Summary: Continental Recollections [Duke]
Assignment 1: Chapter Summary by Andrew Velez
Williams, Carolyn. “Continental Recollections: The Grand Duke.” Chapter 14 (pp. 344-364) in Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, Genre, Parody. Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 2008.
Summary.
G&S’s THE GRAND DUKE premiered on March 7th, 1896, but has original sketches that date back to late 1894. It is the 14th and last Savoy opera of the G&S duo that ran for 123 performances. The frugality and phoniness of the wealthy classes and the nobility is satirized (much like The Mikado and other works) in a foreign setting. Although the show had a great start it proved to be the only financial failure the pair had, and would be the final time they worked together. In The Grand Duke, continues the tradition of “extravaganza”, but also sets itself as a pot of genre parodies that establish “the swirling texture of the work.” Neither “genre” nor “parody” quite grasp the off-balance feel of this form, but maintains a pastiche air about it due to Sullivan’s compositional coherence. There are allusions to Shakespeare and Aristophanes that blend the authority of the English theatrical past with both classical Greek theater and English classical burlesque as well. We might see this dimension of the last Savoy opera as both a summa and a transformation of the nineteenth-century culture of adaptation and variety, or as both a summa and an extreme example of the dynamics of Savoy genre formation. The notable lead parts include: Rudolph (Grand Duke, Comic Baritone), Ernest (Theatrical Manager, Tenor), Ludwig (Leading Comedian, Baritone), Dr. Tannhausser (Notary, High Baritone), Julia (English Comedian, Soprano) and Lisa (Soubrette, Mezzo-Soprano). Below are few keys notes:
• Gilbert supplied a topsy-turvy twist by writing Julia's dialogue in a German accent, since she is the only English character in Ernest's company; all of the Germans speak with an English accent. The first Julia, Ilka Palmay, was Hungarian but performed mostly in German. Modern productions do not always carry out this idea;
• Julia appears and once again asserts that, as leading lady, she must take the leading role of the Grand Duchess. Lisa leaves in tears. Julia points out that if she and Ludwig are to rule over a Grand Ducal court, they need to be dressed more impressively than their everyday clothes will allow. Ludwig recalls that they have a complete set of brand-new costumes for Troilus and Cressida, which they can use to "upraise the dead old days of Athens in her glory;”
• Julia’s monodramatic number modulates through several intense emotions, culminating in melodrama’s conventional “Remorse! Remorse!” Thus the diva exhibits her “notion of a first-rate part,” but although she describes the genre of her performance as “high-class art,” audiences were likely to recognize its reference to over-the-top melodramatic plots and acting styles;
• Ludwig and the Princess are about to go off to yet another wedding party, when Ernest, Rudolph and Dr Tannhäuser burst in. The Notary reveals that the Act regulating statutory duels specifically states that the ace shall count as lowest, so Ludwig did not win, was never Grand Duke, and cannot have revived the act. Within seconds, the Act expires, returning Ludwig and Ernest to the living. Three couples marry: Rudolph and the Princess; Ernest and Julia; and Ludwig and Lisa.
The work contains a rather ridiculous logic in its story line, but simultaneously give parodied nods towards Shakespeare for his usage of bogus political positions, abuse of power, and social stipulations or rules that act as valid sources of reason.
Sources.
Primary materials such as various versions of the scripts and scores, stage promptbooks and design notes, vintage newspaper stories, and first-person reminiscences were used as sources for Williams. Secondary commentary in relation to topics and sub-topics were also used in conjunction with scholarly interpretation. There is also a consistent reminiscing feature of returning to similar aspects/plot of G&S’s earlier work “Thespis”, and comparisons to other works such as Utopia, Limited, Gondoliers, etc.