D'Only Carte - SULLIVAN: The Sorcerer

William Schwenk Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900)The SorcererChronologically the second of the Gilbert and Sullivanoperas, if we count Trial By Jury as their first, TheSorcerer opened at the Opera Comique in London on17th November 1877 to a successful initial run of 178performances. The first full-length G & S comedy, itwas sequentially their third collaboration, the two-actThespis, or the Gods Grown Old, (Gaiety Theatre,1871) having been their earliest. Produced oncommission by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte, whohad also staged Trial By Jury, and billed as an 'entirelyNew and Original Modern Comic Opera', it was cast inthe rather tame, German Reed-esque style of Englishopera typical of its time, in contrast to the moreextrovert opera-bouffe also currently in vogue. Like itspredecessor its plot was derived from a story by Gilbert,which had previously appeared in Graphic Magazine,this latest specifically in its Christmas number ofDecember 1876.Peter Dempsey