The Sorcerer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Sorcerer.

The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It opened on November 17, 1877 at the Opera Comique in the Strand in London, where it ran for 178 performances. For the 1884 revival, Gilbert and Sullivan abridged the ending to Act I, and provided a new opening to Act II, and it is in this form that the work is usually presented today.

The first American production was at the Broadway Theatre in New York on February 21, 1879, for a run of just 20 performances. There were later professional revivals in New York, none of them under D'Oyly Carte auspices, in 1879, 1882, and 1883.

Contents 1 Background 2 Roles 3 Synopsis 3.1 Act I 3.2 Act II 4 Musical numbers 4.1 Act I 4.2 Act II 5 Versions 6 Productions 7 Historical casting 8 Recordings 9 The Sorcerer in popular culture 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links

[edit] Background

The Sorcerer was Gilbert and Sullivan's third opera together. In 1871, they had produced Thespis, an extravaganza for the holiday season that did not lead immediately to any further collaboration. But after the early success of their one­-act opera Trial by Jury in 1875, producer Richard D'Oyly Carte organized a syndicate to produce a full­ length work. Gilbert expanded on his own short story, "The Elixir of Love," and also used ideas from his earlier Bab Ballads, creating a plot about a magic love potion that – as often occurs in opera – causes everyone to fall in love with the wrong partner.

The success of The Sorcerer, although modest, encouraged Carte and the authors to continue their collaboration the following year with H.M.S. Pinafore, the work that established the Gilbert and Sullivan phenomenon that produced one hit after another throughout the 1880s – the series known as the Savoy Operas.

The opera was revived in 1884 and again in 1898. In the early years of the 20th century, however, it gradually fell out of favour. Between the mid-1930s and the early 1970s, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company did not perform it at all, and many amateur companies followed suit. A 1971 revival brought new life to the work, and it has now joined the regular rotation of most G&S performing groups.

The Sorcerer draws on a theatrical tradition that, today, is less accessible to modern audiences than the more famous G&S works starting with Pinafore. It satirizes early Victorian customs and various theatrical conventions, and it does not include the broad political satire that would feature in many of Gilbert's later librettos.

[edit] Roles

• Sir Marmaduke Poindextre, an Elderly Baronet (bass-baritone)
• Alexis, of the Grenadier Guards, his son (tenor)
• Dr. Daly, Vicar of Ploverleigh (baritone)
• Notary (bass)
• John Wellington Wells, of J.W. Wells & Co., Family Sorcerers (comic baritone)
• Lady Sangazure, a Lady of Ancient Lineage (contralto)
• Aline, her Daughter, betrothed to Alexis (soprano)
• Mrs. Partlet, a Pew Opener contralto
• Constance, her Daughter (mezzo-soprano or soprano)
• Chorus of Villagers

Note: In the 1877 production, Constance was played by a soprano, Giulia Warwick. The role was lowered slightly in 1884 for mezzo-soprano Jessie Bond.

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Act I

The villagers of Ploverleigh are preparing to celebrate the betrothal of Alexis Pointdextre, the son of the local baronet, and the blue-blooded Aline Sangazure ("Ring forth, ye bells"). Only a young village maiden named Constance Partlet seems unwilling to join in the happy mood, and we learn as she tells her mother that she is secretly in love with the local vicar, Dr Daly ("When he is here, I sigh with pleasure"); and the cleric himself promptly soliloquises that he has been unlucky in love ("The air is charged with amatory numbers"). However, despite Mrs Partlet's best attempts at matchmaking, the middle-aged Dr. Daly seems unable to conceive that a young girl like Constance would be interested in him.

Alexis and Aline arrive ("With heart and with voice"), and it soon becomes clear that his widower father Sir Marmaduke and her widowed mother Lady Sangazure are concealing long-held feelings for one another, which propriety however demands remain hidden ("Welcome joy, adieu to sadness"). The betrothal ceremony is carried out, and left alone together Alexis reveals to his fiancée his plans for practical implementation of his principle that love should unite all classes and ranks ("Love feeds on many kinds of food, I know"). He has invited a representative from a respectable London firm of sorcerers to Ploverleigh ("My name is John Wellington Wells"). Aline has misgivings about hiring a real sorcerer. Alexis instructs Wells to prepare a batch of love potion sufficient to affect the entire village, except that on married people, it will have no effect.

