Claude Duval (opera)
Encyclopedia
Claude Duval – or Love and Larceny is a comic opera
with music by Edward Solomon
to a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens
. The plot is loosely based on supposed events in the life of the eighteenth century highwayman
, Claude Duval
.
The piece was first produced at the Olympic Theatre
, London, on 24 August 1881, under the management of Michael Gunn. It ran until the end of October. From January to March 1882, a D'Oyly Carte
touring company played the work in the British provinces. Another D'Oyly Carte company played it in New York in March and April 1882 under Richard D'Oyly Carte
's personal supervision, in tandem with Gilbert and Sullivan
's Patience
. In New York, a few local references were interpolated into Blood-red Bill's comic song, "William's Sure to Be Right."
In the 1882 D'Oyly Carte tour, which played in Glasgow
, Edinburgh
, Aberdeen
and Dundee
, Duval was played by G. Byron Browne; Lorrimore by George Traverner; Blood-red Bill by George Thorne
; McGruder by J. B Rae; Constance by Laura Clement; Rose by Kate Chard; Boscatt by H. Cooper Cliffe; and Mistress Betty by Miss Jones. Cooper Cliffe deputised for Browne who was taken ill in Edinburgh. In the New York company, Duval was played by William Carleton; Blood-red Bill by J. H. Ryley
; Sir Whiffle Waffle by Arthur Wilkinson; and McGruder by W. H. Hamilton.
s review of the premiere.
Act 1
In 1670 at Newmarket Heath, Duval's gang of highwaymen are disguised as gypsy fortune-tellers, and local maidens come to have their fortunes told. Charles Lorrimore arrives; he has attached himself to the losing faction at court and is fleeing from arrest. The gang captures him, but Duval has met Lorrimore before and likes him. Lorrimore tells Duval that he is in love with Constance, the niece of the old miser McGruder, who has gained possession of the Lorrimore estate. Soon a coach bearing McGruder and his two nieces crosses the Heath and is waylaid by the gang. Duval persuades Constance to dance a minuet with him and then she and her travelling companions are allowed to go on their way without further interference.
Act 2
On the village green of Milden Manor, Festivities are in progress to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Constance to Sir Whiffle Waffle, a very rich and extremely silly baronet
, the match being at her miserly uncle's insistence. There is a secret meeting between the lovers, and it is discovered that the military are approaching to arrest Lorrimore. Duval changes cloaks with him and is arrested in his stead.
Act 3
The highwaymen, disguised as guests, have infiltrated Milden Manor with a view to robbing it. In the Great Hall of the Manor, Duval's lieutenant, Blood-red Bill, charms McGruder's sister Betty into handing over the keys to a chest containing documents of great value. One document proves that the estates belong to Lorrimore, and another is a free pardon with the name of the beneficiary left blank. The estates are restored to Lorrimore, and Duval, having escaped from the military, writes Lorrimore's name in the pardon. All ends happily with the union of the lovers and the discomfiture of Sir Whiffle Waffle.
wrote, "It is superbly put upon the stage, both as regards scenery and dresses, while the cast is even more attractive than that of Patience
at the Opera Comique [but] … unlike the Gilbert and Sullivan
work, there is a dull, sober earnestness about this opera. Celli was "as good a Duval as could well be imagined … vociferously encored"; Power and Hood as the lovers were generally well-received, though both were thought by some to be slightly lacking in personality.
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
with music by Edward Solomon
Edward Solomon
Edward Solomon was a prolific English composer, as well as a conductor, orchestrator and pianist. Though he died before his fortieth birthday, he wrote dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, such as The Nautch Girl, among others.-Early...
to a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens
Henry Pottinger Stephens
Henry Pottinger Stephens, also known as Henry Beauchamp , was an English dramatist and journalist. With a variety of partners, he wrote burlesques, comic operas and musical comedies that briefly rivalled the Savoy Operas in popular esteem.-Life and career:"Pot" Stephens was born in Barrow-on-Soar,...
. The plot is loosely based on supposed events in the life of the eighteenth century highwayman
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
, Claude Duval
Claude Duval
For other uses, see Claude Duval Claude Du Vall was a French-born gentleman highwayman in post-Restoration Britain.-Early life:...
.
The piece was first produced at the Olympic Theatre
Olympic Theatre
The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...
, London, on 24 August 1881, under the management of Michael Gunn. It ran until the end of October. From January to March 1882, a D'Oyly Carte
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...
touring company played the work in the British provinces. Another D'Oyly Carte company played it in New York in March and April 1882 under Richard D'Oyly Carte
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...
's personal supervision, in tandem with 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...
's 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...
. In New York, a few local references were interpolated into Blood-red Bill's comic song, "William's Sure to Be Right."
Roles and early casts
- Claude Duval – F. H. Celli
- Charles Lorrimore – George PowerSir George Power, 7th BaronetGeorge Power was an operatic tenor known for his performances in early Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, most famously creating the roles in London of Ralph Rackstraw in H.M.S. Pinafore and Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance .He later became a noted voice teacher...
- Sir Whiffle Waffle – Arthur WilliamsArthur Williams (actor)Arthur Williams was an English actor, singer and playwright best remembered for his roles in comic operas, musical burlesques and Edwardian musical comedies...
- Martin McGruder – Charles Ashford
- Captain Harleigh – Mr. Leomane
- Blood-red Bill – Fred Solomon
- Boscatt – Harold Russell
- Hodge – Mr. Goldie
- Podge – Cooper Cliffe
- Constance – Marion HoodMarion HoodMarion Hood was an English soprano who performed in opera and musical theatre in the last decades of the 19th century...
- Rose – Edith Blande
- Mistress Betty – Harriet Coveney
- Dolly – Nellie Sanson
- Mary – Daisy Foster
- Prudence – May Lennox
- Kenia – Violet Dare
- Barbara – Miss Beaumont
In the 1882 D'Oyly Carte tour, which played in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
and Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Duval was played by G. Byron Browne; Lorrimore by George Traverner; Blood-red Bill by George Thorne
George Thorne
George Thorne, was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, especially on tour and in the original New York City productions...
; McGruder by J. B Rae; Constance by Laura Clement; Rose by Kate Chard; Boscatt by H. Cooper Cliffe; and Mistress Betty by Miss Jones. Cooper Cliffe deputised for Browne who was taken ill in Edinburgh. In the New York company, Duval was played by William Carleton; Blood-red Bill by J. H. Ryley
J. H. Ryley
John Handford Ryley, was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, particularly in America...
; Sir Whiffle Waffle by Arthur Wilkinson; and McGruder by W. H. Hamilton.
Plot
The following synopsis is condensed from the plot summary printed in The EraThe Era (newspaper)
The Era was a British weekly paper, published from 1838 to 1939. Originally a general newspaper, it became noted for its sports coverage, and later for its theatrical content.-History:...
s review of the premiere.
Act 1
In 1670 at Newmarket Heath, Duval's gang of highwaymen are disguised as gypsy fortune-tellers, and local maidens come to have their fortunes told. Charles Lorrimore arrives; he has attached himself to the losing faction at court and is fleeing from arrest. The gang captures him, but Duval has met Lorrimore before and likes him. Lorrimore tells Duval that he is in love with Constance, the niece of the old miser McGruder, who has gained possession of the Lorrimore estate. Soon a coach bearing McGruder and his two nieces crosses the Heath and is waylaid by the gang. Duval persuades Constance to dance a minuet with him and then she and her travelling companions are allowed to go on their way without further interference.
Act 2
On the village green of Milden Manor, Festivities are in progress to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Constance to Sir Whiffle Waffle, a very rich and extremely silly baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, the match being at her miserly uncle's insistence. There is a secret meeting between the lovers, and it is discovered that the military are approaching to arrest Lorrimore. Duval changes cloaks with him and is arrested in his stead.
Act 3
The highwaymen, disguised as guests, have infiltrated Milden Manor with a view to robbing it. In the Great Hall of the Manor, Duval's lieutenant, Blood-red Bill, charms McGruder's sister Betty into handing over the keys to a chest containing documents of great value. One document proves that the estates belong to Lorrimore, and another is a free pardon with the name of the beneficiary left blank. The estates are restored to Lorrimore, and Duval, having escaped from the military, writes Lorrimore's name in the pardon. All ends happily with the union of the lovers and the discomfiture of Sir Whiffle Waffle.
Critical reception
The reviews of the original production were generally favourable. Some reservations were expressed about the libretto and the lack of comedy, but most critics praised the music, though some thought it derivative in parts. The staging was unreservedly praised. The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote, "It is superbly put upon the stage, both as regards scenery and dresses, while the cast is even more attractive than that of 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...
at the Opera Comique [but] … unlike the 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...
work, there is a dull, sober earnestness about this opera. Celli was "as good a Duval as could well be imagined … vociferously encored"; Power and Hood as the lovers were generally well-received, though both were thought by some to be slightly lacking in personality.