THE GONDOLIERS.”

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 439, 22 January 1890, Page 6

THE GONDOLIERS.”

GILBERT AND SULLIVAN’S SUCCESS. ANOTHER BIG HIT. A despatch dated London, December 7, to the “ New York Herald” says “ The Gondoliers, or the Kings of Barataria,” Gilbert and Sullivan’s new two-act comic opera, was produced this evening at the Savoy Theatre. The dramatis persona: were as follows The Duke of Plaza Toro, a grandee of Spain,. Frank Wyatt; Luiz, his attendant, Brownslow ; Don Alhambra del Bolero, the, grand inquisitor, Denny. Seven Venetian gondoliers, as follows Marco PalmierijCour.tice Pounds ; Guiseppe Paltnieri, Rutland Barrington ; Antonio, Metcalf;. Francesco,; Rosse ; Georgio, Depledge ; Annibale, Wilberaham; Ottavio, C. Gilbert; the Duchess of Plaza Lord, Rosina Braulram ; Caselda, her daughter, Deeima Moore. Five contadine, as follows : Gialella, Geraldine Ulmar ; Tessa, Jessie Bond ; Fiametta, Miss Lawrence ; Vittorio, Miss Cole ; Guilia, Miss Phyllis ; Inez, the King’s foster-mother, Miss Bernard. Chorus of gondoliers, contadine, men-at-arms, heralds and pages. In the matter of that perverse aria charming whimsicality which is always a chief factor of Gilbert’s plots, that of the new opera, produced to-night before a crowded and enthusiastic audience, i in* eluding among its numbers nearly all that London contains at present of art, rank, wealth, and fashion, compares favourably with any of its predecessors. Dyspeptic critics, who prophetically bewailed the fast-coming day in which the fund of humour which is so peculiarly Gilbert’s own be worked out, might as well, to use an old and homely phrase, *‘ Have kept their breath to cool their porridge.” Not even in his youngest and freshest days, not when he first conceived and wrote that series of charming doggerel “ The Ball Ballads,” was Gilbert’s sense of humorous incongruity keener or more certain.

The plot_ of “ The Gondoliers ” is as simple an idea as that of any of his preceding productions. Donna Caselda, the daughter of the Duke of Plaza Toro, a grand but impecunious Spanish hidalgo, has been betrothed at the early- age’ of 6 months to the infant King of the island of Barataria. The island is torn by religious and social dissensions, and to secure the safety of the infadb heir to the throne, Don Alhambra del Bolero, the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, abducts him and places him under the care of a Venetian gondolier, who, : blessed with a baby of his own, and cursed with an insatiable love of ardent liquor, mixes the royal and plebeianinfantsso hopelessly that nobody can tell which is which except their nurse. As she, at the moment when the curtain rises on the first act, is the wife “of a highly respectable and old - established brigand who carries on an extensive practice in the mountains around Cordova,” and as both of the possible monarchs have complicated . matters by getting married to a charming young ladyijusb at the moment when the old Don bring his daughter to Venice to ratify her marriage, and as furthermore the daughter profoundly objects to the whole arrangement and has secretly betrothed herself co Luiz, the only :man who continues to follow her father’s fortunes, and who is referred to by th® noble as his suite, matters are in a high state of complication when, by the sagacity of Don Alhambra del, Bolero, a modus vivendi is arrived at. Both gondoliers sail away to Barataria, and establish a joint empire, like a kind of regal Siamese twine. Their wives and affianced bridesfollow them, and confusion grows more confounded. At last Inez, the nurse, puts in an appearance and declares that Luiz is the real King of Barataria, This discovery, of course, brings things to a general condition of satisfaction and content indispensable to the conclusion of every well-conducted comic opera. The two gondoliers return their brides, and Donna Caselda marries Luiz, whom; oho has loved in his poverty, and with him ascends the throne of Barataria amid the acclamations of a delighted people. Upon this simple and unpretentious theme Gilbert has woven a bewildering embroidery of complicated fun. The plot stands still altogether for at least half an hour in the second act to provide room for the introduction of a series of frolics which have no connection with the play. It is a c jngerous experiment indeed for most authors to make, but one which was in this case enthusiastically ratified by a delighted audience, who screamed over every sally and missed the suspended action so little - that, but for Sir Arthur Sullivan’s firmness in refusing, it would have twice encored every song and dance. Nob a word of the dialogue, not a word of neat and telling verse, passed without its tribute of laughter or applause, and the end of every morceau was a signal for a burst of enthusiastic applause.

To Sir Arthur Sullivan’s share of the work the same unstinted measure of approbation was given. Indeed, criticism, in the strict sense of the word, was at a complete discount. In the music of “The Gondoliers” Sullivan has returned somewhat to his earlier manner. It is simple and less complicated than his later work. The orchestration is perfect, throughout, and once or twice falls little short of the marvellous in its dexterity, notably in the quartet in the second act, “In a Contemplative Fashion,” in which the two gondoliers and their brides give vent to the, mingled feelings of rage and tenderness which fill their bosoms on reviewing the exasperating'dilemma into which their marriage has plunged them. Again, in Don Bolero’s song, “There Lived a King,” the whole series of musical numbers went off successfully, like a lot of symphony crackers, without disturbing the sober melody of the main theme. The entire house was enraptured with the quartet, in which Geraldine Ulmar sang of the delight of being a regular royal queen, the chorus, in which she was assisted by Jessie Bond, Pounds and Barrington, running as follows : Oh. ’tis a glorious thing, I ween, To be a regular royal Queen; No half-and-half affair,-1 mean. But a right-down regular royal Queen. An encore was demanded with tremendous vim, even the stalls and boxes Assisting in the uproar.