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Donald Macleod delves into a period where Sullivan’s working relationship with Gilbert begins to falter.

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 operetta’s 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 loosing the substantial earnings from the stage works he’d composed. Sullivan became a pillar of the British musical establishment, so that 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.

Sir Arthur Sullivan was rising to the height of his fame. He became the Principal for the new Training School for Music in South Kensington, which would later evolve into the Royal College of Music. He was also in demand as a conductor, leading the UK's first complete performance of Bach’s B Minor Mass. His increased popularity and wealth enabled a move to a new home in Queen Anne’s Mansions on Victoria Street, where he remained for the rest of his life. He was also being offered invitations to spend time with royalty, including a trip on the Prince of Wales’s flagship, HMS Hercules where Sullivan got to visit the Winter palace in St. Petersburg and hear the Imperil Chapel Choir. The 1880s saw further collaborations with W. S. Gilbert including Patience, Iolanthe, Princess Ida, The Mikado, Ruddigore, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. Despite this substantial list of projects, Sullivan was becoming dissatisfied with his collaboration with Gilbert and planning to turn his attention to a more serious style of opera.

Patience (So go to him and say to him)
Gillian Knight (Lady Jane), contralto
John Reed (Reginald Bunthorne), baritone
New Symphony Orchestra of London
Isidore Godfrey, conductor

Iolanthe (Loudly let the trumpet bray)
Glyndebourne Chorus
Pro Arte Orchestra
Malcolm Sargent

Who is like unto thee
The Choir of Keble College, Oxford
Mark Laflin, conductor
Gavin Plumley

Mikado (excerpts)
Valerie Masterson (Yum-Yum), soprano
Peggy Ann Jones (Pitti-Sing), mezzo-soprano
Colin Wright (Nanki-Poo), tenor
John Reed (Lord High Executioner), baritone
Kenneth Sandford (Pooh-Bah), baritone
D’oyly Carte Opera Company Chorus
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royston Nash, conductor

The Golden Legend (excerpt)
Janice Watson (Elsie), soprano
Mark Wilde (Prince Henry), tenor
The New London orchestra
Ronald Corp, conductor

Ruddigore (excerpts)
Jean Allister (Mad Margaret), mezzo-soprano
John Reed (Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd), baritone
Kenneth Sandford (Sir Roderic Murgatroyd), baritone
Donald Adams (Sir Roderic), bass-baritone
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Isidore Godfrey, conductor

The Yeomen of the Guard (excerpts)
Elsie Morrison (Elsie), soprano
Geraint Evans (Point), bass baritone
John Carol Case (Second Yeoman), bass baritone
Glyndebourne Chorus
Pro Arte Orchestra
Malcolm Sargent, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock