Comic opera , sometimes known as light opera , is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
151-505: Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri ( / aɪ . oʊ ˈ l æ n θ i / ) is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert , first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert and Sullivan . In the opera, the fairy Iolanthe has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal; this
302-585: A Monastery (1940–1941, staged 1946), and Dmitri Shostakovich 's The Nose (1927–1928, staged 1930). Simultaneously, the genres of light music , operetta , musical comedy , and later, rock opera , were developed by such composers as Isaak Dunayevsky , Dmitri Kabalevsky , Dmitri Shostakovich (Opus 105: Moscow, Cheryomushki , operetta in 3 acts, (1958)), Tikhon Khrennikov , and later by Gennady Gladkov , Alexey Rybnikov and Alexander Zhurbin . The 21st century in Russian comic opera began with
453-552: A Select Committee was appointed by the Lords in 1857 to look into the question. Gladstone gave evidence to the committee, stating: "I approached the subject in the first instance as I think everyone in Parliament of necessity did, with the strongest possible prejudice against the proposal [to interfere]; but the facts stated were of so extraordinary and deplorable a character, that it was impossible to withhold attention from them. Then
604-432: A brilliant new score (his most subtle yet) to a scintillating libretto. ... Iolanthe is the work in which Sullivan's operetta style takes a definite step forward, and metamorphosis of musical themes is its characteristic new feature. ... By recurrence and metamorphosis of themes Sullivan made the score more fluid". Sullivan's overture was superior in structure and orchestration to those that his assistants had constructed for
755-519: A chap remains"). The fairies arrive and tease the peers about Strephon's parliamentary success; he is advancing a bill to open the peerage to competitive examination ("Strephon's a member of Parliament"). The peers ask the fairies to stop Strephon's mischief, stating that the House of Peers is not susceptible of any improvement ("When Britain really ruled the waves"). Although the fairies say that they cannot stop Strephon, they have become strongly attracted to
906-636: A cheat and a matchmaker , text by Alexander Ablesimov (1779), on a subject resembling Rousseau 's Devin , is attributed to Mikhail Sokolovsky . Ivan Kerzelli , Vasily Pashkevich and Yevstigney Fomin also wrote a series of successful comic operas in the 18th century. In the 19th century, Russian comic opera was further developed by Alexey Verstovsky who composed more 30 opera-vaudevilles and 6 grand operas (most of them with spoken dialogue). Later, Modest Mussorgsky worked on two comic operas, The Fair at Sorochyntsi and Zhenitba ("The Marriage"), which he left unfinished (they were completed only in
1057-691: A cheer. When Lord Palmerston went to Bradford the streets were still, and working men imposed silence upon themselves. When Mr Gladstone appeared on the Tyne he heard cheer no other English minister ever heard ... the people were grateful to him, and rough pitmen who never approached a public man before, pressed round his carriage by thousands ... and thousands of arms were stretched out at once, to shake hands with Mr Gladstone as one of themselves. When Gladstone first joined Palmerston's government in 1859, he had opposed further electoral reform, but he changed his position during Palmerston's last premiership, and by 1865 he
1208-503: A controversial policy – because the duty traditionally inflated the cost of publishing and hindered the dissemination of radical working-class ideas. Although Palmerston supported the continuation of the duty, using it and income tax revenue to buy arms, a majority of his Cabinet supported Gladstone. The Bill to abolish duties on paper narrowly passed the Commons but was rejected by the House of Lords. No money bill had been rejected by
1359-563: A countermeasure to the continental operettas, commissioned Clay's collaborator, W. S. Gilbert , and the promising young composer, Arthur Sullivan , to write a short one-act opera that would serve as an afterpiece to Offenbach's La Périchole . The result was Trial by Jury ; its success launched the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership. "Mr. R. D'Oyly Carte's Opera Bouffe Company" took Trial on tour, playing it alongside French works by Offenbach and Alexandre Charles Lecocq . Eager to liberate
1510-515: A dozen hits, were Babes in Toyland (1903) and Naughty Marietta (1910). Others who wrote in a similar vein included Reginald de Koven , John Philip Sousa , Sigmund Romberg and Rudolf Friml . The modern American musical incorporated elements of the British and American light operas, with works like Show Boat and West Side Story , that explored more serious subjects and featured
1661-590: A few weeks into Lord Palmerston's first premiership, and resigned along with the rest of the Peelites after a motion was passed to appoint a committee of inquiry into the conduct of the war. The Conservative Leader Lord Derby became Prime Minister in 1858, but Gladstone – who like the other Peelites was still nominally a Conservative – declined a position in his government, opting not to sacrifice his free-trade principles. Between November 1858 and February 1859, Gladstone, on behalf of Lord Derby's government,
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#17327730367471812-528: A friend, "I really have great difficulty sometimes in exactly comprehending what he means". In December 1845, Gladstone returned to Peel's government as Colonial Secretary . The Dictionary of National Biography notes: "As such, he had to stand for re-election, but the strong protectionism of the Duke of Newcastle, his patron in Newark, meant that he could not stand there and no other seat was available. Throughout
1963-576: A grown son, as one of the advantages of a fairy's immortality is that they never grow old. Strephon, a handsome Arcadian shepherd, arrives and meets his aunts ("Good-morrow, good mother"). He tells Iolanthe of his love for the Lord Chancellor 's ward of court , the beautiful Phyllis, who does not know of Strephon's mixed origin. Strephon is despondent, however, as the Lord Chancellor has forbidden them to marry, partly because he feels that
2114-505: A mixture of sentiment and humour, Offenbach's works were intended solely to amuse. Though generally well crafted and full of humorous satire and grand opera parodies, plots and characters in his works were often interchangeable. Given the frenetic pace at which he worked, Offenbach sometimes used the same material in more than one opera. Another Frenchman who took up this form was Charles Lecocq . The singspiel developed in 18th-century Vienna and spread throughout Austria and Germany. As in
2265-481: A new opera to Arthur Sullivan in October 1881. Gilbert's earliest ideas for the story of Iolanthe originated in his Bab Ballad , "The Fairy Curate": "Once a fairy / Light and airy / Married with a mortal". The fairy marries a "prosaic" attorney and bears him a son. After her son grows up, she visits him on Earth, but she is mistaken for his lover, since fairies perpetually appear young and beautiful. Sullivan found
2416-632: A place of evil repute to the righteous British householder.... A first effort to bridge the gap was made by the German Reed Entertainers. Nevertheless, an 1867 production of Offenbach's The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (seven months after its French première) ignited the English appetite for light operas with more carefully crafted librettos and scores, and continental European operettas continued to be extremely popular in Britain in
2567-497: A private notebook. He aided the House of Mercy at Clewer near Windsor (which exercised extreme in-house discipline) and spent much time arranging employment for ex-prostitutes. In a "Declaration" signed on 7 December 1896 and only to be opened after his death, Gladstone wrote, "I desire to record my solemn declaration and assurance, as in the sight of God and before His Judgement Seat, that at no period of my life have I been guilty of
2718-592: A series of dramatic situations that ends with the confrontation between the fairies and peers. Gilbert, too, was influenced by earlier works, including The Mountain Sylph by John Barnett . Two characters in Iolanthe , Strephon and Phyllis, are described as Arcadian shepherds. Arcadia was a legendary site of rural perfection, first described by the Ancient Greeks , that was a popular setting for writers of
2869-454: A shepherd is unsuitable for Phyllis, but partly because the Lord Chancellor wishes to marry Phyllis himself. In fact, so do half the members of Britain's House of Lords . The Fairy Queen promises her assistance ("Fare thee well, attractive stranger"). Soon Phyllis arrives, and she and Strephon share a moment of tenderness as they plan their future and possible elopement ("Good-morrow, good lover"; "None shall part us from each other"). A cadre of
3020-418: A tax imposed could be collected in a financial year so Gladstone therefore imposed the extra four pence at a rate of 8d. during the first half of the year so that he could obtain the additional revenue in one year. Gladstone's dividing line set up in 1853 had been abolished in 1858 but Gladstone revived it, with lower incomes to pay 6½d. instead of 9d. For the first half of the year, the lower incomes paid 8d. and
3171-1217: A tight integration among book, movement and lyrics. In Canada, Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann and George Frederick Cameron composed in the Gilbert and Sullivan style of light opera. Leo, the Royal Cadet was performed for the first time on 11 July 1889 at Martin's Opera House in Kingston, Ontario . The line between light opera and other recent forms is difficult to draw. Several works are variously called operettas or musicals, such as Candide and Sweeney Todd , depending on whether they are performed in opera houses or in theaters. In addition, some recent American and British musicals make use of an operatic structure, for example, containing recurring motifs, and may even be sung through without dialogue. Those with orchestral scores are usually styled "musicals", while those played on electronic instruments are often styled rock operas . William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS ( / ˈ ɡ l æ d s t ən / GLAD-stən ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898)
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#17327730367473322-534: A total of five constituencies . Gladstone was born in Liverpool to Scottish parents. He first entered the House of Commons in 1832, beginning his political career as a High Tory , a grouping that became the Conservative Party under Robert Peel in 1834. Gladstone served as a minister in both of Peel's governments, and in 1846 joined the breakaway Peelite faction, which eventually merged into
3473-403: A work of art [include] the peers entering in the full pomp of their formal robes, magnificent and ridiculous." Among many pot-shots that Gilbert takes at lawyers in this opera, the Lord Chancellor sings that, as a young lawyer, he decided to "work on a new and original plan" similar to the practice in other professions, that diligence, honesty, honour and merit should lead to promotion. Gilbert uses
3624-411: Is bound not to "undeceive" him, under penalty of death. However, to save Strephon from losing his love, Iolanthe resolves to present his case to the Lord Chancellor while veiled ("My lord, a suppliant at your feet"). Although the Lord Chancellor is moved by her appeal, which evokes the memory of his wife, he declares that he himself will marry Phyllis. Desperate, Iolanthe unveils, ignoring the warnings of
3775-555: Is by Elena Polenova, based on a folk-drama, Tsar Maksimilyan , and the work premiered on June 20, 2001, at the Mariinski Theatre , St Petersburg. Prize "Gold Mask, 2002" and "Gold Soffit, 2002". The Children of Rosenthal ( Дети Розенталя ), an opera in two acts by Leonid Desyatnikov , with a libretto by Vladimir Sorokin . This work was commissioned by the Bolshoi theatre and premiered on March 23, 2005. The staging of
3926-510: Is forbidden by fairy law. Her son, Strephon, is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry Phyllis, a Ward of Chancery . All the members of the House of Peers also want to marry Phyllis. When Phyllis sees Strephon hugging a young woman (not knowing that it is his mother – immortal fairies all appear young), she assumes the worst and sets off a climactic confrontation between the peers and the fairies. The opera satirises many aspects of British government, law and society. The confrontation between
4077-431: Is found only in a "lowly" cottage ("My well-loved Lord" and "Nay, tempt me not"). The peers beg her not to scorn them simply because of their " blue blood " ("Spurn not the nobly born" and "My lords, it may not be"). Strephon approaches the Lord Chancellor, pleading that Nature bids him marry Phyllis. But the Lord Chancellor wryly notes that Strephon has not presented sufficient evidence that Nature has interested herself in
4228-430: Is miserable at losing Phyllis. He sees Phyllis and reveals to her that his mother is a fairy, which accounts for her apparent youth ("If we're weak enough to tarry"). Phyllis and Strephon ask Iolanthe to plead with the Lord Chancellor to allow their marriage, for "none can resist your fairy eloquence." This is impossible, she replies, for the Lord Chancellor is her husband. He believes Iolanthe to have died childless, and she
4379-516: Is not known whether Irving replied. Iolanthe premiered only three days after Patience closed at the Savoy. The Savoy Theatre, opened only a year earlier, was a state-of-the-art facility, the first theatre in the world to be lit entirely by electricity. Patience had transferred to the Savoy from the Opera Comique , upon the theatre's opening, but Iolanthe was the first show to premiere at
4530-691: The House of Commons . At university, Gladstone was a Tory and denounced Whig proposals for parliamentary reform in a famous debate at the Oxford Union in May 1831. On the second day of the three-day debate on the Whig Reform Bill Gladstone moved the motion: That the Ministry has unwisely introduced, and most unscrupulously forwarded, a measure which threatens not only to change the form of our Government, but ultimately to break up
4681-909: The Maynooth Grant issue, which was a matter of conscience for him. To improve relations with the Catholic Church, Peel's government proposed increasing the annual grant paid to the Maynooth Seminary for training Catholic priests in Ireland. Gladstone, who had previously argued in a book that a Protestant country should not pay money to other churches, nevertheless supported the increase in the Maynooth grant and voted for it in Commons, but resigned rather than face charges that he had compromised his principles to remain in office. After accepting Gladstone's resignation, Peel confessed to
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4832-546: The Savoy Theatre a year earlier. Sullivan was still composing more numbers for the opera until 20 October, with a few modifications continuing into early November. Uncharacteristically, Sullivan composed the overture himself, instead of assigning it to an assistant. Two casts rehearsed simultaneously, as the opera was to open on the same night in London and New York City, a historic first for any play. Gilbert had targeted
4983-468: The peers of the realm arrive in noisy splendour ("Loudly let the trumpet bray") with the Lord Chancellor ("The law is the true embodiment"). They are all smitten with Phyllis, and they have appealed to the Lord Chancellor to decide who will have her hand. The Lord Chancellor hesitates to act upon his own regard for Phyllis due to his position as her guardian. The Lords send for Phyllis to choose one of their number, but she will not marry any of them, as virtue
5134-566: The singspiel and the French model. Franz von Suppé is remembered mainly for his overtures. Johann Strauss II , the "waltz king", contributed Die Fledermaus (1874) and The Gypsy Baron (1885). Carl Millöcker a long-time conductor at the Theater an der Wien , also composed some of the most popular Viennese operettas of the late 19th century, including Der Bettelstudent (1882), Gasparone (1884) and Der arme Jonathan (1890). After
5285-474: The "Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song" ("When you're lying awake..."). Comic opera Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa , emerged as an alternative to opera seria . It quickly made its way to France, where it became opéra comique , and eventually, in the following century, French operetta , with Jacques Offenbach as its most accomplished practitioner. The influence of
5436-413: The "fairy law" as a proxy for mortal law, in which an "equity draughtsman" can, with "the insertion of a single word", change the entire meaning of the law. Crowther notes: "All kinds of tone ... mingle in this opera: whimsy, fantasy, romance, wit and political satire." Iolanthe had a successful initial run in London of 398 performances, spanning the holiday seasons of both 1882 and 1883. Gilbert designed
5587-416: The "first true Italian comic opera" – that is to say, it had everything: it was in standard Italian and not in dialect; it was no longer simply an intermezzo, but rather an independent piece; it had a real story that people liked; it had dramatic variety; and, musically, it had strong melodies and even strong supporting orchestral parts, including a strong "stand-alone" overture (i.e., you could even enjoy
5738-568: The 1860s and 1870s, including Les Cloches de Corneville , Madame Favart and others into the 1880s, often adapted by H. B. Farnie and Robert Reece . F. C. Burnand collaborated with several composers, including Arthur Sullivan in Cox and Box , to write several comic operas on English themes in the 1860s and 1870s. In 1875, Richard D'Oyly Carte , one of the impresarios aiming to establish an English school of family-friendly light opera by composers such as Frederic Clay and Edward Solomon as
5889-500: The 19th century. Gilbert had written an earlier work called Happy Arcadia . He had also created several "fairy comedies" at the Haymarket Theatre in the early 1870s. These plays, influenced by the fairy work of James Planché , are founded upon the idea of self-revelation by characters under the influence of some magic or some supernatural interference. Several of Iolanthe's themes are continued from Patience , including
