Arthur Sullivan: Difference between revisions

Sullivan's next collaboration with Gilbert, ''[[The Sorcerer]]'' (1877), ran for 178 performances,<ref>Rollins and Witts, p. 5</ref> a success by the standards of the day,<ref>Crowther (2000), p. 96</ref> but ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'' (1878), which followed it, turned Gilbert and Sullivan into an international phenomenon.<ref>Crowther (2000), p. 96; and Stedman, p. 169</ref> Sullivan composed the bright and cheerful music of ''Pinafore'' while suffering from excruciating pain from a kidney stone.<ref>Ainger, p. 155</ref> ''Pinafore'' ran for 571 performances in London, then the second-longest theatrical run in history,<ref>Gaye, p. 1532; and Gillan, Don. [http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&www.stagebeauty.net/th-longr.html "Longest Running Plays in London and New York"], StageBeauty.net (2007), accessed 10 March 2009</ref> and more than 150 unauthorised productions were quickly mounted in America alone.<ref>Prestige, Colin. "D'Oyly Carte and the Pirates: The Original New York Productions of Gilbert and Sullivan", pp. 113–148 at p. 118, ''Gilbert and Sullivan [http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/handle/1808/5875 Papers Presented at the International Conference] held at the [[University of Kansas]] in May 1970'', Edited by James Helyar. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Libraries, 1971.</ref>{{refn|Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte tried for many years to control the American performance copyrights over their operas, but they were unable to do so.<ref>Rosen, Z. S. [https://ssrn.com/abstract=963540 "The Twilight of the Opera Pirates: A Prehistory of the Right of Public Performance for Musical Compositions"], ''Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 24, 2007'' {{subscription}}</ref> |group= n}} Among other favourable reviews, ''The Times'' noted that the opera was an early attempt at the establishment of a "national musical stage" free from risqué French "improprieties" and without the "aid" of Italian and German musical models.<ref>"Opera Comique", ''The Times'', 27 May 1878, p. 6</ref> ''The Times'' and several of the other papers agreed that although the piece was entertaining, Sullivan was capable of higher art, and frivolous light opera would hold him back.<ref>Allen, Introduction to chapter on ''H.M.S. Pinafore''</ref> This criticism would follow Sullivan throughout his career.<ref name=MW/>

 

 

===Early 1880s===