in those days merely needed to know every move and every gesture, and exactly when they occurred, for no departure from the set production was ever permitted." Richard Walker
Richard Walker (singer)
Richard Walker, was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Between 1932 and 1939 Walker was married to D'Oyly Carte chorister Ena Martin...
, Kenneth Sandford
Kenneth Sandford
Kenneth Sandford was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan....
and others also criticised Evans's temperament and methods. She retired as stage director in 1953, the year that her husband died, but she was engaged to coach new D'Oyly Carte principals in their roles for some years thereafter.
Carte made an important move to hire Frederic Lloyd
Frederic Lloyd
Frederic Lloyd, OBE , was an English theatre manager. Most notably, Lloyd was the General Manager of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1951 until its closure in 1982.-Biography:...
as General Manager in 1951, which position he continued to discharge until the company closed. In running the D'Oyly Carte Opera company she took steps to keep the productions fresh, engaging designers to redesign the costumes and scenery. Her old friend, Peter Goffin, who had previously redesigned The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and ran for 423 performances...
and Ruddigore
Ruddigore
Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan...
for Rupert D'Oyly Carte, designed a unit set in 1957 to facilitate and reduce the cost of touring. He also produced new settings and costumes for Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
(1957), The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
(1958 – settings only, most of the celebrated Charles Ricketts
Charles Ricketts
Charles de Sousy Ricketts was a versatile English artist, illustrator, author and printer, and is best known for his work as book designer and typographer from 1896 to 1904 with the Vale Press, and his work in the theatre as a set and costume designer.-Life and career:Ricketts was born in Geneva...
costumes being retained), The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...
(1958), Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
(1959), H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
(1961), and Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
(1961). Princess Ida
Princess Ida
Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. Princess Ida opened at the Savoy Theatre on January 5, 1884, for a run of 246 performances...
was redesigned by James Wade in 1954.
Carte claimed that the most important function of the operas, which in later years she advertised rather as musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, was "to bridge the generation gap and link serious music to pop." She televised and had recordings and films made of some of the operas, engaged Sir Malcolm Sargent
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
to conduct performances at the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
season in 1951 at the operas' original London home, the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
, and supported an increasing number of tours of the United States. In 1960 the company's own touring orchestra was formed as a change from the ad hoc recruitment of players at each venue. In 1975 the company produced a centenary season at the Savoy Theatre, in 1977 it gave a royal Royal Command Performance
Royal Command Performance
For the annual Royal Variety Performance performed in Britain for the benefit of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, see Royal Variety Performance...
at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
, and in 1979, for the first time, it toured Australia and New Zealand.
Later years and legacy
With the approaching end of the D’Oyly Carte monopoly on Gilbert and SullivanGilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
performances, when the copyright on Gilbert’s words expired in 1961, Carte set up the charitable D'Oyly Carte Opera Trust to continue to present the operas. She endowed the trust with the company's scenery, costumes, band parts, recording rights and other assets, together with a cash endowment of £30,000. She formed Bridget D'Oyly Carte Ltd to manage the opera company, with herself as chairman and managing director. Finally, mounting losses, and the refusal of the Arts Council to provide a grant, forced the closure of the company in 1982. Even after it closed, however, the company's productions and style continued to influence the productions of other companies.
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
with £2 million. In 1974 she was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of Musicians
Royal Society of Musicians
The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain is a charity in the United Kingdom that supports musicians. It is the oldest music-related charity in Great Britain, founded in 1738 as the "Fund for Decay'd Musicians" by a declaration of trust signed by 228 musicians, including Edward Purcell ,...
of Great Britain, and in 1975 was created a DBE.
In the 1970s, Carte became the tenant of the semi-ruined Barscobe Castle
Barscobe Castle
Barscobe Castle is a 17th-century tower house in Balmaclellan, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. It is a typical house of a country laird, and according to a panel above the entrance, was built in 1648. The L-plan tower was constructed using stone taken from Threave Castle. The main block is three...
, Balmaclellan
Balmaclellan
Balmaclellan is a small hillside village of stone houses with slate roofs in a fold of the Galloway hills in south-west Scotland...
, a small seventeenth-century fortified house in south-west Scotland, which she restored. Always shy, old-fashioned and formal, Carte appreciated simplicity and avoided parties and social events as much as possible. For her Who's Who
Who's Who (UK)
Who's Who is an annual British publication of biographies which vary in length of about 30,000 living notable Britons.-History:...
entry she listed her recreations as, "country living and gardening; reading, theatre and music."
A smoker, Carte died of lung cancer in her country home in Shrubs Wood, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, in 1985 at the age of 77. Her remains were cremated. She left a fortune of £5,479,888. With no children of her own or surviving siblings, she was the end of her family line. The Savoy hotel group continued under the control of her trustees until 1994. The group's hotels remained among the most prestigious in London, with the London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
calling the Savoy "London's most famous hotel" in 2009.
A £1 million legacy from her private fortune enabled a new opera company, using the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company name, to begin operations in 1988. The company secured sponsorship from Sir Michael Bishop
Michael Bishop (businessman)
Michael David Bishop, Baron Glendonbrook CBE is a British businessman and life peer who rose to prominence as owner of the airline BMI. He sold his stake in the airline to Lufthansa on 1 July 2009 and has an estimated personal fortune of £480 million...
, who eventually became Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and BMI
Bmi (airline)
British Midland Airways Limited , is an airline based at Donington Hall in Castle Donington in the United Kingdom, close to East Midlands Airport, and a fully owned subsidiary of Lufthansa...
British Midland Airways (of which Bishop is chairman). From 1988 to 2003 the new company produced short seasons each year, mounting productions of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas on tour and in London, as well as operettas by Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
, Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
and Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
. The new company did not employ many of the members of the original company and did not follow its performing traditions, even staging some "concept" productions of the operas. Once again, costs outran receipts, public subsidy was denied by the English Arts Council
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
, and the company suspended productions in May 2003. It continues to rent scores.
The Gilbert and Sullivan operas, nurtured by the Carte family for over a century, continue to be produced frequently today throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. By keeping the Savoy operas popular for so long, the Carte family influenced the course of the development of modern musical theatre throughout the 20th century.