6040-426: The 20th century). Pyotr Tchaikovsky wrote a comic opera, Cherevichki (1885). Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov composed May Night 1878–1879 and The Golden Cockerel 1906–1907. In the 20th century, the best examples of comic opera by Russian composers were Igor Stravinsky 's Mavra (1922) and The Rake's Progress (1951), Sergey Prokofiev 's The Love for Three Oranges (1919) and Betrothal in
6191-522: The Act through Parliament at the height of the railway bubble . Gladstone became concerned with the situation of "coal whippers". These were the men who worked on London docks, "whipping" in baskets from ships to barges or wharves all incoming coal from the sea. They were called up and relieved through public houses, so a man could not get this job unless he had the favourable opinion of the publican, who looked most favourably upon those who drank. The man's name
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6342-502: The Bar . In September 1842 he lost the forefinger of his left hand in an accident while reloading a gun. Thereafter he wore a glove or finger sheath (stall). When Gladstone was 22 the Duke of Newcastle , a Conservative party activist, provided him with one of two seats at Newark where he controlled about a fourth of the very small electorate. The Duke spent thousands of pounds entertaining
6493-418: The Duke offered Gladstone the safe seat of Newark which he then controlled. Following the success of his double first, William travelled with his brother John on a Grand Tour of western Europe. Although Gladstone entered Lincoln's Inn in 1833, with intentions of becoming a barrister , by 1839 he had requested that his name should be removed from the list because he no longer intended to be called to
6644-512: The English stage from risqué French influences, and emboldened by the success of Trial by Jury , Carte formed a syndicate in 1877 to perform "light opera of a legitimate kind". Gilbert and Sullivan were commissioned to write a new comic opera, The Sorcerer , starting the series that came to be known as the Savoy operas (named for the Savoy Theatre , which Carte later built for these works) that included H.M.S. Pinafore , The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado , which became popular around
6795-521: The English-speaking world, and the opera continues to be performed regularly today. The Internet Broadway Database lists 20 productions of the opera on Broadway alone. The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime (not including touring companies): The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to
6946-496: The Exchequer, to become part of the new Liberal Party . Gladstone inherited a deficit of nearly £5,000,000, with income tax now set at 5d (fivepence). Like Peel, Gladstone dismissed the idea of borrowing to cover the deficit. Gladstone argued that "In time of peace nothing but dire necessity should induce us to borrow". Most of the money needed was acquired through raising the income tax to 9d. Usually, not more than two-thirds of
7097-504: The Fairy Queen ("Iolanthe! From thy dark exile thou art summoned"), Iolanthe rises from the frog-infested stream that has been her home in exile. The Queen, unable to bear punishing her any longer, pardons Iolanthe, who is warmly greeted by the other fairies. Iolanthe tells her sisters that she has a son, Strephon, noting that he's a fairy down to the waist, but his legs are mortal. The fairies laugh that Iolanthe appears too young to have
7248-411: The French opéra comique , the singspiel was an opera with spoken dialogue, and usually a comic subject, such as Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782) and The Magic Flute (1791). Later singspiels , such as Beethoven's Fidelio (1805) and Weber's Der Freischütz (1821), retained the form, but explored more serious subjects. 19th century Viennese operetta was built on both
7399-685: The Italian and French forms spread to other parts of Europe. Many countries developed their own genres of comic opera, incorporating the Italian and French models along with their own musical traditions. Examples include German singspiel , Viennese operetta , Spanish zarzuela , Russian comic opera, English ballad and Savoy opera , North American operetta and musical comedy . In late 17th-century Italy, light-hearted musical plays began to be offered as an alternative to weightier opera seria (17th-century Italian opera based on classical mythology ). Il Trespolo tutore (1679) by Alessandro Stradella
7550-404: The Lords for over 200 years, and a furore arose over this vote. The next year, Gladstone included the abolition of paper duty in a consolidated Finance Bill (the first ever) to force the Lords to accept it and accept it they did. The proposal in the Commons of one bill only per session for the national finances was a precedent uniformly followed from that date until 1910, and it has been ever since
7701-549: The Savoy (although Patience had transferred to the theatre in 1881) and was the first new theatre production in the world to be illuminated entirely with electric lights, permitting some special effects that had not been possible in the era of gas lighting . The opera opened simultaneously in New York, and touring companies were sent around the UK and US to play the piece. The first Australasian touring production followed in 1885, and
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#17327730367477852-624: The Teatro de la Zarzuela de Madrid, but with little success and light attendance. In spite of this, in 1873 a new theater, the Teatro Apolo , was opened for zarzuela grande , which shared the failures of the Teatro de la Zarzuela, until it was forced to change its program to género chico . The first opera presented in Russia , in 1731, was a comic opera (or "commedia per musica"), Calandro , by an Italian composer, Giovanni Alberto Ristori . It
8003-553: The Tyne, all the country heard how twenty miles of banks were lined with people who came to greet him. Men stood in the blaze of chimneys; the roofs of factories were crowded; colliers came up from the mines; women held up their children on the banks that it might be said in after life that they had seen the Chancellor of the People go by. The river was covered like the land. Every man who could ply an oar pulled up to give Mr Gladstone
8154-584: The act which is known as that of infidelity to the marriage bed." In 1850–51 Gladstone visited Naples , Italy, for the benefit of his daughter Mary's eyesight. Giacomo Lacaita, a legal adviser to the British embassy, was at the time imprisoned by the Neapolitan government, as were other political dissidents. Gladstone became concerned about the political situation in Naples and the arrest and imprisonment of Neapolitan liberals. In February 1851 Gladstone visited
8305-777: The appointment of Lord Aberdeen as prime minister, head of a coalition of Whigs and Peelites, Gladstone became Chancellor of the Exchequer . The Whig Sir Charles Wood and the Tory Disraeli had both been perceived to have failed in the office and so this provided Gladstone with a great political opportunity. His first budget in 1853 almost completed the work begun by Peel eleven years before in simplifying Britain's tariff of duties and customs. 123 duties were abolished and 133 duties were reduced. The income tax had legally expired but Gladstone proposed to extend it for seven years to fund tariff reductions: We propose, then, to re-enact it for two years, from April 1853 to April 1855, at
8456-407: The aristocracy and political officials for satiric treatment in earlier works. In this opera, the House of Lords is lampooned as a bastion of the ineffective, privileged and dim-witted, whose only qualification to govern is noble birth. The political party system, the law and other institutions also come in for a dose of satire. Throughout Iolanthe , however, both author and composer managed to couch
8607-430: The battle between the sexes and the satire on legal and political themes. Iolanthe is one of several of Gilbert's works, including among others The Wicked World , Broken Hearts , Fallen Fairies and Princess Ida , where the introduction of males into a tranquil world of women brings "mortal love" that wreaks havoc with the status quo. Gilbert's absurdist style is on full display in Iolanthe . For example, all
8758-404: The beginning of 1859, there were 419 duties in existence. The 1860 budget reduced the number of duties to 48, with 15 duties constituting the majority of the revenue. To finance these reductions in indirect taxation, the income tax, instead of being abolished, was raised to 10d. for incomes above £150 and at 7d. for incomes above £100. In 1860 Gladstone intended to abolish the duty on paper –
8909-615: The burgh of Dingwall. In 1815, Gladstone also travelled to London and Cambridge for the first time with his parents. Whilst in London, he attended a service of thanksgiving with his family at St Paul's Cathedral following the Battle of Waterloo , where he saw the Prince Regent . William Gladstone was educated from 1816 to 1821 at a preparatory school at the vicarage of St. Thomas' Church at Seaforth , close to his family's residence, Seaforth House . In 1821, William followed in
9060-412: The character of Iolanthe. The Fairy Queen's music parodies that of Wagnerian heroines such as Brünnhilde . The score is wider in range of emotion and style, with innovative use of pizzicato strings, clever and varied underscoring of patter, the tender, sentimental eleventh-hour number for the title character, apt matching of the music to the absurd comedy of the lyrics, and a sustained first act finale with
9211-512: The clauses empowering the government to take control of railways in times of war, the concept of Parliamentary trains , limited in cost to a penny a mile, of universal service, and of control of the recently invented electric telegraph which ran alongside railway lines. Railways were the largest investment (as a percentage of GNP) in human history and this Bill the most heavily lobbied in Parliamentary history . Gladstone succeeded in guiding
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#17327730367479362-534: The company's 1982 closure: Of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company recordings of this opera, the 1930 and 1960 recordings have been the best received, and the latter includes the dialogue. The revived D'Oyly Carte's 1991 recording contains Strephon's cut number "Fold Your Flapping Wings" as a bonus track. On video are the 1982 Brent Walker production and more recent performances from the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival . When Margaret Thatcher
9513-476: The corn law crisis of 1846, therefore, Gladstone was in the highly anomalous and possibly unique position of being a secretary of state without a seat in either house and thus unanswerable to parliament." When Peel's government fell in 1846, Gladstone and other Peel loyalists followed their leader in separating from the protectionist Conservatives; instead offering tentative support to the new Whig prime minister Lord John Russell , with whom Peel had cooperated over
9664-408: The costume of the Lord Chancellor, in a production of Iolanthe , to add four golden stripes to the sleeves of his judicial robes. The next Chief Justice, John G. Roberts Jr. , did not retain the ornamentation. In 1980, while an Associate Justice, Rehnquist, in his dissenting opinion in the case of Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia , compares these words of the Lord Chancellor to the "flavor from
9815-691: The costumes himself, and sets were by the Drury Lane designer Henry Emden. In an unprecedented first for any play, the New York premiere was given on the same date – 25 November 1882, with the composer's assistant, Alfred Cellier , conducting there. In Australia, Iolanthe was first seen on 9 May 1885 at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne , produced by J. C. Williamson . In the British provinces, Iolanthe played – either by itself, or in repertory – continuously from February 1882 through 1885, then not again until late 1891. From then on, it
9966-404: The criticism among such bouncy, amiable absurdities and "splendid pageantry" that it is all received as good humour, with Prime Minister Gladstone complimenting the opera's good taste. In fact, Gilbert later refused to allow quotes from the piece to be used as part of the campaign to diminish the powers of the House of Lords. Although titled Iolanthe all along in Gilbert's plot book, for a time
10117-409: The earlier operas. Much of his "fairy" music pays deliberate homage to the incidental music written by Felix Mendelssohn for an 1842 production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream . Richard Wagner 's Ring cycle premiered in London earlier in 1882. The music for the fairies reflects Wagner's style, and the score uses leitmotifs , including a distinctive four-note theme associated with
10268-474: The end of July 1882, Gilbert had supplied Sullivan with lyrics to several of the songs, and Sullivan began work setting them to music. Over the next two months, Sullivan met Gilbert to discuss the libretto as more lyrics were completed. Music rehearsals began in September, and staging began in October, scheduled around performances of Gilbert and Sullivan 's previous opera, Patience , which had transferred to
10419-526: The execution of it absolute perfection. Even those who do not admire the Budget, or who are injured by it, admit the merit of the performance. It has raised Gladstone to a great political elevation, and, what is of far greater consequence than the measure itself, has given the country assurance of a man equal to great political necessities, and fit to lead parties and direct governments. During wartime, he insisted on raising taxes and not borrowing funds to pay for
10570-400: The fairies and the peers is a version of one of Gilbert's favourite themes: a tranquil civilisation of women is disrupted by a male-dominated world through the discovery of mortal love. Iolanthe opened in London on 25 November 1882, at the Savoy Theatre to a warm reception, and ran for 398 performances, the fourth consecutive hit by Gilbert and Sullivan. It was the first work to premiere at
10721-478: The fairies' songs and dances, committed the capital crime (under fairy law) of marrying a mortal man. The Queen of the fairies commuted Iolanthe's sentence of death to banishment for life on the condition that she left her husband and never communicated with him again. After the passage of 25 years, the fairies, still missing Iolanthe deeply, plead with their Queen to pardon Iolanthe and to restore her place in fairyland ("Tripping hither, tripping thither"). Summoned by
10872-513: The fairies, who appear but are mistaken by the peers for a girls' school on an outing. Offended, the Fairy Queen pronounces a magical "sentence" upon the peers: Strephon shall not only become a member of parliament but will also have the power to pass any bill he proposes ("With Strephon for your foe, no doubt"). Act II Private Willis, on night guard duty, marches outside the Palace of Westminster and muses on political life ("When all night long
11023-534: The first of the operas to be revived after the composer's death the year before. It was also included in two Savoy repertory seasons, in 1907 and 1908–09. Iolanthe was the first Gilbert and Sullivan opera performed professionally in Britain by a non-D'Oyly Carte company. It was produced by the Sadler's Wells Opera (now English National Opera) in January 1962, immediately after the Gilbert copyrights expired. It
11174-664: The first time. Many reforms were passed during his first ministry, including the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland and the introduction of secret voting . After electoral defeat in 1874 , Gladstone resigned as leader of the Liberal Party. From 1876 he began a comeback based on opposition to the Ottoman Empire 's reaction to the Bulgarian April Uprising . His Midlothian Campaign of 1879–1880
11325-489: The footsteps of his elder brothers and attended Eton College before matriculating in 1828 at Christ Church, Oxford , where he read Classics and Mathematics , although he had no great interest in the latter subject. In December 1831, he achieved the double first-class degree he had long desired. Gladstone served as President of the Oxford Union , where he developed a reputation as an orator, which followed him into
11476-703: The genre was like in the 17th century. In the 18th century, the Italian operatic style influenced zarzuela . But beginning with the reign of Bourbon King Charles III , anti-Italian sentiment increased. Zarzuela returned to its roots in popular Spanish tradition in works such as the sainetes (or Entr'actes) of Don Ramón de la Cruz. This author's first work in this genre was Las segadoras de Vallecas ("The Reapers of Vallecas", 1768), with music by Rodríguez de Hita . Single act zarzuelas were classified as género chico (the "little genre" or "little form") and zarzuelas of three or more acts were género grande (the "big genre" or "big form"). Zarzuela grande battled on at
11627-574: The grammar then, which when once learned need not be referred to afterwards". Because of his actions as Chancellor, Gladstone earned the reputation as the liberator of British trade and the working man's breakfast table, the man responsible for the emancipation of the popular press from "taxes upon knowledge" and for placing a duty on the succession of the estates of the rich. Gladstone's popularity rested on his taxation policies which meant to his supporters balance, social equity and political justice. The most significant expression of working-class opinion
11778-402: The great aim – the moral and political significance of the act, and its probable and desired fruit in binding the two countries together by interest and affection. Neither you nor I attach for the moment any superlative value to this Treaty for the sake of the extension of British trade. ... What I look to is the social good, the benefit to the relations of the two countries, and the effect on
11929-522: The higher incomes paid 13d. in income tax. On 12 September 1859 the Radical MP Richard Cobden visited Gladstone, who recorded it in his diary: "... further conv. with Mr. Cobden on Tariffs & relations with France. We are closely & warmly agreed". Cobden was sent as Britain's representative to the negotiations with France's Michel Chevalier for a free trade treaty between the two countries. Gladstone wrote to Cobden: ...
12080-493: The judgements of God upon England for our national iniquity towards China" in May 1840. A famous speech was made by Gladstone in Parliament against the First Opium War . Gladstone criticised it as "a war more unjust in its origin, a war more calculated in its progress to cover this country with permanent disgrace". His hostility to opium stemmed from the effects of opium upon his sister Helen . Before 1841, Gladstone
12231-486: The latter incorporating dances, with chorus numbers and humorous scenes that are usually duets. These works are relatively short, and ticket prices were often low, to appeal to the general public. There are two main forms of zarzuela : Baroque zarzuela ( c. 1630 –1750), the earliest style, and Romantic zarzuela ( c. 1850 –1950), which can be further divided into the two subgenres of género grande and género chico . Pedro Calderón de la Barca
12382-400: The matter. He refuses his consent to the marriage between Strephon and Phyllis ("When I went to the Bar"). Disappointed, Strephon calls on Iolanthe for help. She appears and promises to support her son. Spying on the two, the peers – led by the brainless and stuffy Earls Tolloller and Mountararat – together with Phyllis, see Iolanthe and Strephon in a warm embrace. All three jump to
12533-481: The members of the House of Lords are in love with Phyllis, a ward of the Lord Chancellor. Gilbert satirically sets up the fantastical fairies as the agents of common sense in contrast with the nonsensical peers, who should be sober parliamentarians, while the most poetically romantic of the fairies, the "Arcadian" shepherd, Strephon, is chosen to lead both houses of Parliament. One of Gilbert's biographers, Andrew Crowther wrote: "The things that make [the opera] memorable as
12684-509: The mid-19th century, despite Giuseppe Verdi 's Falstaff staged in 1893. French composers eagerly seized upon the Italian model and made it their own, calling it opéra comique . Early proponents included the Italian Egidio Duni , François-André Philidor , Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny , André Grétry , François-Adrien Boïeldieu , Daniel François Auber and Adolphe Adam . Although originally reserved for less serious works,
12835-433: The money needed to rectify this deficit and instead increased income tax by half, from sevenpence to tenpence-halfpenny in the pound (from 2.92% to 4.38%). By May another £6,870,000 was needed for the war and Gladstone raised the income tax from tenpence halfpenny to fourteen pence in the pound to raise £3,250,000. Spirits, malt, and sugar were taxed to raise the rest of the money needed. He proclaimed: He served until 1855,
12986-457: The mortal realm if peers are to be recruited "from persons of intelligence", the peers join the fairy ranks and "away [they] go to fairyland" ("Soon as we may, off and away"). Act I Act II At the time they wrote Iolanthe , both Gilbert and Sullivan were in their peak creative years, and Iolanthe , their seventh work together, drew the best from both composer and author. Sullivan's biographer, Arthur Jacobs , wrote: "[Sullivan] had composed
13137-579: The most popular form of staged entertainment in Italy from about 1750 to 1800. In 1749, thirteen years after Pergolesi's death, his La serva padrona swept Italy and France, evoking the praise of such French Enlightenment figures as Rousseau . In 1760, Niccolò Piccinni wrote the music to La Cecchina to a text by the great Venetian playwright, Carlo Goldoni . That text was based on Samuel Richardson 's popular English novel, Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740). Many years later, Verdi called La Cecchina
13288-464: The new Liberal Party in 1859. He was chancellor under Lord Aberdeen (1852–1855), Lord Palmerston (1859–1865) and Lord Russell (1865–1866). Gladstone's own political doctrine – which emphasised equality of opportunity and opposition to trade protectionism – came to be known as Gladstonian liberalism . His popularity amongst the working-class earned him the sobriquet "The People's William". In 1868, Gladstone became prime minister for
13439-456: The noisy premieres of two works whose genre could be described as "opera-farce": Tsar Demyan ( Царь Демьян ) – A frightful opera performance . A collective project of five authors wrote the work: Leonid Desyatnikov and Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky from St. Petersburg , Iraida Yusupova and Vladimir Nikolayev from Moscow , and the creative collective "Kompozitor", which is a pseudonym for the well-known music critic Pyotr Pospelov. The libretto
13590-408: The number of people eligible to pay it by lowering the threshold from £150 to £100. The more people that paid income tax, Gladstone believed, the more the public would pressure the government into abolishing it. Gladstone argued that the £100 line was "the dividing line ... between the educated and the labouring part of the community" and that therefore the income taxpayers and the electorate were to be
13741-469: The obvious conclusion, since the centuries-old Iolanthe appears to be a girl of seventeen ("When darkly looms the day"). The peers scoff at the seemingly absurd claim that Iolanthe is Strephon's mother as Strephon pleads: "She is, has been, my mother from my birth!" Phyllis angrily rejects Strephon for his supposed infidelity and declares that she will marry either Lord Tolloller or Lord Mountararat ("...and I don't care which!"). Strephon then calls for help from
13892-523: The oldest person to serve as prime minister and the only prime minister to have served four non-consecutive terms. He left Parliament in 1895 and died three years later. Gladstone was known affectionately by his supporters as "The People's William" or the "G.O.M." ("Grand Old Man", or, to political rivals "God's Only Mistake"). Historians often rank Gladstone as one of the greatest prime ministers in British history . Born on 29 December 1809 in Liverpool , at 62 Rodney Street , William Ewart Gladstone
14043-456: The only certain way to restore his financial security was to continue writing Savoy operas . On 8 February 1883, he signed a new five-year creative partnership agreement with Gilbert and Carte; Gilbert was already at work on their next piece, Princess Ida . On 22 May 1883, Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria for his "services ... rendered to the promotion of the art of music" in Britain. Act I The beloved fairy Iolanthe, who arranged
14194-431: The opera was accompanied by juicy scandal; however it was an enormous success. England traces its light opera tradition to the ballad opera , typically a comic play that incorporated songs set to popular tunes. John Gay's The Beggar's Opera was the earliest and most popular of these. Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Duenna (1775), with a score by Thomas Linley , was expressly described as "a comic opera". By
14345-399: The opera was revived in London beginning in 1901. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company toured the opera nearly continuously in repertory from 1891 until 1982, and made several recordings of the opera over that period. Numerous other professional and amateur productions have been given of this enduring work, and various other recordings have been issued. W. S. Gilbert presented his basic idea for
14496-491: The operas of Scarlatti, Pergolesi ( La serva padrona , 1733), Galuppi ( Il filosofo di campagna , 1754), Piccinni ( La Cecchina , 1760), Paisiello ( Nina , 1789), Cimarosa ( Il matrimonio segreto , 1792), and then the great comic operas of Mozart and, later, Rossini and Donizetti . At first, comic operas were generally presented as intermezzi between acts of more serious works. Neapolitan and then Italian comic opera grew into an independent form and became
14647-479: The overture as an independent orchestral piece). Verdi was also enthusiastic because the music was by a southern Italian and the text by a northerner, which appealed to Verdi's pan-Italian vision. The genre was developed further in the first half of the 19th century by Gioachino Rossini in his works such as The Barber of Seville (1816) and La Cenerentola (1817) and by Gaetano Donizetti in L'elisir d'amore (1832) and Don Pasquale (1843), but declined in
14798-469: The parrot sings bits from Iolanthe . The eponymous hero of David Nobbs ' The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin has "Iolanthe" as a middle name, allegedly due to his being born during a performance of the opera. An illustrated booklet, A Parody on Iolanthe , was written and published by D. Dalziel in 1883 and concerns the Chicago & Alton Railway . In his 1974 album Todd , Todd Rundgren performs
14949-442: The partnership with Gilbert and Carte after Iolanthe , but on the day of its premiere, he received a letter from his broker, Edward Hall, notifying him that Hall had lost all his money, including £7,000 of Sullivan's investments, the bulk of his fortune. Sullivan's lifestyle was not inexpensive, and he was helping to support his late brother's large family, as well as his mistress, Fanny Ronalds , and her family. He soon concluded that
15100-547: The peace of Europe. Gladstone's budget of 1860 was introduced on 10 February along with the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty between Britain and France that would reduce tariffs between the two countries. This budget "marked the final adoption of the Free Trade principle, that taxation should be levied for Revenue purposes alone, and that every protective, differential, or discriminating duty ... should be dislodged". At
15251-585: The peers ("In vain to us you plead"). The fairy Queen is dismayed by this. Pointing to Private Willis of the First Grenadier Guards , who is still on duty, the Queen claims that she is able to subdue her response to the effects of his manly beauty ("Oh, foolish fay"). Phyllis cannot decide whether she ought to marry Tolloller or Mountararat, and so she leaves the choice up to them. Tolloller tells Mountararat that his family's tradition would require
15402-405: The peers, thus also incurring death sentences – but the Queen blanches at the prospect of slaughtering all of them. The Lord Chancellor suggests a solution: change the law by inserting a single word: "every fairy shall die who doesn't marry a mortal." The Fairy Queen cheerfully agrees and, to save her life, the dutiful soldier, Private Willis, agrees to marry her. Seeing no reason to stay in
15553-436: The piece was advertised as Perola and rehearsed under that name. According to an often-repeated myth, Gilbert and Sullivan did not change the name to Iolanthe until just before the première. In fact, however, the title was advertised as Iolanthe as early as 13 November 1882 – eleven days before the opening – so the cast had at least that much time to learn the name. It is also clear that Sullivan's musical setting
15704-502: The premise funny, and Gilbert set to work on fleshing out the story. By December, he had written some lyrics for Sullivan to look at, but he struggled with the plot for several months, whereas he had dashed off earlier operas in a matter of weeks. During these months, Sullivan took an extended trip to Egypt, Italy and elsewhere. Upon his return to London in April 1882, he moved into a new home; in May, his beloved mother died rather suddenly. By
15855-678: The prisons where thousands of them were held and was extremely outraged. In April and July, he published two Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen against the Neapolitan government and responded to his critics in An Examination of the Official Reply of the Neapolitan Government in 1852. Gladstone's first letter described what he saw in Naples as "the negation of God erected into a system of government". In 1852, following
16006-407: The question being whether legislative interference was required I was at length induced to look at a remedy of an extraordinary character as the only one I thought applicable to the case ... it was a great innovation". Looking back in 1883, Gladstone wrote that "In principle, perhaps my Coalwhippers Act of 1843 was the most Socialistic measure of the last half century". He resigned in 1845 over
16157-443: The rate of 7d. in the £; from April 1855, to enact it for two more years at 6d. in the £; and then for three years more ... from April 1857, at 5d. Under this proposal, on 5 April 1860, the income tax will by law expire. Gladstone wanted to maintain a balance between direct and indirect taxation and to abolish income tax. He knew that its abolition depended on a considerable retrenchment in government expenditure. He therefore increased
16308-853: The repeal of the Corn Laws . After Peel's death in 1850, Gladstone emerged as the leader of the Peelites in the House of Commons. He was re-elected for the University of Oxford (i.e. representing the MA graduates of the university) at the General Election in 1847 – Peel had once held this seat but had lost it because of his espousal of Catholic Emancipation in 1829. Gladstone became a constant critic of Lord Palmerston . In 1847 Gladstone helped to establish Glenalmond College , then The Holy and Undivided Trinity College at Glenalmond. The school
16459-415: The risqué state of musical theatre and introduced short comic operas designed to be more family-friendly and to elevate the intellectual level of musical entertainments. Jessie Bond wrote, The stage was at a low ebb, Elizabethan glories and Georgian artificialities had alike faded into the past, stilted tragedy and vulgar farce were all the would-be playgoer had to choose from, and the theatre had become
16610-475: The rule. Gladstone steadily reduced Income tax over the course of his tenure as Chancellor. In 1861 the tax was reduced to ninepence (£0–0s–9d), in 1863 to sevenpence, in 1864 to fivepence and in 1865 to fourpence. Gladstone believed that government was extravagant and wasteful with taxpayers' money and so sought to let money "fructify in the pockets of the people" by keeping taxation levels down through "peace and retrenchment". In 1859 he wrote to his brother, who
16761-460: The same people, who would then vote to cut government expenditure. The budget speech (delivered on 18 April), nearly five hours long, raised Gladstone "at once to the front rank of financiers as of orators". Colin Matthew has written that Gladstone "made finance and figures exciting, and succeeded in constructing budget speeches epic in form and performance, often with lyrical interludes to vary
16912-506: The second act ("Oh, Captain Shaw / Type of true love kept under / Could thy brigade with cold cascade / Quench my great love, I wonder?"). On the first night Alice Barnett , as the Queen of the Fairies, sang the verses directly to Captain Shaw, who was sitting in the centre of the stalls . The opera's premiere was received by an enthusiastic audience and earned critical praise, although there
17063-430: The second half of the 19th century, the London musical stage was dominated by pantomime and musical burlesque , as well as bawdy, badly translated continental operettas, often including "ballets" featuring much prurient interest, and visiting the theatre became distasteful to the respectable public, especially women and children. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas German Reed , beginning in 1855, and a number of other Britons, deplored
17214-829: The sole representatives of the genre surviving today. Only recently, some of these other English light operas have begun to be explored by scholars and to receive performances and recordings. In the United States, Victor Herbert was one of the first to pick up the family-friendly style of light opera that Gilbert and Sullivan had made popular, although his music was also influenced by the European operetta composers. His earliest pieces, starting with Prince Ananias in 1894, were styled "comic operas", but his later works were described as "musical extravaganza", "musical comedy", "musical play", "musical farce", and even "opera comique". His two most successful pieces, out of more than half
