"Merrie England (opera) Merrie England is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood. The patriotic story concerns love and rivalries at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, when a love letter sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to one of Queen Elizabeth’s Ladies in Waiting, Bessie Throckmorton, ends up in the hands of the Queen. Well-known songs from the opera include ""O Peaceful England"", ""The Yeomen of England"" and ""Dan Cupid hath a Garden"". It opened at the Savoy Theatre in London on 2 April 1902, under the management of William Greet,"
"His Majesty (comic opera) His Majesty, or, The Court of Vingolia is an English comic opera in two acts with dialogue by F. C. Burnand, lyrics by R. C. Lehmann, additional lyrics by Adrian Ross and music by Alexander Mackenzie. The work premiered at the Savoy Theatre in London on 20 February 1897, running for only 61 performances until 24 April 1897, despite a strong cast including George Grossmith, Ilka Pálmay, Scott Russell, Fred Billington, Florence Perry and Walter Passmore. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company then toured the opera throughout 1897 alongside more familiar Gilbert and Sullivan works. When the"
"Tom Jones (Edward German) Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon Henry Fielding's 1749 novel, ""The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling"", with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor. After a run in Manchester, England, the opera opened in London at the Apollo Theatre on 17 April 1907 for an initial run of 110 performances. It starred Ruth Vincent as Sophia and Hayden Coffin as Tom Jones. The piece also had a provincial tour and a popular Broadway run in 1907. It then disappeared"
"Tom Jones (Edward German) Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon Henry Fielding's 1749 novel, ""The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling"", with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor. After a run in Manchester, England, the opera opened in London at the Apollo Theatre on 17 April 1907 for an initial run of 110 performances. It starred Ruth Vincent as Sophia and Hayden Coffin as Tom Jones. The piece also had a provincial tour and a popular Broadway run in 1907. It then disappeared"
"uncle, her father's friend, who she believes deeply needs the benefits of her reforms. William Jelf goes back to sea, a highly relieved bachelor. A Princess of Kensington A Princess of Kensington is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood, produced by William Greet. The first performance was at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 22 January 1903 and ran for 115 performances. The opera was the last new work produced by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre, and is therefore considered by some to be the last Savoy"
"Eliza (Arne) Eliza is an opera in three acts by the composer Thomas Arne to an English libretto by Richard Rolt. The opera was premiered in London at the New Theatre in the Haymarket on 29 May 1754. The opera is named for Queen Elizabeth I of England, although she does not actually appear as an onstage character. Although ""Eliza"" is highly patriotic in nature, the monarchy did not take kindly to the work and the opera was suppressed after one performance ""by an Order from a superior Power"". The opera was later more successfully revived at the Smock Alley"
"Santa Maria (operetta) Santa Maria is an operetta, or 'comic opera', in three acts with music and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein I. It opened at Hammerstein's Olympia Theatre in New York City on September 14, 1896. After closing on December 19, 1896, it went on tour, starting at the Alvin Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 21, 1896. The final scene, in which Bertrand and Santa Maria are proclaimed future King and Queen, was set as a ""Palace of Ice"" constructed from aluminum, a novel design for 1896. Edna May, who would soon become a star in Edwardian musical comedies,"
"Matilda emerges and throws herself between them. The Queen condemns Norfolk to death, and, in the aria, ""Bell'alme generose"", pardons Leicester and the Scottish prisoners. Notes Sources Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra (; Elizabeth, Queen of England) is a ""dramma per musica"" or opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, from the play ""Il paggio di Leicester"" (""Leicester's Page"") by Carlo Federici, which itself ""was derived from a novel ""The Recess"" (1785) by Sophia Lee."" It was premiered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 4 October 1815 and was the first"
"1983. Between March and May 2012, the opera was performed at the City Theater of Giessen in Germany. Mary I of England is infatuated with the Scottish adventurer Riccardo Fenimoore, whom she has ennobled as Lord Talbot, but he is unfaithful to her having seduced the foundling Clotilde, who is the only surviving child of the late Earl of Talbot. She has been raised and is now betrothed to the adoring Ernesto Malcolm, a commoner. Gualtiero Churchill, the Lord Chancellor, wants to protect the Queen by bringing Riccardo down, so he tells the Queen of Talbot's duplicity, and also reveals"
