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 December 7, 1889, and ran for 554 performances. This was the twelfth comic opera collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. The Savoy Operas are a series of operettas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. ... Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (May 13, 1842 – November 22, 1900) was an English composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist W. S. Gilbert. ... Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (November 18, 1836 – May 29, 1911) was an English dramatist and librettist best known for his operatic collaborations with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. ... Savoy Theatre London, December 2003 The Savoy Theatre, which opened on 10 October 1881, was built by Richard DOyly Carte (1844 - 1901) on the site of the old Savoy Palace in London as a showcase for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, which became known as the Savoy Operas... December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Comic opera is a subcategory of opera, and denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature. ... Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ...

The Gondoliers was Gilbert and Sullivan's last great success in England (although it was not immediately successful in the United States). Subsequently, neither Utopia Limited nor The Grand Duke achieved this popularity. The Gondoliers' lilting score has, perhaps, the most sparkling and tuneful music of all the Gilbert and Sullivan operas and calls for more dancing than most of the others. Utopia, Limited or, The Flowers of Progress, is the second-to-last collaboration between composer Arthur Sullivan and librettist/satirist W.S. Gilbert. ... The Grand Duke, or The Statutory Duel, was the final operetta written by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. ...

This opera took longer to write than earlier ones. Striving for an equal partnership with Gilbert, Sullivan was able to make music more dominant -- only 14 of the 47 pages of the original libretto are dialog. (The Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, p. 358) This has to do in part, as Sullivan himself said, with so little of the music being slow.

The Gilbert and Sullivan Book notes:

"The Gondoliers is an example of how careful Gilbert was to base even his wildest nonsense on fact.... In an early letter to Sullivan, sketching out the plot, he writes: "The Venetians in the fifteenth century were red-hot republicans. One of their party is made king and invites his friends to form a Court. They object because they are Republicans. He... proposed to institute a Court in which all people shall be equal, and to this they agree." (p. 313)

In this opera, Gilbert returns to the satire of class distinctions figuring in many of his earlier librettos. It shows Gilbert's fascination with the "Stock Company Act," highlighting the absurd convergence of natural persons and legal entities, which plays an even larger part in the next opera, Utopia Limited. As in several of their earlier operas, by setting the work comfortably far away from mother England, Gilbert was emboldened to direct sharper criticism at the nobility and the institution of the monarchy itself. Utopia, Limited or, The Flowers of Progress, is the second-to-last collaboration between composer Arthur Sullivan and librettist/satirist W.S. Gilbert. ...

Martyn Green relates this story about the performance of The Gondoliers for Queen Victoria and the royal family at Windsor Castle in 1891: Martyn Green (1899 - 1975) was an actor primarily known for his work in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. ... Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819–22 January 1901) was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. ...

Her Majesty had observed that certain additions had been made to the text by some of the principals, and after the performance she asked Mr. Carte the reason for that.

"Those, Your Majesty," said Mr. Carte, "are what we call gags."

"Gags?" replied the Queen. "I thought gags were things that were put by authority into people's mouths."

"These gags, Your Majesty," said Mr. Carte, "are things that these people put into their own mouths without any authority." Martyn Green's Treasury of Gilbert & Sullivan, (p.630)

Roles

• The Duke of Plaza-Toro, A Grandee of Spain (comic baritone)
• Luiz, his Attendant (high baritone)
• Don Alhambra Del Bolera, the Grand Inquisitor (bass-baritone)
• Marco Palmieri, Venetian Gondolier (tenor)
• Giuseppe Palmieri, Venetian Gondolier (baritone)
• Antonio, Venetian Gondolier (baritone)
• Francesco, Venetian Gondolier (tenor)
• Giorgio, Venetian Gondolier (bass)
• Annibale, Venetian Gondolier (speaking role/chorus)

• The Duchess of Plaza-Toro (contralto)
• Casilda, her Daughter (soprano)
• Gianetta, Contadina (soprano)
• Tessa, Contadine (mezzo-soprano)
• Fiametta, Contadine (soprano)
• Vittoria, Contadine (mezzo-soprano)
• Giulia, Contadine (mezzo-soprano)
• Inez, the King's Foster-mother (contralto)

