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Donald Macleod journeys through Sir Arthur Sullivan’s first collaborations with W.S. Gilbert.

Sir Arthur Sullivan became the most renowned composer of the Victorian era, with his fame spreading across Europe and America, too. His output spanned many genres including oratorios, a symphony, chamber music, hymns and anthems, but it was for his collaboration with the librettist W.S. Gilbert on operettas that he is best remembered today. He was a personal friend to royalty, and he was knighted when he was in his early forties. He also had a liking for playing cards, buying race horses and gambling, frequently losing the substantial earnings from the stage works he’d composed. Sullivan became a pillar of the British musical establishment, so when he died, despite wanting to be buried with his family in Brompton Cemetery, he was laid to rest in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, with an additional service at the Chapel Royal in St. James’s Palace.

Sullivan was now making his way in London, including a move to a new address, Albert Mansions on Victoria Street, along with his mother and a number of servants. Buckingham Palace was just a short walk away, which allowed for occasional visits from the Duke of Edinburgh, who liked to pop by to play his violin. The 1870s saw the beginnings of one of the most successful artistic partnerships of all time: Sullivan’s collaborations with the librettist W.S. Gilbert. Their first venture was Thespis, followed, in that same decade, by Trial by Jury, The Sorcerer and HMS Pinafore. The Pirates of Penzance would become one of the duo's most successful operettas. Also during this period, Sullivan was busy composing over 40 hymn tunes and his second biblical oratorio, The Light of the World. It was, however, for his operettas that his name was becoming famous, with the impresario Richard D’Oyly Cate now organising productions in America too.

Trial by Jury (Hark the hour of ten is sounding)
Â鶹ԼÅÄ National Orchestra of Wales
Richard Hickox, conductor

The Sorcerer (My name is John Wellington Wells)
John Reed (The Sorcerer), baritone
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Isidore Godfrey, conductor

The Merry Wives of Windsor (excerpts)
Maggie McDonald, mezzo-soprano
RTE Concert Orchestra
Andrew Penny, conductor

The Light of the World (Weep Ye Not for the Dead)
Kitty Whately (An Angel), mezzo-soprano
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Symphony Chorus
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Concert Orchestra
John Andrews, conductor

Lead Kindly Light
Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Peter Latona, conductor

HMS Pinafore (excerpts)
Jean Hindmarsh (Josephine), soprano
Gillian Knight (Buttercup), mezzo-soprano
Jeffrey Skitch (Captain Corcoran), baritone
John Reed (Sir Joseph), baritone
New Symphony Orchestra of London
Isidore Godfrey, conductor

Pirates of Penzance (excerpt)
Rebecca Evans (Mabel), soprano
Julie Gossage (Edith), mezzo-soprano
Jenevora Williams (Kate), mezzo-soprano
John Mark Ainsley (Frederic), tenor
Welsh National Opera Chorus
Welsh National Opera Orchestra
Charles Mackerras, conductor

The Lost Chord
Stuart Burrows, tenor
Ambrosian Singers
Martin Neary, organ
Wyn Morris, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock