Fallen Fairies
Encyclopedia
Fallen Fairies; or, The Wicked World, is a two-act comic opera
, with a libretto
by W. S. Gilbert
and music by Edward German
. Premiering at London
's Savoy Theatre
on December 15, 1909, it failed miserably, closing after just 50 performances. Neither Gilbert nor German would write another opera.
Fallen Fairies is an operatic adaptation of Gilbert's 1873 blank-verse
fairy comedy, The Wicked World
. Gilbert wrote a number of successful plays in this genre. He was clearly fascinated by this plot, which had been the subject of his 1871 short story of the same name. Gilbert also wrote (under a pseudonym) an 1873 play that parodies The Wicked World called The Happy Land
, which made a sensation at the Court Theatre
after the Lord Chamberlain banned parts of it.
Like a number of Gilbert's blank-verse plays, Fallen Fairies treats the ensuing consequences when an all-female world is disrupted by men and the romantic complications they bring. His plays The Princess
(1870) and Broken Hearts
(1875), and his earlier operas Iolanthe
(1882) and Princess Ida
(1884), are all treatments of this basic idea. Stedman calls this a "Gilbertian invasion plot". Princess Ida and Fallen Fairies, both based on earlier blank-verse plays by Gilbert, unlike most of Gilbert's operas, both retain blank verse in the dialogue.
had been on Gilbert's mind for some time. As early as 1897, he had suggested the idea to Helen Carte, the wife and partner of Richard D'Oyly Carte
. Arthur Sullivan
, André Messager
, Jules Massenet
, Liza Lehmann
and Alexander Mackenzie, to whom he offered it in turn, all objected to the absence of a male chorus. Edward Elgar
also turned it down, but did not say why. Gilbert finally found a willing collaborator in Edward German
.
Charles Herbert Workman, who had made a name playing the comic baritone parts in the Gilbert and Sullivan
operas, assembled a production syndicate in 1909 to produce comic operas (starring himself) at the Savoy Theatre, beginning with The Mountaineers
, followed by Fallen Fairies, in which he appeared in the comic role of Lutin. The piece opened on 15 December 1909, and the cast also starred Leo Sheffield
as Phyllon, Percy Anderson
designed the costumes. John D'Auban
choreographed. Had Fallen Fairies been a success, it was intended that Gilbert would revive (with revisions) earlier operas of his that were not in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
repertoire, and that it would be followed by at least one more new work by Gilbert and German.
With German's agreement, Gilbert cast Nancy McIntosh
as the Fairy Queen, Selene. McIntosh's vocal powers were not what they had been a decade earlier, and critics found her performance weak, saying that she was "too much a tragedy queen" for the romantic role. On 3 January 1910, Workman's syndicate replaced McIntosh with Amy Evans
and requested the restoration of a song that Gilbert had cut during rehearsals. Gilbert was outraged and threatened to sue, but German declined to join him. Gilbert angrily banned Workman from ever performing in his operas in the United Kingdom
. The Musical Times wrote:
The replacement of the leading lady was not enough to save Fallen Fairies from an early closing, although Evans earned praise in the role. Indeed, faults in Gilbert's libretto were likely as much to blame as any failings of McIntosh. The Observer wrote, "It is a strange compound of trifling and tragedy, of gossamer and gnashings of teeth ... the effect is a little like that of an act of Othello pieced into The Merry Wives of Windsor." Rutland Barrington
, in his 1911 memoir, wrote: "I am inclined to attribute much of the failure of the opera to catch on to the fact that, owing to the entire absence of men's voices to balance the mass of soprani and alti, one's ears suffered from an unavoidable weariness, and a longing for the robust report of the male choristers; the humour of the play also seemed to me to have evaporated, to a great extent, with its conversion" to a comic opera.
Early in 1909, Workman had planned to produce revivals of several Gilbert and Sullivan operas (and two Gilbert operas) at the Savoy after Fallen Fairies, but after his dispute with Gilbert, this idea was out of the question.
The fairies sing of the "wicked world" below, which they believe is populated by mortals who sin throughout their lives. Selene, their Queen, tells them that Lutin, the only fairy who has ever set foot on solid ground, will soon be returning home after a long absence. Ethais and Phyllon reveal that every fairy has an exact counterpart in the mortal world, the only difference being that the fairies are absolutely free from sin, while the identical-looking mortal is "stained with every kind of infamy."
Lutin arrives, and the eager fairies question him about what he has observed down below, but Lutin says it is too shocking to tell. Lutin tells them that their King has a gift for the fairies, and he has commanded Ethais and Phyllon to journey to mid-earth to receive it. They depart.
The fairies wonder why, if the mortal world is so miserable, its inhabitants do not take their own lives. Selene explains that mortals have one great gift that makes life worth living – the gift of Love. The fairies are in wonder at Selene's description, as they have never experienced Love. Selene explains that Love is unnecessary. Moreover, it is impossible for them to experience it, as only a mortal can inspire love, and mortals cannot set foot in Fairyland.
Zayda points out that there is a "half-forgotten law" that, when a fairy leaves his home to visit earth, those whom he leaves behind may summon his mortal counterpart from below, who may fill the absent fairy's place until he returns. Selene is shocked that the fairies would consider invoking this law, but the other fairies point out a possible benefit. They suggest that once the mortals have observed the fairies' immaculate lives, they would return to Earth and reform mankind's sinful ways. Selene agrees, and they summon Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon, the mortal counterparts to the two recently departed fairies.
On arriving, both Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon immediately suspect the other of some kind of wizardry, and they start fighting. The fairies, who have never seen combat, believe it is a game. Sir Ethais is wounded in the arm. When the fairies step forward, the two knights are immediately taken with their beauty, and agree to stop fighting. The fairies, too, are immediately smitten with the men. Selene explains that the fairies wish to teach them how to live good and pure lives, while commenting in an aside how attractive they are. The men vow immediately to reform their sinful ways, taking tutelage from the fairies.
Selene wonders if there is a way that mortals show loyalty to a Queen. They explain that it is done with "a very long and tender kiss...preferably, just below the nose." The fairies have never heard of this procedure, but they are pleased to be kissed on the lips, as they know it carries great weight with the knights.
Sir Ethais is weak from loss of blood, and asks to summon his henchman, Lutin, who is skilled at healing. The fairy Lutin enters, and Sir Ethais mistakes him for his mortal counterpart. Lutin is appalled to find mortals in Fairyland, warning the fairies that Love is the source of all earthly sin. The fairies, now smitten with the men, do not believe him. Selene sends Lutin down below, so that his mortal counterpart can replace him. As he descends, the Fairies kneel at the feet of Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon.
Sir Ethais emerges from the bower, still weak from his wound. The pair acknowledge that they are in love. Selene offers to give up everything – her home, her honour, her life – to be with Sir Ethais. She gives him a ring as a pledge of her love. They go back into the bower together. Darine has overheard them. She too is wildly in love with Sir Ethais, and is feverishly jealous of Selene. Sir Phyllon enters and tries to court Darine, but she does not return his affection. After Sir Phyllon leaves, Selene re-enters. Sir Ethais has suffered a setback, and she fears he will die. Darine suggests that the only hope is to summon the fairy Lutin's mortal counterpart, who will be able to cure Sir Ethais. Selene is grateful for the suggestion, unaware that Darine intends to woo Sir Ethais for herself, once he is recovered.
The mortal Lutin arrives. He is just as enchanted with the fairies as Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon were in Act I, and they are similarly impressed with him. Lutin is so taken with Fairyland that he calls it Paradise and assumes he must be dead. The fairies explain the situation, and they all vie for his attention, saying that they prefer his rugged appearance to men that are handsome. Zayda persuades all the other fairies to find food for Lutin. When they have left, she tells him that all of the other fairies have faults, and that she is the only fairy worthy of his esteem. When the other fairies return, they ask Lutin if he has a wife. He replies that he is married down below, but is a bachelor in Fairyland, which offends Zayda.
Darine enters, desperately seeking Lutin's aid to cure Sir Ethais. She is the fairy counterpart to Lutin's mortal wife. Lutin does not understand this and assumes his wife has followed him there to chastise his infidelity. After a lengthy misunderstanding, Darine finally gets through to Lutin, and he gives her a phial with the magical cure for Sir Ethais's wound.
Darine contrives a ruse to win Sir Ethais's love. She tells him that Sir Phyllon had accused him of exaggerating the severity of his wound, so that he could avoid fighting again. Sir Ethais is outraged at being called a coward, and wants to challenge Sir Phyllon if he ever recovers. Darine tells him that she has the cure, but she will give it to him only if he promises to love her. Sir Ethais agrees, and observing that one beautiful woman is as good as another, gives Selene's ring to Darine. He takes the potion, and is cured. Sir Phyllon enters, and Sir Ethais accosts him. Their argument escalates, and Sir Ethais turns to Darine to confirm that Sir Phyllon had accused him of cowardice. Darine admits that this was only an artifice. Sir Ethais asks Sir Phyllon's forgiveness and renounces Darine. She implores him to reconsider.
Selene enters. She wonders why her sister is alone with Sir Ethais. Darine calls Selene a hypocrite. The other fairies now enter, and tell Selene that she is the source of all the ill that has blighted Fairyland. They urge her to relinquish the throne in favour of Darine. Admitting that she has been an unfit Queen, she takes off her crown and places it on Darine's head. Selene says that her kingdom is now in the heart of Sir Ethais, but Darine insists that he belongs to her, showing that she now has the ring that Selene had pledged to him. Selene is shocked, but Sir Ethais admits that he had parted with it in exchange for the cure to his wound. Selene pronounces him, of all men, "the most accursed." He begs her forgiveness, and in a rambling address she denounces him, but says that she will join him on earth.
Locrine bursts in with the news that the men's fairy counterparts are about to return. The mortal Lutin is much relieved, for while he finds Zayda enchanting, he cannot enjoy himself while a fairy (Darine) with so close a resemblance to his wife is looking on. Sir Phyllon and Lutin descend to earth. Selene frantically tries to detain Sir Ethais, saying that she wants to accompany him to earth, to be his "humble, silent, and submissive slave." But Sir Ethais has now tired of her. He casts her aside and returns to Earth, alone.
As soon as the men are gone, the fairies change their attitudes, as if awaking from a dream. With the mortals now gone from their midst, the chastened fairies admit that they have all sinned. The fairy Ethais arrives with the news that fairies, like mortals, can love. But Selene warns that love is a deadly snare. The chorus praise Selene's purity, and Darine returns the crown to her head. The fairies kneel in adoration at her feet.
Act II
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 a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by 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 music by Edward German
Edward German
Sir Edward German was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera.As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra, also...
. Premiering at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's 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,...
on December 15, 1909, it failed miserably, closing after just 50 performances. Neither Gilbert nor German would write another opera.
Fallen Fairies is an operatic adaptation of Gilbert's 1873 blank-verse
Blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...
fairy comedy, The Wicked World
The Wicked World
The Wicked World is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts. It opened at the Haymarket Theatre on 1873 and ran for a successful 145 performances, closing on 1873...
. Gilbert wrote a number of successful plays in this genre. He was clearly fascinated by this plot, which had been the subject of his 1871 short story of the same name. Gilbert also wrote (under a pseudonym) an 1873 play that parodies The Wicked World called The Happy Land
The Happy Land
The Happy Land is a play with music written in 1873 by W. S. Gilbert and Gilbert Arthur à Beckett. The musical play burlesques Gilbert's earlier play, The Wicked World...
, which made a sensation at the Court Theatre
Court Theatre
Court Theatre or Royal Court Theatre may refer to:*Court Theatre , Chicago, Illinois*Court Theatre , a theatre company in Christchurch, New Zealand*Court Theatre of Buda, Budapest, Hungary...
after the Lord Chamberlain banned parts of it.
Like a number of Gilbert's blank-verse plays, Fallen Fairies treats the ensuing consequences when an all-female world is disrupted by men and the romantic complications they bring. His plays The Princess
The Princess (play)
The Princess is a blank verse farcical play, in five scenes with music, by W. S. Gilbert which adapts and parodies Alfred Lord Tennyson's humorous 1847 narrative poem, The Princess: A Medley. It was first produced at the Olympic Theatre in London on 8 January 1870.Gilbert called the piece "a...
(1870) and Broken Hearts
Broken Hearts
Broken Hearts is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts styled "An entirely original fairy play". It opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 9 December 1875, running for three months, and toured the provinces in 1876...
(1875), and his earlier operas 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....
(1882) and 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...
(1884), are all treatments of this basic idea. Stedman calls this a "Gilbertian invasion plot". Princess Ida and Fallen Fairies, both based on earlier blank-verse plays by Gilbert, unlike most of Gilbert's operas, both retain blank verse in the dialogue.
Background
An operatic version of The Wicked WorldThe Wicked World
The Wicked World is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts. It opened at the Haymarket Theatre on 1873 and ran for a successful 145 performances, closing on 1873...
had been on Gilbert's mind for some time. As early as 1897, he had suggested the idea to Helen Carte, the wife and partner of 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...
. 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...
, André Messager
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
, Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
, Liza Lehmann
Liza Lehmann
Liza Lehmann was an English operatic soprano and composer, known for her vocal compositions.-Biography:She was born Elisabetha Nina Mary Frederica Lehmann in London. Her father was the German painter Rudolf Lehmann and her mother was Amelia Chambers, a music teacher, composer and arranger...
and Alexander Mackenzie, to whom he offered it in turn, all objected to the absence of a male chorus. Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
also turned it down, but did not say why. Gilbert finally found a willing collaborator in Edward German
Edward German
Sir Edward German was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera.As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra, also...
.
Charles Herbert Workman, who had made a name playing the comic baritone parts in 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...
operas, assembled a production syndicate in 1909 to produce comic operas (starring himself) at the Savoy Theatre, beginning with The Mountaineers
The Mountaineers (opera)
The Mountaineers is an English "romantic comic opera" in three acts with a libretto by Australian-born Guy Eden and Reginald Somerville , lyrics by Eden and music by Somerville. It opened at the Savoy Theatre in London on 29 September 1909, under the management of C. H. Workman, and ran for a...
, followed by Fallen Fairies, in which he appeared in the comic role of Lutin. The piece opened on 15 December 1909, and the cast also starred Leo Sheffield
Leo Sheffield
Leo Sheffield was an English singer and actor best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
as Phyllon, Percy Anderson
Percy Anderson
Percy Anderson was an English stage designer and painter, best known for his work for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company at His Majesty’s Theatre and Edwardian musical comedies.-Life and career:...
designed the costumes. John D'Auban
John D'Auban
Frederick John D'Auban was an English dancer, choreographer and actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Famous during his lifetime as the ballet-master at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he is best remembered as the choreographer of many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.After performing as a...
choreographed. Had Fallen Fairies been a success, it was intended that Gilbert would revive (with revisions) earlier operas of his that were not in 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...
repertoire, and that it would be followed by at least one more new work by Gilbert and German.
With German's agreement, Gilbert cast Nancy McIntosh
Nancy McIntosh
Nancy McIntosh was an American-born singer and actress who performed mostly on the London stage. Her father was a member of the notorious South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which had been blamed in connection with the 1889 Johnstown Flood that resulted in the loss of over 2,200 lives in...
as the Fairy Queen, Selene. McIntosh's vocal powers were not what they had been a decade earlier, and critics found her performance weak, saying that she was "too much a tragedy queen" for the romantic role. On 3 January 1910, Workman's syndicate replaced McIntosh with Amy Evans
Amy Evans
Amy Evans was a Welsh soprano and actress known for her performances in oratorio, recitals, and opera. She also made some music recordings beginning in 1906. In 1910, she played the leading role of Selene in W. S. Gilbert's last opera, Fallen Fairies and sang at the Royal Opera House the same...
and requested the restoration of a song that Gilbert had cut during rehearsals. Gilbert was outraged and threatened to sue, but German declined to join him. Gilbert angrily banned Workman from ever performing in his operas in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The Musical Times wrote:
- "The part of 'Selene', the fairy queen, in the Gilbert-German opera 'Fallen Fairies' is now being played with great success by Miss Amy Evans, a young singer who has made a name on the concert and Eisteddfod platforms in Wales, but who is new to the stage. She sings a new song, the words of which are by Sir William Gilbert and the music by Edward German. This song has been the subject, first of an injunction, and then of a mysterious law suit brought by Sir William against the Savoy management. It is now restored to the performance by mutual consent."
The replacement of the leading lady was not enough to save Fallen Fairies from an early closing, although Evans earned praise in the role. Indeed, faults in Gilbert's libretto were likely as much to blame as any failings of McIntosh. The Observer wrote, "It is a strange compound of trifling and tragedy, of gossamer and gnashings of teeth ... the effect is a little like that of an act of Othello pieced into The Merry Wives of Windsor." Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades...
, in his 1911 memoir, wrote: "I am inclined to attribute much of the failure of the opera to catch on to the fact that, owing to the entire absence of men's voices to balance the mass of soprani and alti, one's ears suffered from an unavoidable weariness, and a longing for the robust report of the male choristers; the humour of the play also seemed to me to have evaporated, to a great extent, with its conversion" to a comic opera.
Early in 1909, Workman had planned to produce revivals of several Gilbert and Sullivan operas (and two Gilbert operas) at the Savoy after Fallen Fairies, but after his dispute with Gilbert, this idea was out of the question.
Roles and original cast
- Fairies
- The Fairy Ethais (tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
) – Claude FlemmingClaude FlemmingClaude Flemming was an Australian actor, writer, producer and director of theatre and film. He acted in productions of Shakespeare for George Rignold's company in Sydney in 1903, and became a music comedy specialist.... - The Fairy Phyllon (bass-baritoneBass-baritoneA bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
) – Leo SheffieldLeo SheffieldLeo Sheffield was an English singer and actor best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.... - Selene, the Fairy Queen (sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
) – Nancy McIntoshNancy McIntoshNancy McIntosh was an American-born singer and actress who performed mostly on the London stage. Her father was a member of the notorious South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which had been blamed in connection with the 1889 Johnstown Flood that resulted in the loss of over 2,200 lives in...
(replaced by Amy EvansAmy EvansAmy Evans was a Welsh soprano and actress known for her performances in oratorio, recitals, and opera. She also made some music recordings beginning in 1906. In 1910, she played the leading role of Selene in W. S. Gilbert's last opera, Fallen Fairies and sang at the Royal Opera House the same...
) - Darine, (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
) – Madie Hope - Zayda (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
) – Jessie Rose - Locrine (contraltoContraltoContralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
) – Ethel Morrison - Zara (speaking role) – Mabel Burnage
- Cora (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
) – Rita Otway - Leila (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
) – Ruby Gray - Neodie (speaking role) – Alice Cox
- Fleta (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
) – Marjorie Dawes - Chloris (non-speaking role) – Miriam Lycett
- Maia (non-speaking role) – Gladys Lancaster
- Ina (non-speaking role) – Isabel Agnew
- Lutin, a serving fairy (comic baritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
) – C. H. Workman
- The Fairy Ethais (tenor
- Mortals
- Sir Ethais, a Hunnish Knight (tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
) – Claude Flemming - Sir Phyllon, a Hunnish Knight (bass-baritoneBass-baritoneA bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
) – Leo Sheffield - Lutin, Sir Ethais's Henchman (comic baritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
) – C. H. Workman
- Sir Ethais, a Hunnish Knight (tenor
Act I
The scene is laid in Fairyland, outside the Fairy Queen's bower, which for the purposes of the opera, is supposed to be located on the upper side of a cloud which floats over the Earth.The fairies sing of the "wicked world" below, which they believe is populated by mortals who sin throughout their lives. Selene, their Queen, tells them that Lutin, the only fairy who has ever set foot on solid ground, will soon be returning home after a long absence. Ethais and Phyllon reveal that every fairy has an exact counterpart in the mortal world, the only difference being that the fairies are absolutely free from sin, while the identical-looking mortal is "stained with every kind of infamy."
Lutin arrives, and the eager fairies question him about what he has observed down below, but Lutin says it is too shocking to tell. Lutin tells them that their King has a gift for the fairies, and he has commanded Ethais and Phyllon to journey to mid-earth to receive it. They depart.
The fairies wonder why, if the mortal world is so miserable, its inhabitants do not take their own lives. Selene explains that mortals have one great gift that makes life worth living – the gift of Love. The fairies are in wonder at Selene's description, as they have never experienced Love. Selene explains that Love is unnecessary. Moreover, it is impossible for them to experience it, as only a mortal can inspire love, and mortals cannot set foot in Fairyland.
Zayda points out that there is a "half-forgotten law" that, when a fairy leaves his home to visit earth, those whom he leaves behind may summon his mortal counterpart from below, who may fill the absent fairy's place until he returns. Selene is shocked that the fairies would consider invoking this law, but the other fairies point out a possible benefit. They suggest that once the mortals have observed the fairies' immaculate lives, they would return to Earth and reform mankind's sinful ways. Selene agrees, and they summon Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon, the mortal counterparts to the two recently departed fairies.
On arriving, both Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon immediately suspect the other of some kind of wizardry, and they start fighting. The fairies, who have never seen combat, believe it is a game. Sir Ethais is wounded in the arm. When the fairies step forward, the two knights are immediately taken with their beauty, and agree to stop fighting. The fairies, too, are immediately smitten with the men. Selene explains that the fairies wish to teach them how to live good and pure lives, while commenting in an aside how attractive they are. The men vow immediately to reform their sinful ways, taking tutelage from the fairies.
Selene wonders if there is a way that mortals show loyalty to a Queen. They explain that it is done with "a very long and tender kiss...preferably, just below the nose." The fairies have never heard of this procedure, but they are pleased to be kissed on the lips, as they know it carries great weight with the knights.
Sir Ethais is weak from loss of blood, and asks to summon his henchman, Lutin, who is skilled at healing. The fairy Lutin enters, and Sir Ethais mistakes him for his mortal counterpart. Lutin is appalled to find mortals in Fairyland, warning the fairies that Love is the source of all earthly sin. The fairies, now smitten with the men, do not believe him. Selene sends Lutin down below, so that his mortal counterpart can replace him. As he descends, the Fairies kneel at the feet of Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon.
Act II
The fairies stand vigil outside of Selene's bower, where she has been tending Sir Ethais, who is delirious from the effects of his wound. The fairies are outraged at Selene's indecorous behaviour, and wonder if she is still fit to serve as Queen. Selene enters and tells them she has saved Sir Ethais's life, but the jealous fairies are not interested in listening to her. Selene is perplexed at her sisters' changed attitude.Sir Ethais emerges from the bower, still weak from his wound. The pair acknowledge that they are in love. Selene offers to give up everything – her home, her honour, her life – to be with Sir Ethais. She gives him a ring as a pledge of her love. They go back into the bower together. Darine has overheard them. She too is wildly in love with Sir Ethais, and is feverishly jealous of Selene. Sir Phyllon enters and tries to court Darine, but she does not return his affection. After Sir Phyllon leaves, Selene re-enters. Sir Ethais has suffered a setback, and she fears he will die. Darine suggests that the only hope is to summon the fairy Lutin's mortal counterpart, who will be able to cure Sir Ethais. Selene is grateful for the suggestion, unaware that Darine intends to woo Sir Ethais for herself, once he is recovered.
The mortal Lutin arrives. He is just as enchanted with the fairies as Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon were in Act I, and they are similarly impressed with him. Lutin is so taken with Fairyland that he calls it Paradise and assumes he must be dead. The fairies explain the situation, and they all vie for his attention, saying that they prefer his rugged appearance to men that are handsome. Zayda persuades all the other fairies to find food for Lutin. When they have left, she tells him that all of the other fairies have faults, and that she is the only fairy worthy of his esteem. When the other fairies return, they ask Lutin if he has a wife. He replies that he is married down below, but is a bachelor in Fairyland, which offends Zayda.
Darine enters, desperately seeking Lutin's aid to cure Sir Ethais. She is the fairy counterpart to Lutin's mortal wife. Lutin does not understand this and assumes his wife has followed him there to chastise his infidelity. After a lengthy misunderstanding, Darine finally gets through to Lutin, and he gives her a phial with the magical cure for Sir Ethais's wound.
Darine contrives a ruse to win Sir Ethais's love. She tells him that Sir Phyllon had accused him of exaggerating the severity of his wound, so that he could avoid fighting again. Sir Ethais is outraged at being called a coward, and wants to challenge Sir Phyllon if he ever recovers. Darine tells him that she has the cure, but she will give it to him only if he promises to love her. Sir Ethais agrees, and observing that one beautiful woman is as good as another, gives Selene's ring to Darine. He takes the potion, and is cured. Sir Phyllon enters, and Sir Ethais accosts him. Their argument escalates, and Sir Ethais turns to Darine to confirm that Sir Phyllon had accused him of cowardice. Darine admits that this was only an artifice. Sir Ethais asks Sir Phyllon's forgiveness and renounces Darine. She implores him to reconsider.
Locrine bursts in with the news that the men's fairy counterparts are about to return. The mortal Lutin is much relieved, for while he finds Zayda enchanting, he cannot enjoy himself while a fairy (Darine) with so close a resemblance to his wife is looking on. Sir Phyllon and Lutin descend to earth. Selene frantically tries to detain Sir Ethais, saying that she wants to accompany him to earth, to be his "humble, silent, and submissive slave." But Sir Ethais has now tired of her. He casts her aside and returns to Earth, alone.
As soon as the men are gone, the fairies change their attitudes, as if awaking from a dream. With the mortals now gone from their midst, the chastened fairies admit that they have all sinned. The fairy Ethais arrives with the news that fairies, like mortals, can love. But Selene warns that love is a deadly snare. The chorus praise Selene's purity, and Darine returns the crown to her head. The fairies kneel in adoration at her feet.
Musical numbers
Act I- 1. Chorus(Locrine, Darine and Fairies) "Oh, world below!"
- 2. Chorus (Fairies, Zayda, Fleta, Locrine, Leila and Lutin) "Hail, Lutin, wondrous traveller!"
- 3. Recit. and song (Lutin) with Chorus "One incident I'll tell that will appall"
- 4. Song (Selene) "With all the misery, with all the shame"
- 5. Duet (Darine, Zayda and Fairies) "Man is a being all accuse"
- 6. Scena (Selene and Fairies) "And now to summon them"
- 7. Recit. and Duet (Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon) "By god and man, who brought us here, and how.... This is some wizardry of thy design"
- 8. Song (Selene and Fairies) "Poor, purblind, wayward youths"
- 9. Ensemble (Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon) "With keen remorse"
- Trio(Darine, Zayda and Locrine) "Oh, gentle knights, with joy elate"
- Recit. (Selene) "If my obedient pupils you would be"
- Couplets (Sir Ethais, Sir Phyllon, Darine, Selene) with CHORUS "When homage to his Queen a subject shows"
- 10. Act I Finale:
- Song (Lutin) "The warrior, girt in shining might"
- Recit. (Zayda, Darine, Selene, Ethais and Lutin) "Nay, heed him not!"
- Song (Lutin) with CHORUS "Hark ye, you sir!"
- Ensemble(Fairies, Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon) "Oh, gallant gentlemen"
Act II
- 11. Chorus (Fairies) "For many an hour"
- 12. Song (Zayda and Fairies) "I never profess to make a guess"
- 12a Supplemental Song (Selene) "Oh love that rulest in our land"
- 13. Ballad (Selene and Sir Ethais) "Thy features are fair and seemly"
- 14. Song (Sir Ethais and Selene) "When a knight loves ladye"
- 15. Duet (Darine and Sir Phyllon) "But dost thou hear?"
- 16. Song (Lutin, Fleta, Locrine, Cora, Leila) "Help! Help! Help!... A freak of nature, not of art"
- 17. Song (Lutin) with CHORUS "Suppose you take, with open mind"
- 18. Song (Lutin) with CHORUS "In yonder world, where devils strew"
- 19. Song (Lutin) with CHORUS "When husband supposes"
- 20. Song (Darine) "Triumphant I!"
- 21. Scena (Darine, Zayda, Locrine, Fleta, Selene and Fairies) "Away, away! Thou art no Queen of ours"
- 22. Song (Selene) "Hark ye, sir knight"
- 22a. Melodrame (Orchestra)
- 23. Act II Finale (Ensemble) "Pure as the air"
External links
- Fallen Fairies at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive, including several contemporaneous reviews in London papers
- Fallen Fairies midi files
- Programme from the original production
- Opening night reviews
- Review in The Times, 16 December 1909
- Interview with W. S. Gilbert at the time of the production of Fallen Fairies
- "Fallen Fairies" at the Edward German Discography