"entire ensemble welcomes peace in the finale ""Hail glory, like the morning star."" Eliza (Arne) Eliza is an opera in three acts by the composer Thomas Arne to an English libretto by Richard Rolt. The opera was premiered in London at the New Theatre in the Haymarket on 29 May 1754. The opera is named for Queen Elizabeth I of England, although she does not actually appear as an onstage character. Although ""Eliza"" is highly patriotic in nature, the monarchy did not take kindly to the work and the opera was suppressed after one performance ""by an Order from a"
"Edward German Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera. Some of his light operas, especially ""Merrie England"", are still performed. As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra of Whitchurch, Shropshire. He also began to compose music. While performing and teaching violin at the Royal Academy of Music, German began to build a career as a composer in"
"drill). ""Merrie England"" is a comic opera by Edward German. Richmal Crompton's ""William the Bad'"" [1930] contains a chapter, 'The Pennymans Hand On The Torch', about an idealist couple who wish to return to Merrie England, as a staging post towards their ideal of living at ""the morning of the world"", which means dressing in flowing robes and (incongrously with the Merrie England concept, bearing in mind the traditions of English Ale and The Roast Beef Of Old England) being vegetarian and teetotal. The pageant they organise becomes a fiasco, largely, needless to say, on account of William's involvement as"
"have borrowed some hints from the dialogue between the Moon and Venus written by Lucian. Elements in the comic subplot derive from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and the classical Latin comedy of Plautus and Terence. It is widely recognized that ""Endymion"" is to a large extent allegorical, with Cynthia representing Queen Elizabeth I. Nineteenth-century critics tended to assign other roles in the play to historical figures of Elizabeth's court: Endymion, perhaps, was Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, while Tellus was Mary, Queen of Scots. Twentieth-century critics have approached these hypotheses skeptically, arguing that if Lyly had ventured any such"
"be Sir Ruthven's granddaughter. The author, bullied into submission, agrees to bring Ruthven back, marry him to Alice, allow Herbert and Rockalda to marry, and reveal Gripper to be Sherlock Holmes in disguise. All ends happily. The songs for which settings composed by German Reed still survive are marked with an asterisk (*). A Sensation Novel A Sensation Novel is a comic musical play in three acts (or volumes) written by the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, with music composed by Thomas German Reed. It was first performed on 31 January 1871 at the Royal Gallery of Illustration. New music was"
"business, and he is fearful that she may ask for it back. They pretend to be very amiable and discover that they really prefer being amiable to each other and want to live happily together. When the servant Jane nearly spoils everything by telling the mother-in-law of the quarrels, she is branded a liar and sacked on the spot. The original cast was: Arthur Law and Eric Lewis each replaced Pounds for part of the run. Mock Turtles (opera) Mock Turtles is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Frank Desprez and music by Eaton Faning. It was first"
"their delight at the outcome. La casa disabitata La casa disabitata (The Uninhabited House) is a comic opera in one act composed by Princess Amalie of Saxony to her own Italian-language libretto. It was first performed in the court theatre of Pillnitz Castle in Dresden on 17 September 1835. The opera had no further performances until it was revived in 2012 as part of the Dresden Music Festival after its manuscript score was found in a Moscow library. ""La casa disabitata"" was the last of the 12 short comic operas which Princess Amalie had composed to her own libretti as"
"Wallack, the opera premiered at Drury Lane, but it was not successful, and closed after only a few performances. Hermann Goetz' ""Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung"" (1874), with libretto by Joseph Viktor Widmann, is a comic opera, which focuses on the Bianca subplot, and cuts back the taming story. It was first performed at the original National Theatre Mannheim. John Kendrick Bangs' ""Katherine: A Travesty"" (1888) is a Gilbert and Sullivan-style parody operetta which premiered in the Metropolitan Opera. Spyridon Samaras' ""La furia domata: commedia musicale in tre atti"" (1895) is a now lost lyric comedy with libretto by Enrico Annibale Butti"
"his knowledge that Clotilde is actually heir to the Talbot name. The Queen condemns Fenimoore to death but repents and orders Clotilde to help release him. However, to the dismay of the Queen, Churchill sees to it that the execution is carried out. Notes Sources Maria, regina d'Inghilterra Maria, regina d'Inghilterra (""Mary Tudor, Queen of England"") is an Italian opera in three acts, composed by Giovanni Pacini from a libretto by Leopoldo Tarantini, which was based on the play ""Marie Tudor"" by Victor Hugo. It was given its first performance at the Teatro Carolino, in Palermo, on 11 February 1843."