Wells mixes the potion, assisted by sprites, fiends, imps, demons, ghosts and other fearsome magical beings in an incantation ("Sprites of earth and air"). The village gathers for the wedding feast ("Now to the Banquet we Press"), and the potion is added to a teapot. All of the villagers, save Alexis, Aline and Wells, drink it, and after experiencing some hallucinations ("Oh, marvellous illusion") they fall unconscious.

[edit] Act II

At midnight that night ("Tis twelve, I think"), the villagers awake and, under the influence of the potion, each falls in love with the first person of the opposite sex that they see ("Why, where be Oi"). All of the matches thus made are highly and comically unsuitable; Constance, for example, loves the ancient notary who performed the betrothal ("Dear friends, take pity on my lot"). However, Alexis is pleased with the results, and now asserts that he and Aline should drink the potion themselves to seal their own love. Aline is hurt by his lack of trust and refuses, offending him ("Thou hast the power thy vaunted love"). Alexis is distracted, however, by the revelation of his upper-class father having fallen for the lower-class Mrs Partlet, but he determines to make the best of this union ("I rejoice that it's decided").

Wells, meanwhile, is regretting the results that his magic has caused, and regrets them still more when the fearsome Lady Sangazure fixes on him as the object of her affections ("Oh, I have wrought much evil with my spells"). Aline decides to yield to Alexis' persuasion and drinks the potion without telling Alexis. Upon awaking, she inadvertently meets Dr. Daly first and falls in love with him ("Oh joyous boon"). Alexis desperately appeals to Wells as to how the effects of the spell can be reversed. It turns out that this requires that either Alexis or Wells himself yield up his life to Ahrimanes. The people of Ploverleigh rally against the outsider from London, and Wells, resignedly, bids farewell and is swallowed up by the underworld in a burst of flames ("Or he or I must die"). The spell broken, the villagers pair off according to their true feelings, and celebrate with another feast (reprise of "Now to the banquet we press").

[edit] Musical numbers

• Overture (includes "With heart and with voice", "When he is here", "Dear friends, take pity on my lot", and "My name is John Wellington Wells")

[edit] Act I

• 1. "Ring forth ye bells" (Double Chorus)
• 2. "Constance, my daughter, why this strange depression?" (Mrs. Partlet and Constance)
• 2a. "When he is here" (Constance)
• 3. "The air is charged with amatory numbers" (Dr. Daly)
• 3a. "Time was when Love and I were well acquainted" (Dr. Daly)
• 4. "Sir Marmaduke, my dear young friend Alexis" (Sir Marmaduke, Dr. Daly, and Alexis)
• 4a. (Dance)
• 5. "With heart and with voice" (Chorus of Girls)
• 6. "My kindly friends" (Aline)
• 6a. "Happy young heart" (Aline)
• 7. "My child, I join in these congratulations" (Lady Sangazure)
• 8. "With heart and with voice" (Chorus of Men)
• 9. "Welcome, joy!" (Lady Sangazure and Sir Marmaduke)
• 10. "All is prepared" (Aline, Alexis, Notary, and Chorus)
• 10a."With heart and with voice" (Double Chorus)
• 11. "Love feeds on many kinds of food" (Alexis)
• 12. "My name is John Wellington Wells" (Mr. Wells)
• 13. "Sprites of earth and air" (Aline, Alexis, Mr. Wells, and Chorus)
• 14. Act I Finale (Ensemble)
  • "Now to the banquet we press"
  • The Tea-Cup Brindisi ("Eat, drink and be gay")
  • "Oh love, true love"
  • "Oh marvellous illusion"^[2]
  • 1877 version only: Tea-Cup Brindisi reprise.

[edit] Act II

• 15. "Happy are we in our loving frivolity" (Chorus) – 1877 version
• 15. "'Tis twelve, I think" and "Why, where be Oi?" (Aline, Alexis, Mr. Wells, and Chorus) – 1884 version
• 16. "Dear friends, take pity on my lot" (Constance, Notary, Aline, Alexis, and Chorus)
• 17. "Thou hast the pow'r thy vaunted love" (Alexis)
• 18. "I rejoice that it's decided" (Aline, Mrs. Partlet, Alexis, Dr. Daly, and Sir Marmaduke)
• 19. "Oh, I have wrought much evil with my spells" (Lady Sangazure and Mr. Wells)
• 20. "Alexis! Doubt me not, my loved one" (Aline)
• 21. "Oh, my voice is sad and low" (Dr. Daly)
• 22. "Oh, joyous boon! oh, mad delight" (Aline, Alexis, Dr. Daly, and Chorus)
• 23. "Prepare for sad surprises" (Alexis)
• 24. Act II Finale: "Or he or I must die" (leading to a reprise of "Now to the banquet we press") (Ensemble)

[edit] Versions

A ballad for Lady Sangazure, "In days gone by," originally came immediately after "My child, I join in these congratulations." It was deleted after opening night and the music is now lost, though the lyrics survive. The remaining recitative ends somewhat abruptly, without resolving to the tonic.

Alexis's Act II ballad ("Thou hast the power") was revised, with the refrain changed from common time to waltz time. Although performed on opening night, it was not included in the original vocal score. Available evidence suggests that the ballad was dropped from the opera, but later reinstated during the original run (Hulme 1984, p. 3).

For the 1884 revival, the opera underwent extensive revisions: The length of time between the acts was altered from half-an-hour to twelve hours, resulting in a different ending to Act I and a complete rewrite of the Act II opening. Whereas in 1877 the chorus succeeded in hiding the effects of the tea after "Oh marvellous illusion," and the finale worked its way back to the tea-cup brindisi, in the revised version they are unable to regain their senses, and the act ends with everyone falling over after "Oh marvellous illusion."

The original Act II started off with "Happy are we in our loving frivolity" – a pageant of mismatched couples taking place half-an-hour after the end of Act I. The revision changed the setting to nighttime, with a quiet trio for Alexis, Aline and John Wellington Wells whilst the villagers remain asleep, before they wake up with a rustic chorus in broad Cornish accents and pair up. There are also minor changes to the music leading into "Dear friends take pity on my lot," with the key of that piece lowered to accommodate the 1884 Constance.

These revisions were not, however, done very carefully. The Act I Finale still says "Their hearts will melt in half-an-hour / Then will be felt the potion's power." Similarly, Aline drinks the potion in Act II, but then falls in love with Dr. Daly immediately, instead of falling asleep for twelve hours as the revisions would require.

Originally, the the final scene was to include an encounter with Ahrimanes (to be played by Mrs Paul), but the scene was cut.^[3]

[edit] Productions

The Sorcerer was the first of Gilbert and Sullivan's full-length operas to be revived. Other than The Mikado, it also had a second London revival sooner than any of their other works, in 1898. In America, it was played as early as 1879 by the Adah Richmond Comedy Opera Troupe at Boston's Gaiety Theatre.^[4] In Australia, its first authorised production opened on 22 May 1886 at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, produced by J. C. Williamson.

In the 20th century, The Sorcerer gradually went out of style. The D'Oyly Carte's principal repertory company dropped it in 1901, and it did not return until 1916, making its first professional London appearance in over twenty years in 1919. It made only intermittent appearances during the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1938 and 1939, it was performed only in the company's London seasons, and only for a handful of performances.

During the winter of 1941–41, the scenery and costumes for The Sorcerer and three other operas were destroyed in enemy action.^[5] The opera was not revived professionally in the UK until March 29, 1970, although it was played by the American Savoyards in the U.S. in the 1960s. After 1970, it was included in the D'Oyly Carte repertory through the 1975 centenary season, then dropped for several years, then restored for the company's last several seasons before it closed in 1982.

The following table summarises the main London productions of The Sorcerer during Gilbert and Sullivan's lifetimes:

Theatre	Opening Date	Closing Date	Perfs.	Details
Opera Comique[6]	November 17, 1877	May 24, 1878	178	Trial by Jury was added to the bill from March 23, 1878
Savoy Theatre[7]	October 11, 1884	March 12, 1885	150	Revised version; played with Trial by Jury
Savoy Theatre[8]	September 22, 1898	December 31, 1898	102	Played with Trial by Jury

[edit] Historical casting

The following tables show the casts^[9] of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to the company's 1982 closure:

Role	Opera Comique[6] 1877	Savoy Theatre[7] 1884	Savoy Theatre[8] 1898
Sir Marmaduke	Richard Temple	Richard Temple	Jones Hewson
Alexis	George Bentham	Durward Lely	Robert Evett
Dr. Daly	Rutland Barrington	Rutland Barrington	Henry Lytton
Notary	Fred Clifton	William Lugg	Leonard Russell
J. W. Wells	George Grossmith	George Grossmith	Walter Passmore
Lady Sangazure	Mrs. Howard Paul	Rosina Brandram	Rosina Brandram
Aline	Alice May	Leonora Braham	Ruth Vincent
Mrs. Partlet	Harriett Everard	Ada Doree	Ethel McAlpine
Constance	Giulia Warwick	Jessie Bond	Emmie Owen