17365-433: The tension in the Commons as the careful exposition of figures and argument was brought to a climax". The contemporary diarist Charles Greville wrote of Gladstone's speech: ... by universal consent it was one of the grandest displays and most able financial statement that ever was heard in the House of Commons; a great scheme, boldly, skilfully, and honestly devised, disdaining popular clamour and pressure from without, and
17516-439: The term opéra comique came to refer to any opera that included spoken dialogue, including works such as Cherubini's Médée and Bizet's Carmen that are not "comic" in any sense of the word. Florimond Hervé is credited as the inventor of French opéra bouffe , or opérette . Working on the same model, Jacques Offenbach quickly surpassed him, writing over ninety operettas . Whereas earlier French comic operas had
17667-565: The theatre. New lighting technologies made such special effects as sparkling fairy wands possible for the first time. The principal fairies' heads were also lit by wreaths of small illuminated stars attached to a battery. The audience that attended the opening night in London included Captain (later Captain Sir) Eyre Massey Shaw , head of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, whom the Fairy Queen apostrophises in
17818-405: The time was his practice of replacing the trees felled by planting new saplings. Gladstone was a lifelong bibliophile . In his lifetime, he read around 20,000 books, and eventually owned a library of over 32,000. In 1859, Lord Palmerston formed a new mixed government with Radicals included, and Gladstone again joined the government (with most of the other remaining Peelites) as Chancellor of
17969-520: The turn of the 20th century, Franz Lehár wrote The Merry Widow (1905); Oscar Straus supplied Ein Walzertraum ("A Waltz Dream", 1907) and The Chocolate Soldier (1908); and Emmerich Kálmán composed Die Csárdásfürstin (1915). Zarzuela , introduced in Spain in the 17th century, is rooted in popular Spanish traditional musical theatre. It alternates between spoken and sung scenes,
18120-640: The two Earls to duel to the death if the latter were to claim Phyllis. The two decide that their friendship is more important than love and renounce their claims to her ("Though p'r'aps I may incur thy blame"). The Lord Chancellor arrives dressed for bed and describes a nightmare caused by his unrequited love for Phyllis ("Love, unrequited, robs me of my rest"). The two peers try to cheer him up and urge him to make another effort to persuade himself to award Phyllis to ... himself ("If you go in you're sure to win"). Strephon now leads both parties in Parliament , but he
18271-423: The unseen Fairies, revealing that she is his long-lost wife, and Strephon is his son. The Lord Chancellor is amazed to see her alive, but Iolanthe has again broken fairy law, and the Fairy Queen is now left with no choice but to punish Iolanthe with death ("It may not be ... Once again thy vow is broken"). As she prepares to execute Iolanthe, the Queen learns that the rest of the fairies have chosen husbands from among
18422-503: The various opinions supporting the judgment in this case": The Law is the true embodiment/Of everything that's excellent,/It has no kind of fault or flaw,/And I, My Lords, embody the Law. The Ratepayers' Iolanthe was a 1984 musical adapted by Ned Sherrin and Alistair Beaton . Sherrin directed and won a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Musical for the musical's "conception". The science fiction writer Isaac Asimov
18573-403: The very foundations of social order, as well as materially to forward the views of those who are pursuing the project throughout the civilised world. Gladstone's 45-minute speech made a great impression on those present and his Amendment carried 94 votes to 38. Among those impressed was Lord Lincoln, who told his father the Duke of Newcastle about it, and it was through this recommendation that
18724-419: The voters. Gladstone displayed remarkably strong technique as a campaigner and stump speaker. He won his seat at the 1832 United Kingdom general election with 887 votes. After new bills to protect child workers were proposed following the publication of the Sadler report , he voted against the 1833 Factory Acts that would regulate the hours of work and welfare of minors employed in cotton mills. Gladstone
18875-557: The war. The goal was to turn wealthy Britons against expensive wars. Britain entered the Crimean War in February 1854, and Gladstone introduced his budget on 6 March. He had to increase expenditure on the military and a vote of credit of £1,250,000 was taken to send a force of 25,000 to the front. The deficit for the year would be £2,840,000 (estimated revenue £56,680,000; estimated expenditure £59,420,000). Gladstone refused to borrow
19026-535: The world. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company continued to perform Gilbert and Sullivan almost continuously until it closed in 1982. The Gilbert and Sullivan style was widely imitated by their contemporaries (for example, in Dorothy ), and the creators themselves wrote works in this style with other collaborators in the 1890s. None of these, however, had lasting popularity, leaving the Savoy Operas as practically
19177-464: Was 81 in 1891. Eventually, he became notorious for this activity, prompting Lord Randolph Churchill to observe: For the purposes of recreation he has selected the felling of trees; and we may usefully remark that his amusements, like his politics, are essentially destructive. Every afternoon the whole world is invited to assist at the crashing fall of some beech or elm or oak. The forest laments in order that Mr Gladstone may perspire." Less noticed at
19328-501: Was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for 12 years, spread over four non-consecutive terms (the most of any British prime minister) beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894. He also was Chancellor of the Exchequer four times, for over 12 years. Apart from 1845 to 1847, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1832 to 1895 and represented
19479-468: Was a Gilbert and Sullivan fan. His Foundation Trilogy was conceived after his reading Iolanthe started a train of thought about military empires. Also, in " Runaround ", a story in Asimov's I, Robot , a robot, while in a state similar to drunkenness, sings snippets of Gilbert and Sullivan songs, including "The Nightmare Song" from Iolanthe . In Michael Chabon 's 2004 novel The Final Solution , Bruno
19630-502: Was a member of the Financial Reform Association at Liverpool: "Economy is the first and great article (economy such as I understand it) in my financial creed. The controversy between direct and indirect taxation holds a minor, though important place". He wrote to his wife on 14 January 1860: "I am certain , from experience, of the immense advantage of strict account-keeping in early life. It is just like learning
19781-423: Was always present in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company 's touring repertory, being included in some part of every season until the company's closure in 1982. Most of the costumes were redesigned by Percy Anderson in 1915 and by George Sheringham in 1932, and Peter Goffin designed new sets in 1957 and some new costumes in 1960. After its original production, Iolanthe was not revived in London until 1901, making it
19932-639: Was an early example of many modern political campaigning techniques. After the 1880 general election , Gladstone formed his second ministry (1880–1885), which saw the passage of the Third Reform Act as well as crises in Egypt (culminating in the Fall of Khartoum ) and Ireland, where his government passed repressive measures but also improved the legal rights of Irish tenant farmers. Back in office in early 1886, Gladstone proposed home rule for Ireland but
20083-459: Was an early precursor of opera buffa . The opera has a farcical plot, and the characters of the ridiculous guardian Trespolo and the maid Despina are prototypes of characters widely used later in the opera buffa genre. The form began to flourish in Naples with Alessandro Scarlatti 's Il trionfo dell'onore (1718). At first written in Neapolitan dialect, these works became "Italianized" with
20234-565: Was an intense opponent of the opium trade . Referring to the opium trade between British India and Qing China , Gladstone described it as "infamous and atrocious". Gladstone emerged as a fierce critic of the Opium Wars , which Britain waged to re-legalise the British opium trade into China, which had been made illegal by the Chinese government. He publicly lambasted the wars as " Palmerston's Opium War" and said that he felt "in dread of
20385-478: Was at Northumberland in 1862 when Gladstone visited. George Holyoake recalled in 1865: When Mr Gladstone visited the North, you well remember when word passed from the newspaper to the workman that it circulated through mines and mills, factories and workshops, and they came out to greet the only British minister who ever gave the English people a right because it was just they should have it ... and when he went down
20536-424: Was being made to stand on a table and say "Ladies and gentlemen" to the assembled audience, probably at a gathering to promote the election of George Canning as MP for Liverpool in 1812. In 1814, young "Willy" visited Scotland for the first time, as he and his brother John travelled with their father to Edinburgh , Biggar and Dingwall to visit their relatives. Willy and his brother were both made freemen of
20687-517: Was defeated in the House of Commons. The resulting split in the Liberal Party helped keep them out of office – with one short break – for 20 years. Gladstone formed his last government in 1892 , at the age of 82. The Government of Ireland Bill 1893 passed through the Commons but was defeated in the House of Lords in 1893, after which Irish Home Rule became a lesser part of his party's agenda. Gladstone left office in March 1894, aged 84, as both
20838-408: Was elected as Prime Minister, the press joked about the line from the opera, "This comes of women interfering in politics!" Lord Falconer , who served as Tony Blair 's second Lord Chancellor, was reportedly influenced by Iolanthe in his moves to reform or disband the office. William H. Rehnquist , former Chief Justice of the United States , was an avid Gilbert and Sullivan fan and was inspired by
20989-619: Was firmly in favour of enfranchising the working classes in towns. The policy caused friction with Palmerston, who strongly opposed enfranchisement. At the beginning of each session , Gladstone would passionately urge the Cabinet to adopt new policies, while Palmerston would fixedly stare at a paper before him. At a lull in Gladstone's speech, Palmerston would smile, rap the table with his knuckles, and interject pointedly, "Now, my Lords and gentlemen, let us go to business". Although he personally
21140-406: Was followed by the comic operas of other Italians, like Galuppi , Paisiello and Cimarosa , and also Belgian / French composer Grétry . The first Russian comic opera was Anyuta (1772). The text was written by Mikhail Popov , with music by an unknown composer, consisting of a selection of popular songs specified in the libretto. Another successful comic opera, The miller who was a wizard,
21291-408: Was general agreement that the second act needed some trimming. Iolanthe became the fourth consecutive major success for Gilbert, Sullivan and their producer, Richard D'Oyly Carte, following H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879) and Patience (1881). Increasingly viewing his work with Gilbert as frivolous, beneath his skills and repetitious, Sullivan had intended to resign from
21442-561: Was made Extraordinary Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands embarking via Vienna and Trieste on a twelve-week mission to the southern Adriatic entrusted with complex challenges that had arisen in connection with the future of the British protectorate of the United States of the Ionian Islands . In 1858, Gladstone took up the hobby of tree felling, mostly of oak trees, an exercise he continued with enthusiasm until he
21593-432: Was of purely Scottish ancestry. His grandfather Thomas Gladstones was a prominent merchant from Leith , and his maternal grandfather, Andrew Robertson, was Provost of Dingwall and a Sheriff-Substitute of Ross-shire . His biographer John Morley described him as "a highlander in the custody of a lowlander", and an adversary as "an ardent Italian in the custody of a Scotsman". One of his earliest childhood memories
21744-709: Was reluctant to join the Peel government because of the First Opium War, which Palmerston had brought on. Gladstone was re-elected in 1841. In the second ministry of Robert Peel, he served as President of the Board of Trade (1843–1845). Gladstone was responsible for the Railways Act 1844 , regarded by historians as the birth of the regulatory state , of network industry regulation, of rate of return regulation, and telegraph regulation. Examples of its foresight are
21895-693: Was set up as an episcopal foundation to spread the ideas of Anglicanism in Scotland, and to educate the sons of the gentry. As a young man Gladstone had treated his father's estate, Fasque , in Kincardineshire, southwest of Aberdeen, as home, but as a younger son he would not inherit it. Instead, from the time of his marriage, he lived at his wife's family's estate at Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. He never actually owned Hawarden, which belonged first to his brother-in-law Sir Stephen Glynne , and
22046-685: Was the first playwright to adopt the term zarzuela for his work entitled El golfo de las sirenas ("The Gulf of the Sirens", 1657). Lope de Vega soon wrote a work titled La selva sin amor, drama con orquesta ("The Loveless Jungle, A Drama with Orchestra"). The instruments orchestra was hidden from the audience, the actors sang in harmony, and the musical composition itself was intended to evoke an emotional response. Some of these early pieces were lost, but Los celos hacen estrellas ("Jealousies Turn Into Stars") by Juan Hidalgo and Juan Vélez, which premiered in 1672, survives and gives us some sense of what
22197-558: Was the fourth son of the wealthy merchant, planter and Tory politician John Gladstone , and his second wife, Anne MacKenzie Robertson. He was named after a close friend of his father, William Ewart, another Liverpool merchant and the father of William Ewart , later a Liberal politician. In 1835, the family name was changed from Gladstones to Gladstone by royal licence. His father was made a baronet , of Fasque and Balfour, in 1846. Although born and raised in Liverpool, William Gladstone
22348-567: Was then inherited by Gladstone's eldest son in 1874. During the late 1840s, when he was out of office, he worked extensively to turn Hawarden into a viable business. In 1848 he founded the Church Penitentiary Association for the Reclamation of Fallen Women . In May 1849 he began his most active "rescue work" and met prostitutes late at night on the street, in his house or in their houses, writing their names in
22499-404: Was well received and was successfully revived for many seasons by Sadler's Wells until 1978. Michael Heyland restaged Iolanthe for D'Oyly Carte in 1977, the year of Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee, with silver-themed designs. Iolanthe has remained one of the most popular of the Gilbert and Sullivan works. Thousands of professional and amateur productions of the opera have been given throughout
22650-470: Was written down and the "score" followed. Publicans issued employment solely on the capacity of the man to pay, and men were often drunk when they left the pub to work. They spent their savings on drinks to secure the favourable opinion of publicans and further employment. Gladstone initiated the Coal Vendors Act of 1843, which set up a central office for employment. When that Act expired in 1856,
22801-407: Was written to match the cadence of the word "Iolanthe", and could only accommodate the word "Perola" by preceding it (awkwardly) with "O", "Come" or "Ah". Henry Irving had produced a W. G. Wills adaptation of King René's Daughter in London in 1880, under the name Iolanthe , and in October 1882 Gilbert asked his producer, Richard D'Oyly Carte , to request Irving's permission to use the name. It
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