Sir Arthur Sullivan: The Beauty Stone on Chandos

In recent years there has been a gentle revival of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s operas that do not have librettos by W.S. Gilbert. In May 1999 the BBC Music Magazine issued The Rose of Persia as its disc of the month.  The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Edinburgh released an LP of The Chieftain and The Contrabandista in 1986. It was re-released on CD in 1999.  The Emerald Isle appeared in 1982 and was re-issued on CD in 2003. In 2000 the Prince Consort of Edinburgh produced the first complete recording of Haddon Hall. It is interesting that George Bernard Shaw believed this to be the best of the Savoy Operas: apparently the work actually managed to overtake the box-office receipts for The Mikado. 

After The Gondoliers (1889) the composer collaborated with Julian Strurgis in his only ‘grand opera’ - Ivanhoe (1891) which was based on Sir Walter Scott’s tale. In 2010 the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by David Lloyd Jones made the first professional recording of this opera on Chandos. It was a surprising success and received excellent reviews.  So it is time that listeners had an opportunity to hear The Beauty Stone. And what a surprise this work is. In spite of a problematic plot, Sullivan has contributed some of his most attractive music.

I do not believe in giving the plot of an opera in a review: not everyone knows the story and some may wish to enjoy the unfolding tale. However, it is fair to say that the ‘book’ is a bit of a confection of Goethe’s Faust, the Brothers Grimm and Gothic Horror. The libretto is by Joseph Comyns Carr and Arthur Wing Pinero and was reworked from an old German legend. The main scheme surrounds the transformation of a disabled girl into a beauty and back again. Other characters in the opera discover that this ‘beauty’ is in the eye of the beholder. The tale is set in the small Belgian town of Merlemont at the beginning of the 15^th century.

The opera was first heard at the Savoy Theatre, London on 28 May 1898. However it was hardly a success, lasting for only fifty performances.  The main critical concern was that the words were unworthy of the music. Furthermore, the length of the original production, lasting more than four hours did not endear the work to audiences more used to the standard repertoire of ‘G&S’ operas. Much of the dialogue was subsequently cut.  Some of the musical numbers were also excised to try and make the work more approachable.  The present recording has restored the music but has (wisely) opted for not including the dialogue.

I am totally impressed and convinced by the music. My thoughts are that this is an important rediscovery of some of Sullivan’s best work. The music lies between Ivanhoe as a full-blown grand opera and the better known Savoy operas. Sullivan had imagined this as a music-drama rather than a comic opera. There is still much of the wit that listeners associate with The Gondoliers and The Mikado, but there is a depth and intensity that goes beyond what the operagoer typically associates with Sullivan’s music. This is subtle music that genuinely explores emotional depths and allows characters to develop. Any doubts I have about the plot are nullified by this beautiful score. It is not exaggerating to suggest that it is a masterwork.

The booklet is a stunning production: it is a model of its kind. The text is given in English, German and French, so clearly Chandos feel that The Beauty Stone will have some reach beyond the shores of the United Kingdom. 

The liner notes are divided into a number of parts. William Parry has given an historical introduction to the opera. Martin T. Yates has provided a significant musical analysis which bears study. There is also an extremely detailed synopsis of the opera’s progress. However, one of the most important elements of these notes is the contemporary report from The Daily News (25 May 1898) which features an interview with Sir Arthur.  

Interesting illustrations include an original advertising poster by John Hassall, the programme for the opening night, and a number of photographs from the 1898 production of the heroine, Laine, before and after her transformation.  The track listings are conveniently tied into the libretto page.

There are the usual notices of the principals, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC National chorus of Wales and chorus and the conductor Rory Macdonald. Details of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Societyare included.  My only concern is that the font is necessarily small: I read it on my computer from the .pdf file.

It seems superfluous to state that the sound quality of this recording is excellent. As with any opera, it can be difficult to balance orchestra, chorus and soloists. Chandos have done a sterling job with this CD. The enunciation of the principles and chorus is perfectly clear: I hardly needed to follow the libretto in order to understand the plot.  The singing is unbeatable, with all the soloists entering into the spirit of the story. What impressed me most was the orchestra: so often G&S performances are marred by a necessarily pared-down band. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales make a major contribution to hearing this opera in ideal conditions.

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in Victorian and Edwardian opera in general. Witness the revival of George MacFarren’s Robin Hood and William Vincent Wallace’s Lurline. The Beauty Stone makes a worthy companion to these as well as the other operas that Sullivan composed without the aid of Gilbert’s librettos.

In spite of my reservations about the plot, I have to say that I was impressed by virtually every bar of this music. This is not second-rate Sullivan, but the Master at his very best.

Sir Arthur SULLIVAN (1842-1900) The Beauty Stone (1897-98)

Toby Spence (tenor) - Philip

David Stout (bass) - Guntran

Stephen Gadd (baritone) - Simon

Richard Suart (baritone) - Nicholas

Alan Opie (baritone) - The Devil

Elin Manahan Thomas (soprano) - Laine

Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano) - Joan

Madeleine Shaw (mezzo-soprano) - Jacqueline

Rebecca Evans (soprano) - Saida

Olivia Gomez (soprano) - Loyse

Sarah Maxted (mezzo-soprano) - Isabeau

Llio Evans (soprano) - Barbe

BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Rory Macdonald

CHANDOS CHAN10794 (2)

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this was first published.

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Sir Arthur Sullivan conducts his own music in Monte Carlo: March 5 1893

My recent post about the concert of English music conducted by Sir Arthur Sullivan in Monte Carlo raised a number of questions. Firstly, it would be interesting to know the details of the composer’s regular visits to the Riviera. Secondly, nothing seems to be noted about the orchestra or the audience. For example, was this band a ‘scratch’ outfit or was it the The Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra or musicians associated with the ballet or opera?  One wonders if the audience were French people or whether it reflected the British community in that city.

There are some details of Sullivan’s activities in Monte Carlo in the various biographies and histories. However, the most obvious source is probably the hardest to engage with. Sullivan left a considerable number of diaries which are now located in Yale University Sterling Memorial Library. Fortunately, a microfilm edition of these is available in the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile I have discovered the programme of the concert of Sullivan’s music alluded to in the previous post. This performance was heard on March 5 1893. (Musical Standard March 18 1893)

Apparently the concert was a great success. The music included the MacbethOverture, the ‘Masquerade’ from The Merchant of Venice, two movements from the ‘Irish Symphony’ (En Irlande!), some of the incidental music to Henry VIII and the ubiquitous Overtura di Ballo. Unfortunately I have found no further details of this concert, the venue or subsequent reviews.

I note the popularity at that time of the incidental music to Shakespeare’s plays. The Symphony has to a certain extent held its own over the past 150 years, with some four recordings available. (EMI, CPO, Chandos and Naxos). However the only work that is still regularly performed is the Overtura di Ballo. For most listeners, Sullivan’s music is simply an annexe (a superlative one, no doubt) to W.S. Gilbert’s enchanting libretii. 

I include a link to an old recording of the Macbeth Overture (1888). Surely this is music that demands to remain in the orchestral repertoire?

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Sir Arthur Sullivan conducts in Monte Carlo, 1893

I recently came across this syndicated note about a concert held in Monte Carlo on March 19 1893:-

'The Daily News has received some particulars of the English concert given at Monte Carlo a few days since under the direction of Sir Arthur Sullivan. The programme was drawn up by Sir Arthur himself, and, with the exception of the finale from Sterndale Bennett’s Symphony [1], it consisted exclusively of the works of living British composers. It began with the overture written by Dr, Hubert Parry for ‘The Frogs’ of Aristophanes [2], followed by Dr. Mackenzie’s ‘Benedictus’, [3] the ‘Courante’ from the ‘Ravenswood’ music [4] and the scherzo from Professor Stanford’s ‘Irish’ Symphony; all these compositions now being heard for the first time in Monte Carlo. Mr. Cowen’s suite, ‘The Language of Flowers’ [5] which had already been performed at the Concerts Internationaux was repeated, and the concert ended with Sullivan’s own overture, ‘Di Ballo.’'

