"Take a pair of sparkling eyes, hidden ever and anon in a merciful eclipse" (1889)
Marco's Act 2 serenade, the most famous tenor solo Sullivan wrote
Recording: His Master's Voice · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Opera · Opera in English
The Gondoliers
7 December 1889, Savoy Theatre, London
Arthur Sullivan · libretto by W. S. Gilbert
Two Venetian boatmen learn that one of them is the infant king of Barataria, stolen away years ago, and — being convinced republicans — agree to reign jointly until it can be established which. Subtitled "The King of Barataria", it was the last great success of the partnership: within weeks of its opening the row over the Savoy's accounts, and a bill for new front-of-house carpets, had broken Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte apart.
How to spot them
- ▸Venice in 1750 for Act 1, a Mediterranean island court for Act 2
- ▸Two boatmen who marry by blindfold and then find one of them is a king
- ▸A Grand Inquisitor who once stole a prince and gave him to a drunken foster-father
- ▸A grandee and his duchess who have formed themselves into a limited company
- ▸A Spanish dance in 3/8 that is the best-known number in the score
Arias & moments — listen
"Dance a cachucha, fandango, bolero" — the court throws off protocol for a Spanish dance (1889)
The Act 2 cachucha, the score's showpiece ensemble
Recording: His Master's Voice · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
"Rising early in the morning, we proceed to light the fire" — a monarch describes a working day that includes polishing the plate and cleaning the windows (1889)
Giuseppe's song: the republican kings insist on doing all the palace jobs themselves
Recording: His Master's Voice · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
"There lived a king, as I've been told, in the wonder-working days of old" — a king who promoted everybody, so that when everyone is somebody, then no one's anybody (1889)
Don Alhambra's song demolishing the two boatmen's levelling principles
Recording: His Master's Voice · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
"I stole the prince, and I brought him here, and left him gaily prattling" (1889)
The Grand Inquisitor's confession: he gave the royal baby to a highly respectable gondolier who drank and lost track of which boy was which
Recording: His Master's Voice · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
"When a merry maiden marries, sorrow goes and pleasure tarries" (1889)
Tessa's Act 1 song after the blindfold wedding lottery
Recording: Music: Arthur Sullivan / Libretto: W. S. Gilbert / Singer: Syria Lamonte (Sarah Cohen) · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
A grandee boasts that he led his regiment from behind — he found it less exciting (1889)
The Duke of Plaza-Toro's song; he and the Duchess have since floated themselves as a limited company
Quick-fire facts
- •Opened at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for 554 performances, closing on 30 June 1891.
- •Subtitled 'The King of Barataria' — Barataria is the mock island governorship given to Sancho Panza in Don Quixote.
- •The Act 1 opening is some eighteen minutes of continuous music, the longest unbroken stretch in any of the Savoy operas.
- •Queen Victoria called for a command performance at Windsor Castle on 6 March 1891 — the first of the Savoy operas so honoured, and the first theatrical entertainment at Windsor since Prince Albert's death thirty years earlier.
- •The 'carpet quarrel' broke out over the production accounts: Gilbert objected to about £500 for new front-of-house carpets being charged against the profits, and sued Carte in 1890; Carte replied that the carpet had in fact cost £140.
- •Sullivan sided with Carte; the case was settled in the High Court on 3 September 1890, Carte paying Gilbert a further £1,000, and the partnership effectively dissolved.
- •Gilbert and Sullivan were reconciled well enough to write two more pieces, Utopia, Limited (1893) and The Grand Duke (1896), neither of which succeeded.
- •Characters: Marco and Giuseppe Palmieri, Gianetta and Tessa, the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, their daughter Casilda, the drummer-boy-turned-attendant Luiz, and Don Alhambra del Bolero, the Grand Inquisitor.
Drill it — 9 cards
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Sources
- The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive — The Carpet Quarrel Explained
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — The Gondoliers: operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan
- Michael Ainger — Gilbert and Sullivan: A Dual Biography