Role	D'Oyly Carte[10] Tour 1919	D'Oyly Carte[11] Tour 1930	D'Oyly Carte[12] Tour 1939	D'Oyly Carte[citation needed] Tour 1971	D'Oyly Carte[citation needed] Tour 1982
Sir Marmaduke	Frederick Hobbs	Darrell Fancourt	Darrell Fancourt	John Ayldon	Clive Harre
Alexis	Derek Oldham	Charles Goulding	John Dean	Ralph Mason	Meston Reid
Dr. Daly	Leo Sheffield	Leslie Rands	Leslie Rands	Kenneth Sandford	Kenneth Sandford
Notary	George Sinclair	Joseph Griffin	Richard Walker	John Broad	Bruce Graham
J. W. Wells	Henry Lytton	Henry Lytton	Martyn Green	John Reed	James Conroy-Ward
Lady Sangazure	Bertha Lewis	Bertha Lewis	Evelyn Gardiner	Lyndsie Holland	Patricia Leonard
Aline	Elsie Griffin	Winifred Lawson	Margery Abbott	Julia Goss	Pamela Field
Mrs. Partlet	Anna Bethell	Anna Bethell	Anna Bethell	Peggy Ann Jones	Beti Lloyd-Jones
Constance	Catherine Ferguson	Marjorie Eyre	Marjorie Eyre	Linda Anne Hutchison	Lorraine Daniels

[edit] Recordings

The Sorcerer has not been recorded as often as most of the other Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the recordings have not been generally well received. The 1966 D'Oyly Carte Opera Company recording is considered the best of their efforts to record this opera. The 1982 Brent Walker video is considered to be one of the best of that series and is recommended.^[13]

The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival offers various video recordings of the opera, including its 2005 professional G&S Opera Company video.^[14]

Selected recordings

• 1933 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: Isidore Godfrey^[15]
• 1953 D'Oyly Carte – New Symphony Orchestra of London; Conductor: Isidore Godfrey^[16]
• 1966 D'Oyly Carte – Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Conductor: Isidore Godfrey^[17]
• 1982 Brent Walker Productions – Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra; Conductor: Alexander Faris; Stage Director: Stephen Pimlott (video)^[18]

[edit] The Sorcerer in popular culture

In an episode of Family Guy titled "Patriot Games," Peter goes to England to play for an American football team called the London Silly Nannies. The Silly Nannies practice by prancing around a maypole singing "Why, Where Be Oi, and What Be Oi A Doin'" from Act II.

A series of four Tom Holt books, ("The Portable Door", "In Your Dreams", "Earth, Air, Fire, and Custard" and "You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps"), are based around 'J.W. Wells & Co', a company of sorcerers well known for their love philtre.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Hulme, David Russell (1984). "Sidelights on The Sorcerer.", The Sorcerer and Trial by Jury – A Booklet to Commemorate The Centenary Of The First Revival. Saffron Walden, Essex, UK: The Sir Arthur Sullivan Society, pp. 1–4. 

• Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1962). The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas: A Record of Productions, 1875–1961. London: Michael Joseph.  Also, five supplements, privately printed.

[edit] External links

• The Sorcerer at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive
• The Sorcerer at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography
• Vocal score
• 1895 review of The Sorcerer from the Staffordshire Sentinel
• Page linking to some Sorcerer song parodies, among others

v • d • e Gilbert and Sullivan
The Triumvirate
W. S. Gilbert | Arthur Sullivan | Richard D'Oyly Carte
The Gilbert and Sullivan Operas
Thespis • Trial by Jury • The Sorcerer • H.M.S. Pinafore • The Pirates of Penzance • Patience • Iolanthe • Princess Ida The Mikado • Ruddigore • The Yeomen of the Guard • The Gondoliers • Utopia, Limited • The Grand Duke
Other Works, People and Related Matters
Other Works by W. S. Gilbert • Other Operas by Arthur Sullivan • Other Music by Arthur Sullivan People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan • Gilbert and Sullivan performers D'Oyly Carte Opera Company • Helen Carte • Rupert D'Oyly Carte • Bridget D'Oyly Carte Cultural influence of Gilbert and Sullivan • International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival