His Excellency (opera) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

His Excellency is a two-act comic opera

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 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 F. Osmond Carr. The piece concerns a practical-joking governor whose pranks threaten to make everyone miserable, until the Prince Regent kindly foils the governor's plans. Towards the end of 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...

partnership, 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...

declined to write the music for this piece after Gilbert insisted on casting his protégée, 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...

, in the lead role; Sullivan and producer 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...

, proprietor of 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,...

, did not feel that McIntosh was adequate.

The opera premiered instead under the management of George Edwardes

George Edwardes

George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....

at the Lyric Theatre

Lyric Theatre (London)

The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...

in London on 27 October 1894, closing on 6 April 1895 after a run of 162 performances. It starred many of the Savoy Theatre regulars, such as George Grossmith

George Grossmith

George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades...

, 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...

and Jessie Bond

Jessie Bond

Jessie Bond was an English singer and actress best known for creating the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. She spent twenty years on the stage, the bulk of them with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.Musical from an early age, Bond began a concert singing...

, as well as Ellaline Terriss

Ellaline Terriss

Ellaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin , was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies...

, who was to become a major West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

star. It was also produced in New York at the Broadway Theatre on 14 October 1895 for a run of 88 performances, and in German translation at the Carltheater, Vienna, in both 1895 and 1897. The opera also enjoyed a British provincial tour.

Background

From the late 1870s through the 1880s, Gilbert wrote a series of successful comic operas, working almost exclusively with Arthur Sullivan

Arthur Sullivan

. The Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan

partnership dissolved for several years after the production of 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...

(1889), because of a financial dispute, but in 1893 they reunited to write Utopia, Limited
Utopia, Limited
Utopia, Limited; or, The Flowers of Progress, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivan's fourteen collaborations, premiering on 7 October 1893 for a run of 245 performances...

. Encouraged by the modest success of this piece, the two agreed to write a new piece. In January 1894, Gilbert was ready with the scenario for a libretto that would become His Excellency, and which he hoped Sullivan would set to music. But the two collaborators disagreed over the casting of the leading lady. Gilbert insisted on using his protégée, Nancy McIntosh

Nancy McIntosh

, in the part, who had played the heroine in Utopia. Sullivan and producer 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...

, along with many of the critics, had found her unimpressive and did not want her in any more of his operas. The two men were not able to settle their differences, and Gilbert and Sullivan once again had to find different partners.

By 1894, the popular trend on the London stage had moved from traditional comic opera to a new genre, musical comedy

Edwardian Musical Comedy

Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...

, with such shows as The Gaiety Girl becoming quickly popular. Gilbert continued his own evolution in that direction, a trend that had begun in The Gondoliers and Utopia Limited. Gilbert, after approaching George Henschel

George Henschel

Sir George Henschel , was a British baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer of German birth....

unsuccessfully, selected Carr as the composer for the new piece. Carr had enjoyed success in musical comedy, with In Town
In Town (musical)
In Town is a musical comedy written by Adrian Ross and James T. Tanner, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Ross. It was produced by George Edwardes at the Prince of Wales Theatre, opening on 15 October 1892, and transferred to the Gaiety Theatre on 26 December 1892, running for a...

(1892), Morocco Bound
Morocco Bound
Morocco Bound is a farcical English musical in two acts by Arthur Branscombe, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, on April 13, 1893, under the management of Fred J. Harris, and transferred to the Trafalgar Square Theatre on...

(1893) and Go-Bang
Go-Bang
Go-Bang is an English musical comedy with words by Adrian Ross and music by F. Osmond Carr.The piece was produced by Fred Harris and opened at the Trafalgar Square Theatre on 10 March 1894. It ran for 159 performances. The show starred Harry Grattan, George Grossmith, Jr., Arthur Playfair,...

(1894), but critics inevitably found him inferior to Sullivan.

For the production of His Excellency, Gilbert was able to woo former 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...

stalwarts George Grossmith

George Grossmith

George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades...

, Rutland Barrington

Rutland Barrington

, Alice Barnett

Alice Barnett

Alice Barnett was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....

, Charles Kenningham

Charles Kenningham

Charles Kenningham was an English opera singer best remembered for his roles in the 1890s with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company....

and Jessie Bond

Jessie Bond

, as well as John Le Hay

John Le Hay

John Le Hay was the stage name of John Healy was an Irish-born singer and actor best remembered for his portrayal of the comic baritone roles in the Savoy Operas.-Early career:...

and the young musical comedy star, Ellaline Terriss

Ellaline Terriss

Ellaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin , was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies...

, to the cast. Many of the choristers from the Savoy Theatre

Savoy Theatre

, who had been disappointed with the recent short run of Mirette
Mirette (opera)
Mirette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by André Messager, first produced at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 3 July 1894.Mirette exists in two distinct versions. The first version of the libretto was written in French by Michel Carré but this was never performed. English lyrics were...

there, joined Gilbert's production, and Helen Carte accused Gilbert of poaching the D'Oyly Carte chorus. Choreography was by 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...

, and costumes were by 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:...

.

