|
''The Chieftain'' is a two-act comic opera by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand based on their 1867 opera, ''The Contrabandista''. It consists of substantially the same first act as the 1867 work with a completely new second act. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on December 12, 1894, under the management of Richard D'Oyly Carte, for a run of 97 performances (by Sullivan's standards, a flop). The opening cast included Florence St. John, Courtice Pounds, Walter Passmore, Richard Temple, Scott Russell, Florence Perry, Emmie Owen, R. Scott Fishe and Rosina Brandram. ==Background== In 1894, impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte needed a new piece for the Savoy Theatre. Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Utopia Limited'' had closed in June after a comparatively short (by G&S standards) nine-month run. André Messager's ''Mirette'' was an unsuccessful stop-gap, and Carte had to close the theatre in August. Desperate for a new work, he commissioned Sullivan and Burnand to patch up ''The Contrabandista'', which could be made ready much faster than a new opera. ''Mirette'' was revised and re-opened in October for another two months, and although ''Mirette'' was playing strongly, once ''The Chieftain'' was ready in December, ''Mirette'' was closed, and ''The Chieftain'' was mounted. As Savoy audiences expected an opera conforming to the style that Gilbert and Sullivan had established, the relatively short ''Contrabandista'' needed to be expanded. While the basic structure of the first act was retained, the dialogue was rewritten and several songs were added to bring it up to the usual length. The earlier work's second act was entirely replaced with new material. Although the piece was greeted warmly, as were most Savoy operas, audiences did not sustain enthusiasm for the work, and there were numerous revisions, particularly in the first act. The team also rushed an abridged version of the still-popular ''Cox and Box'' into production as a curtain-raiser. Nevertheless, ''The Chieftain'' closed after just three months. The fault lay partly in Burnand's weak and pun-filled libretto, but also was a result of changing audience tastes, as musical comedy, such as those produced at the Gaiety Theatre by George Edwardes, was supplanting light opera on the London stage. After ''The Chieftain'' closed, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company toured the London suburbs, while Carte leased the Savoy Theatre to the Carl Rosa Opera Company. The theatre was dark during the summer of 1895, reopening in November for a revival of ''The Mikado''.〔Wilson and Lloyd, p. 52〕 ''The Chieftain'' has not received a high-quality professional modern recording, unlike some of Sullivan's other non-G&S operas,〔Shepherd, Marc. (''The Chieftain'' ) at ''A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography'', 11 August 2008, accessed 26 December 2009〕 although the piece has received a number of modern amateur performances. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Chieftain」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|