VOCAL SCORES
A facsimile of the original vocal scores
with full libretto and historical notes
is available for The Contrabandista
and The Foresters. Details
are available by e-mail: Raywalker@macunlimited.net
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further reading: ‘Sullivan: A Victorian
Composer’ by Arthur Jacobs (1991) ISBN
0-85967-905-5
Amongst the reissues
it is good to find something fresh and
new again coming from the Hyperion stable.
These are première professional
recordings of two little known works
by Sullivan. Hyperion has been releasing
a premiere Sullivan work every year
over the last three years.
Collectors of Victorian
operetta will be delighted that The
Contrabandista, an early
work, has at last has been professionally
recorded, for it completes that gap
in Sullivan’s known operetta music between
Cox & Box (1866) and Trial
by Jury (1875). To some, the holy
grail is the lost Thespis (1871)
whose music has only survived as three
numbers, and its ballet (recorded on
Marco Polo). A study of the music composed
for The Contrabandista and
Trial by Jury is the only clue to
help one appreciate what Thespis
must have been generally like. Mention
of this may seem pedantic but I know
how seriously collectors take this genre.
Despite a mundane book
about Spanish brigands by Frances Burnand
(who would later become Editor of Punch)
there are good musical ideas in The
Contrabandista. These anticipate
the more mature Sullivan of Gilbert
& Sullivan fame. In The Contrabandista,
Sullivan attempts a good variety of
musical styles. At times these are more
reminiscent of Offenbach than the German
and Italian operatic masters that Sullivan
is likened to. Of particular merit in
The Contrabandista is the aria,
Only the night wind sighs alone
(tr. 5) brought to our attention some
eight years ago by Lesley Garrett. The
catchy Hullo! What was that?
(tr.8) with its bird calls and rippling
accompaniment also deserves mention
while a master stroke of ingenuity is
Sullivan’s delicate and most simplistic
of settings in the tenor’s opening aria
to Act 2, Wake, gentle maiden
(tr.11). These are indicative of the
competent composer learning his craft.
Coupled with this very
early operetta is also the première
recording of one of his later works,
The Foresters. This work has
none of the sophistication usually expected
of a mature composer where layers of
complexity are added to his compositions.
There is a reason for this. Theatre
manager, Augustin Daly of New York had
persuaded a reluctant Sullivan to accept
his commission for musical interludes
to lift a rambling play of the aging
Tennyson. Both men were not in good
shape and were unlikely to give of their
best. Sullivan and Tennyson had bitterly
fallen out over a project in 1871, The
Window song cycle, and had trodden
separate paths throughout their careers.
Daly now intended to bring them together
again despite the previous differences.
There is little of merit in the lyrics.
Listen particularly to No.6 (tr.22)
with Tennyson’s humdrum fairy words.
Despite this, Sullivan seems to have
injected some fresh air that lifts the
piece from total banality. Elsewhere
in the piece his contributions are brief,
often lasting little more than two minutes.
The singers on this
disc are well known to those who follow
this genre of music and they do not
disappoint. Claire Rutter started her
recording career on the Tring label
with Puccini and continues to be precise
in her delivery with a clear top. Her
rendering of Only the night (The
tinkling sheep bell song) (tr.5)
is appropriately breezy and gentle.
Frances McCafferty is well grounded
in Sullivan on the TER label and here
is as sumptuous as ever with velvety
timbre and perfect diction in The
peaceful plain (tr.3). Donald Maxwell
and Richard Suart are familiar names
who are on form in this recording. My
only reservation is with Ashley Catling,
a light tenor who sounds quite odd in
the quintet, Hand of fate (tr.6).
True, the vocal score asks for the lines
to be sung ‘in a feigned voice’, but
the interpretation here does not sound
right. In the next track he recovers
and sings competently, yet later, the
Wake gentle maiden is better matched
by a singer with purer tone. The notes
fail to mention that a good amateur
Edinburgh performance of The Contrabandista
was recorded in recent times to add
to the Sullivan Society professional
concert performance of 2002 that served
as a model for this recording. On that
occasion its tenor, with particularly
pure tone, Stephen Brown, should have
been ideal for this CD.
Richard Suart, taking
the comic role of Mr. Grigg, gets so
carried away in I fired each barrel
(tr.15) that clarity of delivery is
lost. His main patter song on the other
hand is sung to perfection.
In The Foresters,
an excellent ‘English’ hunting song,
sung by Will Scarlet, has energy with
interesting rhythm, vibrant horns and
good singing from Ashley Catling. The
short chorus number, To sleep, to
sleep, brings thoughts of early
Sullivan and his King Arthur
and Merry Wives of Windsor.
It is sung by the chorus and soloists
with much feeling and is indicative
of Ronald Corp’s sensitive handling
of his singers and orchestra.
The detailed and excellent
notes by David Eden and William Parry
(of the Sullivan Society) cover a lot
of background to both works and provide
a detailed synopsis. The Hyperion recordings
owe much to the Sir Arthur Sullivan
Society for sponsorship of their three
Sullivan recordings.
Raymond Walker
Claire Rutter (sop), Frances McCafferty (mezzo),
Ashley Catling (ten), 