His Excellency premiered at the Lyric Theatre, London, under the management of George Edwardes

George Edwardes

George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....

, on 27 October 1894. The production and libretto received enthusiastic notices, though the score met a mixed reception. After the opera opened, Gilbert wrote to Helen Carte, "if it had had the benefit of your expensive friend Sullivan's music, it would have been a second 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...

" (quoted in Wolfson 1976, p. 65). The London run of just over five months (162 performances, closing on 6 April 1895), cut short because of an influenza epidemic, was a disappointment. Nevertheless, the opera had a respectable provincial tour and a Broadway production.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast 27 October 1894
The Prince Regent, disguised as Nils Egilsson, a strolling player	lyric baritone Baritone Baritone 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...	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...
George Griffenfeld, Governor of Elsinore, a practical joker	comic baritone	George Grossmith George Grossmith George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades...
Erling Sykke, a young sculptor	tenor Tenor The 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...	Charles Kenningham Charles Kenningham Charles Kenningham was an English opera singer best remembered for his roles in the 1890s with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company....
Dr. Tortenssen, a young physician	baritone	Augustus Cramer
Mats Munck, Syndic Syndic Syndic , a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or powers.The meaning which underlies both applications is that of... of Elsinore	comic baritone	John Le Hay John Le Hay John Le Hay was the stage name of John Healy was an Irish-born singer and actor best remembered for his portrayal of the comic baritone roles in the Savoy Operas.-Early career:...
Harold, Corporal of the King's Hussars	bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...	Arthur Playfair Arthur Playfair Arthur Wyndham Playfair was an English actor and singer. Beginning in Victorian burlesque and comic operas, Playfair became known for his roles in Edwardian musical comedy and, later, in musical revues.-Biography:...
A sentry	bass-baritone Bass-baritone A 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...	George Temple
First officer	speaking role	Ernest Snow
Second officer	speaking role	Frank Morton
Christina, a ballad singer	soprano Soprano A 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 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...
Nanna, Griffenfeld's daughter	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A 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 Bond Jessie Bond Jessie Bond was an English singer and actress best known for creating the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. She spent twenty years on the stage, the bulk of them with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.Musical from an early age, Bond began a concert singing...
Thora, Griffenfeld's daughter	soprano	Ellaline Terriss Ellaline Terriss Ellaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin , was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies...
Dame Hecla Cortlandt, a lady of property, engaged to Griffenfeld	contralto Contralto Contralto 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...	Alice Barnett Alice Barnett Alice Barnett was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
Blanca, a vivandière	mezzo-soprano	Gertrude Aylward
Elsa, a peasant girl	speaking role	May Cross

Synopsis

The scene is laid in Elsinore

Elsinore

Helsingør is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,279 including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde...

, Denmark, in 1801.

Act I

The people of Elsinore celebrate a newly-unveiled statue of the Prince Regent. Its creator, Erling Sykke, has been named Sculptor to the Royal Family. After the townspeople leave, Christina remains, transfixed. She tells Erling that she is in love with the statue. Erling's friend, Dr. Tortenssen, has been named Physician to the King. The two men are in love with Nanna and Thora, the daughters of Elsinore's governor, George Griffenfeld. Until now, the girls have scornfully refused the two suitors' advances. The young men hope for better luck, now that they have secured royal appointments. Nanna and Thora appear, and they appear receptive to the men's entreaties. But after the men leave, the girls admit that the appointments are a practical joke, one of many their father has perpetrated on the citizens of Elsinore.

The King's Hussars enter, led by Corporal Harold. The Governor has compelled them to dance like ballet-girls every day from 10 to 2. Griffenfeld joins them, and chastises the Hussars for their lack of a sense of humour. He admits to Harold, however, that one of his practical jokes has backfired. Just for fun, he had proposed marriage to the extraordinarily wealthy Dame Hecla Cortlandt. He now wants to break off the engagement, but he fears her dangerous temper. When she arrives, Griffenfeld asks her what she would do if, hypothetically, his proposal turned out to be a ruse. Her angry reply leaves him terrified. With his two daughters, he plots to trick Mats Munck, the local Syndic

Syndic

Syndic , a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or powers.The meaning which underlies both applications is that of...

, into believing that Dame Cortlandt wants to marry Munck.

After they leave, the Prince Regent appears, in disguise, dressed as a "tattered vagabond". He has received many complaints about Griffenfeld's behaviour from the citizens of Elsinore, and he wants to see for himself if they are true. He encounters Christina, who is struck by his resemblance to the statue, but he tells her that he is a mere strolling player, Nils Egilsson. After she leaves, he encounters Griffenfeld, who also notices the resemblance. Seeing another opportunity for a practical joke, Griffenfeld asks "Egilsson" to impersonate the Prince Regent – dispensing fake honours to the townspeople, which will later be revealed as amusing hoaxes. Christina overhears their agreement, but left alone with the Regent once again, promises not to divulge their secret.