"Gloriana Gloriana, Op. 53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Strachey's 1928 ""Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History"". The first performance was presented at the Royal Opera House, London, in 1953 during the celebrations of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. ""Gloriana"" was the name given by the 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser to his character representing Queen Elizabeth I in his poem ""The Faerie Queene"". It became the popular name given to Elizabeth I. It is recorded that the troops at Tilbury hailed her with cries of"
"Mary Stuart (play) Mary Stuart () is a verse play by Friedrich Schiller that depicts the last days of Mary, Queen of Scots. The play consists of five acts, each divided into several scenes. The play had its première in Weimar, Germany on 14 June 1800. The play formed the basis for Donizetti's opera ""Maria Stuarda"" (1835). Mary Stuart is imprisoned in England — nominally for the murder of her husband Darnley, but actually due to her claim to the throne of England held by Queen Elizabeth I. While Mary's cousin, Elizabeth, hesitates over signing Mary's death sentence, Mary hopes"
"2010. English Touring Opera presented the opera in London and toured to parts of the UK in the autumn of 2014. Notes Sources Ottone Ottone, re di Germania (""Otto, King of Germany"", HWV 15) is an opera by George Frideric Handel, to an Italian–language libretto adapted by Nicola Francesco Haym from the libretto by Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino for Antonio Lotti's opera ""Teofane"". It was the first new opera written for the Royal Academy of Music (1719)'s fourth season and had its first performance on 12 January 1723 at the King's Theatre, Haymarket in London. Handel had assembled a cast of"
"Erminie Erminie is a comic opera in two acts composed by Edward Jakobowski with a libretto by Claxson Bellamy and Harry Paulton, based loosely on Charles Selby's 1834 English translation of the French melodrama, ""Robert Macaire"". The piece first played in Birmingham, England, and then in London in 1885, and enjoyed unusual international success that endured well into the twentieth century. ""Erminie"" opened at the Grand Theatre, Birmingham, England, on 26 October 1885. It transferred to the Comedy Theatre in London, then under the management of Violet Melnotte, opening on 9 November 1885 and playing for a total original run"
"The Rival Poets The Rival Poets, or the Love Charm is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by W. H. Scott. The opera was first performed under the title ""The Two Poets"" at the Royal Academy of Music in London in July 1886. The opera, Edward German's first, was written while he was trying out various forms of composition during his continued studies of composition at the Royal Academy while a sub-professor. German called it an ""opera de salon"". It was written for just six soloists and two-piano accompaniment, over a three-year period,"
"A Princess of Kensington A Princess of Kensington is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood, produced by William Greet. The first performance was at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 22 January 1903 and ran for 115 performances. The opera was the last new work produced by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre, and is therefore considered by some to be the last Savoy opera. The original cast included a number of the famous Savoyards, including Louie Pounds, Robert Evett, Walter Passmore, Henry Lytton, and Rosina Brandram. After"
"The Royal Opera House in London presented a performance in June-July 2013 to celebrate both the 60th anniversary of the opera, and the centenary of Britten's birth. The performance starred Susan Bullock, Toby Spence, Patricia Bardon and Mark Stone. ""Scene 1: A tournament"" Lord Mountjoy wins a jousting tournament. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, provokes Mountjoy into fighting with him and is slightly wounded. Queen Elizabeth arrives and scolds the men for their jealousy. She requests that they attend her at court as friends. Mountjoy and Essex make peace and the crowd praise Elizabeth. ""Scene 2: The Queen's apartment, Nonsuch"