Leeds Mercury - Tuesday 28 March 1893 (with minor edits)

The Musical News for April 1 1893 adds that ‘there was a first rate orchestra of 75 players under M. Arthur Stock, [6] and the English music was cordially applauded by the audience.’

Notes

[1] William Sterndale Bennett (1816-1875) This probably refers to the Symphony in G minor which was composed in 1864 with the ‘romanza’ movement being added in 1867.  However WSB did compose seven other symphonies between 1832 and 1840.

[2] Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) wrote the incidental music for Aristophanes ‘The Frogs’ in 1892 which was performed at Cambridge in 1892.

[3] Dr Alexander Mackenzie (1847-1935), Scottish composer. Mackenzie wrote a vast amount of music including seven operas, more than a dozen large scale choral works, many tone poems, songs and piano pieces. Yet of all the works that he produced the Benedictus has remained the best known – at least with concertgoers who are aware of his name.  In many ways this piece out ‘Elgars Elgar’ in its elegiac mood.

[4] Mackenzie’s music to Ravenswood was composed to accompany Irving's production of Herman Merivale’s play at the Lyceum during September 1890.

[5] Frederick Hymen Cowen (1852-1935) wrote a considerable range of music, including a number of operas and operettas, oratorios, six symphonies and many songs, piano pieces and chamber works. The Language of Flowers was a romantic ‘Scene du Ballet’ written in 1880. There are six movements: Daisy, Lilac, Fern, Columbine, Yellow Jasmine and Lily of the Valley. The first performance would appear to have been at the St James Hall, London on November 27 1880.

[6] M. Arthur Stock. I cannot trace this gentleman, however, he would appear to be the leader of the orchestra. 

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A Performance of Cox & Box in Japan, 1870

The second part of the performance [1] consisted of the ‘Truimviretta, Cox and Box,’ with Mr. Arthur Sullivan's music. This was produced in London in 1867 [2] at a house well known in musical circles, where the writer was fortunate enough to hear the first representation of it. The farce, of course, everyone knows. But very few know the charming music to which Arthur Sullivan's genius has married it. This music belongs entirely to the English school, but is full of the traces of German influence; not as alienating the writer from the paths in which he so gracefully walks, but in making them broader, and enriching them with ornaments hardly known to his predecessors, and utterly beyond the reach of the wretched crowd of song writers whose inane impositions pass with the bulk of the English nation as music. Of these people, it is impossible to write with the semblance of patience, and until we can root them out, and sow some good musical seed in the English mind, we shall be liable to the terrible infliction of their maudlin and irritating impertinencies. Nothing is better calculated to do this than Sullivan's music. He is always graceful and easy, full of fine and delicate feeling, his transitions are unexpected but never startling, his modulations are ingenious without being laboured. His pathos, as well as his humour, is real. The first does not depend on a meaningless minor note, thrown in for want of any real means of touching the heart; and the latter as little depends upon an allegro, which, if the time were changed, would make a feeble vapid adagio. His music reflects the sensibilities of a man of deep and keen feeling. He has acquired the resources of Germans by conscientious study, and he uses them with the most tasteful discretion, without ostentation or pedantry. His simplicity never becomes weakness; and when he rises, he does so without effort, or danger of becoming laboured and obscure.

It appears to us that in the performance of this piece, more of the dialogue should have been omitted, and only just so much of it retained, as would serve for a thread on which to string the charming shells of Sullivan's music, and we strongly recommend this when it is again brought forward.

The piece is opened by an overture, very sensibly unambitious, but very vigorous and effective, commencing in the key of G minor, and passing by an easy transition into that of G major. The first song, Rataplan, is allotted to Bouncer, [3] metamorphosed in this version from the traditional female lodging-house keeper of the original farce into an old Army Sergeant, who extends the same offices to the rival printer and hatter. Bouncer's song is an ‘allegretto marziale’ in the key of F minor, in which he recalls his brilliant days in Her Majesty's horse, and it was sung with capital effect by Mr. Fredericks. It is full of spirit and clever writing, and terminates in the major key with admirable effect. This is succeeded, after a short interval of dialogue, by a duet— ‘Stay Bouncer, Stay,’ in which Box upbraids his landlord with the mysterious disappearance of his coals and other things as dear to him, which become small by degrees and beautifully less. It is charmingly written, and terminates with an ‘allegro militario,’ in which Bouncer asserts his rough military honesty to a constant refrain of ‘Rataplan,’ while Cox throws some doubts upon it, which are justified by the state of his cupboard and coalscuttle. This is followed in due order by Box's song of ‘Lullaby,’ addressed to his rasher, which he leaves on the coals while he takes a nap preliminary to his main sleep. This little song is as tender and graceful, as if it had been addressed as a serenade by a lover to his mistress under her casement. It was beautifully sung by Mr. Roderick, but produced less applause than he was justly entitled to for his excellent reading of it. It would occupy too much of our space and our readers patience to analyse the whole piece, and we must pass over much that well deserves analysis and would certainly extort praise. There is a spirited trio between the three characters, in which one of the themes of the overture is introduced very effectively; it was very accurately sung, as well as delivered with great spirit and effect. This is succeeded by a ‘duet serenade’ in the key of B flat major, a mock heroic, in which Box takes his gridiron into service as a guitar, and Cox presses the bellows into use as a Concertina. The effect is really comic, and the music so pretty and graceful, that one almost wishes it were more available for drawing-room purposes, than from the nature of the requisite accessory acting it can possibly be. We come in due time to the ‘gambling duet,’ where Cox and Box throw dice, and toss their respective reliable coins for the hand of Penelope Ann. This is an extremely clever piece of writing and was well delivered by the two disputants, whose quarrel brings Bouncer on the stage with his charmingly ludicrous ‘Rataplan,’ in which hatter and printer chime in, so as to form a spirited trio with which the quarrel terminates. Then comes the ‘finale.’ Box opens it, and is immediately joined by Bouncer, whose martial soul is fired by an allusion to ‘arms,’ though the pacific Box only uses the word in reference to the embrace of the kindly sergeant, who sees a bright vista of successful business before him in his capacity of landlord, and enrols his two lodgers in a bond of perpetual amity, sealed with their promise to remain his tenants. Bouncer's part breathes the old military measure of his early song, and the refrain of au enthusiastic ‘rataplan’ winds up the whole.

The parts were acted with great spirit, though the dialogue dragged; but .the music was admirably performed and the piece proved an entire success. The acting of Bouncer was very good; Box's ‘lullaby’ was sung so sweetly that we cannot help referring to it again; and Cox, who also sang very effectively throughout, exhibited such capacities as an actor and singer as lead us to hope we shall often see him again.

The accompaniments were extremely well and judiciously played by Mr. Wharton, of H. M. 1st 10th Regiment, but we wish he had had an instrument more worthy of his powers. A namesake of the composer conducted the music, and to him is largely due the spirit infused into the singing, and the excellent ensemble of the concerted pieces.

The Japan Weekly Mail October 1 1870 [With minor edits]

NOTES

[1] A ‘Dramatic Performance in Aid of the Garrison Church in Yokohama Organ Fund. The first part of the evening included a performance of the farce The Irish Compradore

[2] Cox and Box received its first performance in private on 16 May 1866. This took place at Moray Lodge in Kensington, the home of Arthur Lewis, and the regular venue for the 'Moray Minstrels', a group of musicians, actors and artists. Burnand later claimed that the first performance actually took place at his house three days earlier, but this may have been no more than a rehearsal. [Gilbert & Sullivan Archive]

[3] Cox: Mr Roderick; Box: Mr Colles and Sergeant Bouncer: Mr Fredericks

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