Mats Mucnk has a meeting with Dame Cortlandt, in which she believes she is consulting him on arrangements for her marriage with Griffenfeld, but Mats believes that she plans to marry him. Dame Cortlandt finds his behaviour incomprehensible. Erling and Tortenssen now learn that their court appointments are a sham. Nanna and Thora reject their marriage proposals, given their impoverished status. Fed up with Griffenfeld's incessant practical jokes, Erling and Tortenssen assemble the townspeople, and are joined by Dame Cortlandt, who has realized what is going on, and they plan to go to Copenhagen to complain to the Prince personally. When Griffenfeld arrives, he tells them that the Regent is already in Elsinore to hear their complaints. The chorus are jubilant that their grievances will finally be heard, while Griffenfeld and his daughters pretend to be alarmed and to beg for mercy.

Act II

The people of Elsinore await their audience with the Regent. Mats Munck has drawn up their complaints in a formal legal document. Christina assures them that she foresees the Governor's downfall. Nanna and Thora beg forgiveness for their father, but the crowd will have none of it. Finally, the Regent arrives in a great ceremony. As evidence of the Governor's practical jokes, Harold and the Hussars dance a ballet for him. The Regent announces that Erling and Tortenssen's previous appointments are confirmed, and they are elevated to the nobility. Corporal Harold is promoted to Colonel, Mats Munck is promoted to Governor, and Griffenfeld is degraded to the rank of Private. Lastly, he commands that Erling and Tortenssen marry Griffenfeld's daughters, and he invites the whole village to a banquet at the castle. After the chorus have left, Griffenfeld tells "Egilsson" that he is pleased with how well the joke is working. He ignores that his joke on Dame Cortlandt backfired.

Harold is enjoying his new rank. He and Blanca decide to write a three-volume novel about their lives. Meanwhile, Dame Cortlandt once again confronts Mats Munck. She insists that she was engaged to the Governor. Now that Mats is Governor, she is engaged to him, but now he is not interested. Mats asks a nearby sentry if he is obliged to marry her. Griffenfeld changes places with the sentry, and says that he must. Griffenfeld is delighted that, once again, all of his practical jokes are working beautifully, but his daughters are starting to feel some remorse over their treatment of Erling and Tortenssen. The new nobles make a pretence of behaving haughtily towards the young ladies, but soon crumble before the feminine tears. Left alone, the girls finally admit that they have real feelings for the men.

Everyone gathers for the weddings, but Griffenfeld abruptly announces that the Regent's visit was a sham, and all of the honours he dispensed were practical jokes. But "Egilsson" turns the tables, and announces that he is the real Regent. All of the honours are to become permanent, and likewise Griffenfeld's demotion to the rank of Private is confirmed. The Regent asks Christina to marry him, and all of the couples are happily united.

Musical numbers

Act I

1. Set the merry bunting flying – Erling, Christina
2. When I bestow my bosom's store – Erling
3. Oh my goodness, here's the nobility! – Nanna and Thora
4. If all is as you say – Nanna, Thora, Erling and Tortenssen
5. Here are the warriors all ablaze – Chorus of Girls
6. Now what would I do if you proved untrue – Dame and Governor
7. Oh what a fund of joy – Nanna, Thora and Governor
8. A King who is pestered with cares – Regent
9. Now if you would atone – Regent and Governor with Christina
10. Now all that we've agreed upon, O – Dame and Syndic
11. My wedded life – Nanna
12. Finale: Come hither, ev'ry one – Company

Act II

1. With anger stern ... A hive of bees, as I've heard say – Chorus; Christina and Regent
2. Quixotic is his enterprise – Governor
3. There once was a corporal bold – Harold and Blanca
4. One day the Syndic of this town – Syndic, Dame, Sentry and Griffenfeld
5. When a gentleman supposes – Nanna, Thora and Governor
6. So this is how you'd have us sue you – Thora, Nanna, Erling and Tortenssen
7. Ring the bells and bang the brasses! – Chorus
8. Finale: Now all that we've agreed upon, O – Company

Critical reception

The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

praised Gilbert's libretto, rating it his best since 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...

. The paper thought Carr's music an inferior copy of the Sullivan style, but nevertheless better than "that more vulgar mould in which he has found favour with the purveyors of variety entertainments." The paper judged the cast "exceptionally strong". Its comments on Nancy McIntosh accorded, to some degree, with Sullivan's: "[She] has of late made rapid progress and has become an actress of decided skill and charm, though her voice and singing are scarcely as good as they were when she came out." The Manchester Guardian concurred, attributing the "undeniable triumph" of the piece solely to Gilbert's "inventive genius as a librettist and stage manager." The Saturday Review rated Gilbert's libretto "a pretty fair specimen" of "genuine Gilbertian humour", but lamented the absence of Sullivan; of Carr's contribution, it said, "the music is neat, easy, the technical writing skilful, the orchestration correct; in fact there is nothing wrong with it. And this is the gravest reproach one can make to a writer of opéra-bouffe music – plenty should be the matter with it." The critic of The Theatre disagreed with the positive assessments, calling the libretto "the worst that Mr. Gilbert ever wrote – worse even than The Mountebanks, which was bad enough."

External links

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