"of course, and that which by courtesy may be called a plot, but it is extremely difficult to discover it during the progress of the performance, and it would be utterly incoherent without the aid of the auditor's imagination."" ""The New York Times"" wrote that there was not one funny line in the show and called Jakobowski's music ""the veriest trash ... cheap, reminiscent of his former works, and by no means catchy."" The Queen of Brilliants The Queen of Brilliants is a comic opera in three acts with music by Edward Jakobowski and a libretto by Brandon Thomas. It"
"London stage of farces, musical burlesques, extravaganzas and comic operas that competed with Shakespeare productions and serious drama by the likes of James Planché and Thomas William Robertson. In 1855, the German Reed Entertainments began a process of elevating the level of (formerly risqué) musical theatre in Britain that culminated in the famous series of comic operas by Gilbert and Sullivan and were followed by the 1890s with the first Edwardian musical comedies. W. S. Gilbert and Oscar Wilde were leading poets and dramatists of the late Victorian period. Wilde's plays, in particular, stand apart from the many now forgotten"
"Two young lovers meet in Bertha's garden, but they are shot dead there, as the queen disapproves of lovers' trysts. As Bertha ages, her madness increases and she keeps wanting new adventures. Bertha gives Norway to the barbarians so that she can reconquer the nation. She does this, but collapses dead on her regained throne. The people praise her as a great queen. Bertha (opera) Bertha is an opera in one act, with music by Ned Rorem to an English libretto by Kenneth Koch, an original work parodying Shakespeare's histories. Rorem wrote the work originally at the request of the"
"relationship with Essex and her own mortality. Notes Sources Other sources Gloriana Gloriana, Op. 53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Strachey's 1928 ""Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History"". The first performance was presented at the Royal Opera House, London, in 1953 during the celebrations of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. ""Gloriana"" was the name given by the 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser to his character representing Queen Elizabeth I in his poem ""The Faerie Queene"". It became the popular name given to Elizabeth I. It is"
"of Robin's funeral. Robin and Marian sing a sad song pledging their love for each other. The Sheriff and Friar Tuck sing a duet about the ""pains and pangs"" of life. Robin and his men are in the courtyard of the castle where Robin finds King Richard the First who arrived home from the Crusades. Robin receives a pardon from King Richard and the return of his land. The Sheriff and Sir Guy sing about ""A pardon from the King... Yes you are free"". Robin Hood (comic opera) Robin Hood is a comic opera by Reginald De Koven (music), Harry"
"The Weeding of Covent Garden The Weeding of the Covent Garden, or the Middlesex Justice of Peace, alternatively titled The Covent Garden Weeded, is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome that was first published in 1659. The play is a noteworthy satire on the emerging ethos of Capitalism as reflected in real estate and urban development in the early modern city. The precise dates of authorship and first performance of the play are not known with certainty; but it must have originated c. 1632, when the development of Covent Garden was a public controversy. The"
"a brick shell long and wide. Colley Cibber described the audience fittings as lavish but the facilities for playing poor. Vanbrugh and Congreve received Queen Anne's authority to form ""a Company of Comedians"" on 14 December 1704, and the theatre opened as the Queen's Theatre on 9 April 1705 with imported Italian singers in ""Gli amori d'Ergasto"" (""The Loves of Ergasto""), an opera by Jakob Greber, with an epilogue by Congreve. This was the first Italian opera performed in London. The opera failed, and the season struggled on through May, with revivals of plays and operas. The first new play"
"Alfred (Arne opera) Alfred is a sung stage work about Alfred the Great with music by Thomas Arne and a libretto by David Mallet and James Thomson. The work was initially devised as a masque in 1740 and was first performed at Cliveden, country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, on 1 August 1740, to commemorate the accession of George I and the birthday of the Princess Augusta. Arne later revised the work turning it into an all-sung oratorio in 1745 and then an opera in 1753. It is best known for its finale ""Rule, Britannia!"". Frederick, a German prince"