FALLEN FAIRIES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9706, 31 January 1910, Page 3

FALLEN FAIRIES.

GILBERT-GERMAN OPERA AT THE SAVOY. BRILLIANT SUCCESS. There was something of the old thrill last night, says the "London Daily Chronicle" of 16th ult, which used to fie in the house years ago, when the curtain was rung up before a new opera by Gilbert and Sullivan. Last night, indeed, long before the orchestra had tuned' their fiddles there was melody among the gods, who were singing some of Sullivan's well-remembered ballads and warming themselves with the old memories of those first nights. The tuneful spirit of Sullivan has gone to other spheres, but it was a Gilbert night again, and the Gilbert spirit or. whimsicality and wit, of tenderness and playfulness, was with ub once more, fresh and undimmed. Lyrics as charming as some of those in "The Yeomen of the Guard" and "lolante" were heard last night in "The Fallen Fairies," and the music of Edward German, who has taken up the master's wand, was full of melody, and pleasantly reminiscent also of the Sullivan style. The plot of "Fallen Fairies" is in the vein of the man who is a satir- ; ist without cruelty and a cynic with sentiment. On the upper side of a cloud which floats over the earth, with an aerial landscape of deal beauty, livss Selene, the fairy queen, and her court of fairy maids. "Pure as the air, sweet aa the morning dwe," they are, and they know not man. But they have heard of him. ! Tbey know that humanity is compos- i ed of— ' * Fierce wild barbaric shapes, all foul j within,!

Howling with hunger for more sinmore sin. FAIRIES AND THEIR COUNTER PARTS. It appears, however, that each fairy has a counterpart on earth, arse the ladies are very curious to know what their other selves may be doing in the world below. Their curiosity is likely to be satisfied, for to Fairyland comes Lutin, who is the one male fairy that has been prhileged to visit mortals and now' comes home again. He could a tale unfold —but on second thoughts deciles not to:— Their dark careers Would shock your souls and draw your tears, They're quite unfit for decent ears— And I'm hanged if I tell 'em to you, my dears! The fairies, however, decide to send down two other males of their own ethereal mould to earth, and to summon up their mortal counterparts. It is soon done, and to the cloud above the.earth come Ethais and Phyllon, two great knights. They come brawling and fighting and cursing—but, strange to say, the fairies find them delightful. Full of pity for the frailties of man, they decide to teach them the pure morality of fairyland. In.return they ask but one thing, to know the meaning of that one great gift of mortal Love. In one of her most tender little lyrics the Queen has told them of that strange and beautiful gift:— 0 kindly Love! man sorrowing and oppressed, Benearh his load of shame would surely fall But for the sweet enchantment in his breast That tells him tint he bfars no load at all! I Ethais and Phyiloii are asking both I to teach the fairies the visions of love, and begin without delay. When Homage to his Queen a subject shows (A Queen that's duly crowned). He puts his arm around That Monarch's waist —like this! And plants a very long and tender kiss, Sometimes upon her cheeks of creamy rose, But, preferably, just below her nose! So sings Ethais, the knight, and the fairy maidens in their innocence say There is some reason—so we must suppose— Why, preferably, just below the nose? IN THE FAIRY COURT. The two knights show excelleut reason why,'and the queen all her ethereal ladies find it excellent and convincing. But alas, mortal love is not so pure a gift as the ladies had imagined, or as the crafty knights made out. In the fairy court where all had been peace and sisterly charity, there is now hatred, envy and malice. While Ethais is philandering in the bower of the Queen her maidens are restless and angry and spiteful. A Fairy Queen whodare3 conventionally to despise To put it very mildly is exceedingly unwise. Here is an act to which we cannot close our eyes And must excite our indignation and surprise.

And truth to tell, Such conduct—well, It smacks of impropriety !

Dreadful scenes take place when jealousy works its wicked way. Some of the ladies plot agadnst their Queen. One of them buys her lover's faithful heart at the price of a phial, which enables him to fight his rival Phyllon. Truth to tell, by the presence of two mortal men—no more than two!—a whole fairyland is contaminated, corrupted, and filled with hateful discord. The magnificent enthusiasm of the audience, which wanted every lyric repeated, which laughed uproariously at every witty line, which called again and again for the actors, the author and the composer, was good to hear and well destrved. Sir W. S. Gilbert has written a play full of imagination, mirthfulness, and wit, and Mr Edward German, who held the baton last night, has given a new stock of melody which will soon be singing in many hearts—charming, I haunting little lyrics, worthy, al- ) most, of Sullivan himself.