• Chorus of Gondoliers and Contadine, Men-at-Arms, Heralds and Pages

Sherrill Milnes as Toscas Baron Scarpia Baritone (French: baryton; German: Bariton; Italian: baritono) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ... Sherrill Milnes as Toscas Baron Scarpia Baritone (French: baryton; German: Bariton; Italian: baritono) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ... A bass-baritone is a singing voice that shares certain qualities of both the baritone and the bass. ... In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high voice (although not as high as the modern countertenor). ... Sherrill Milnes as Toscas Baron Scarpia Baritone (French: baryton; German: Bariton; Italian: baritono) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ... Sherrill Milnes as Toscas Baron Scarpia Baritone (French: baryton; German: Bariton; Italian: baritono) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ... In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high voice (although not as high as the modern countertenor). ... A bass (or basso in Italian) is a male singer who sings in the lowest vocal range of the human voice. ... In music, an alto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a soprano. ... Look up Soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A mezzo-soprano (meaning medium soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or lower) vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that... Look up Soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A mezzo-soprano (meaning medium soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or lower) vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that... A mezzo-soprano (meaning medium soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or lower) vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that... In music, an alto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a soprano. ...

Synopsis

Act I

The scene opens in Venice with a bevy of four and twenty young maidens declaring their undying love for a pair of gondoliers, Marco and Giuseppe Palmieri. The male chorus of gondoliers enters, trying to pry these young ladies from their loves, and they start to win the ladies hearts - but when the two gentlemen enter, the ladies go back to loving them. They offer to pick two as their brides and "As all are young and fair, and amiable besides", pick them with a game of blind man's buff. They, undoubtedly, cheat and eventually grab their favourite maidens out of the four and twenty (Giuseppe picks Tessa, and Marco Gianetta – "Just the very girl I wanted!"). The rest of the maidens content themselves with marrying the other gondoliers, and leave to get married. View of Venice to San Giorgio Maggiore island from St Marks Campanile. ... A Venetian gondola A railroad gondola A gondola is a small long, narrow boat with a high prow and stern, best known for its use in the canals of Venice. ...

Enter His Grace the Duke of Plaza Toro (Count Matadoro, Baron Picadoro), Her Grace the Duchess, their beautiful daughter Casilda, and their drummer boy, Luiz. They have come to meet Don Alhambro de Bolero, the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, who now resides in Venice. As Luiz goes to announce the Duke's presence, the Duke and Duchess tell their daughter a secret they have kept for twenty years - namely that when she was only six months old, she was married to the infant son of the king of Barataria, a fictional island off the coast of Spain. She is indignant, especially as the union was conducted without her knowledge, and, as we soon discover, she is secretly in love with Luiz. However, the young prince was stolen from his home by the Grand Inquisitor after the king of Barataria became "a Wesleyan Methodist of the most bigoted and persecuting type", and taken to Venice. The king was recently killed in an insurrection, and as such, Casilda is now the queen of Barataria and the lost prince in now king. She breaks this news to Luiz when they are alone, and they resign themselves to a life forever apart. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with The Gondoliers. ...

When the Grand Inquisitor enters, he explains to them that the prince was adopted by a gondolier who already had a young son about the same age. The gondolier was a drunkard and eventually forgot which boy was his own son and which boy was the prince of Barataria. The two boys (naturally, Marco and Giuseppe) grew up and now were both working as gondoliers. Fortunately, the nurse who took care of the prince was Luiz's mother, who was now living in the mountains, married to a highly respectable brigand. Don Alhambro says that they will find her and she will surely know which gondolier is the lost prince. If not, he says, "then the persuasive influence of the torture chamber will jog her memory." The scene closes.

In the next scene, the two gondoliers marry their brides, and as they are rejoicing in the virtues of marriage, Don Alhambro arrives and informs them that one of them is the king of Barataria - but no one knows which. Despite being Republicans, the gondoliers and their wives are delighted, and agree to go to Barataria at once, acting as one individual until the actual king is identified. They are told that ladies are not admitted, but as soon as the king is identified, each couple can be reunited - the Inquisitor neglects to mention the marriage to Casilda, knowing that it would surely cause them to change their minds. As the two wives are revelling that one of them will be a queen, the chorus enters, and Marco and Giuseppe announce their discovery, and promise to reign in a Republican fashion. They announce that in their kingdom, "All shall equal be" and will create new posts such as "the Lord High Coachman on the Box, the Lord High Vagabond in the Stocks". The entire male cast then leaves for Barataria, leaving their wives behind them.

Act II

The scene opens in Barataria, with the chorus of gondoliers telling the audience of the joys of living under "a monarchy that's tempered with republican equality". It turns out that Marco and Giuseppe have in fact been doing all the work for the past three months - far from doing the work of one man, they're doing the work of twenty! They are quite happy with this arrangement, with the notable exception of having to share single portion for dinner, and feel that life is perfect apart from the lack of women. As if on cue, the ladies rush on, having risked life and limb to sail from Venice to see them. In delight, the reunited couples have a magnificent banquet and a dance (a cachuca). After the dance, the Grand Inquisitor makes his entrance, and inquires why he saw unimportant servants dancing. Realising that the gondoliers have attempted to make everyone noble, he persuades them that there is a place for the common things and "when every blessed thing you hold, is made of silver or of gold, you long for simple pewter". He then breaks the news that one of the gondoliers married Casilda when a baby, and therefore is an unintentional bigamist. The gondoliers attempt to console their wives, who are distraught to discover that neither one will be queen. Polygamy, literally many marriages in ancient Greek, is a marital practice in which a person has more than one spouse simultaneously (as opposed to monogamy where each person has a maximum of one spouse at any one time). ...

The Duke and Duchess soon arrive with Casilda, and the Duke, appalled at the lack of pomp and ceremony in which he is received, attempts to educate the two monarchs in proper royal behaviour. When they finally begin to learn, they are left alone with Casilda. She agrees to be an obedient wife, but warns them that she is "over head and ears in love with someone else." Seizing this opportunity, the two men announce they are married, and the three ladies and two men sing about their woes.

At this point, Don Alhambro announces that the nurse who tended the prince, and Luiz's mother, has arrived. They beg her to reveal which one is the king - and she does. When the Grand Inquisitor came to steal the prince, she had loyally hidden him away and given Don Alhambro her young son instead. The king is neither Marco nor Giuseppe, but actually Luiz. As everything is resolved, the monarchs surrender their crown to Luiz, and become gondoliers again. There is a final dance, a reprise of the gondolier's first song mixed with the cachuca from earlier.

Musical numbers

• Overture

Act I

• 1. "List and learn" (Gondoliers, Antonio, Marco, Giuseppe, and Chorus of Contadine)
• 2. "From the sunny Spanish shore" (Duke, Duchess, Casila, and Luiz)
• 3. "In enterprise of martial kind" (Duke with Duchess, Casilda, and Luiz)
• 4. "O rapture, when alone together" (Casilda and Luiz)
• 5. "There was a time" (Casilda and Luiz)
• 6. "I stole the prince" (Don Alhambra with Duke, Duchess, Casilda, and Luiz)
• 7. "But, bless my heart" (Casilda and Don Alhambra)
• 8. "Try we life-long" (Duke, Duchess, Casilda, Luiz, and Don Alhambra)
• 9. "Bridegroom and bride" (Chorus)
• 9a. "When a merry maiden marries" (Tessa)
• 10. "Kind sir, you cannot have the heart" (Gianetta)
• 10a. "Then one of us" (Marco, Giuseppe, Gianetta, and Tessa)

Act II

• 11. "Of happiness the very pith" (Marco, Giuseppe, and Chorus of Men)
• 12. "Rising early in the morning" (Giuseppe with Chorus)
• 13. "Take a pair of sparkling eyes" (Marco)
• 14. "Here we are at the risk of our lives" (Giuseppe, Tessa, Gianetta, Marco, and Chorus)
• 15. "Dance a cachucha" (Chorus and Dance)
• 16. "There lived a king" (Don Alhambra with Marco and Giuseppe)
• 17. "In a contemplative fashion" (Marco, Giuseppe, Gianetta, and Tessa)
• 18. "With ducal pomp" (Chorus of Men with Duke and Duchess)
• 19. "On the day when I was wedded" (Duchess)
• 20. "To help unhappy commoners" (Duke and Duchess)
• 21. "I am a courtier grave and serious" (Duke, Duchess, Casilda, Marco, and Giuseppe)
• 22. "Here is a case unprecedented" (Marco, Giuseppe, Casilda, Gianetta, Tessa, and Chorus)

References

Baily, Leslie (1952). The Gilbert & Sullivan Book. London: Cassell & Company Ltd.

Bradley, Ian (ed.) (1952). The Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, Vol. 1. Harmondsworth, Midlesex, England: Penguin Books, Ltd.

Green, Martyn (ed.) (1961). Martyn Green's Treasury of Gilbert & Sullivan. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc..

External links

• The Gondoliers at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive

• The Gondoliers at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography