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"Lost" comic opera by Arthur Sullivan received
its first professional performance since 1880
It was described as "melodious and captivating", "as happily scored as it is admirably written" and possessing "true melody, clear and able part-writing, good orchestral colouring and originality in construction" by the music critics of 1867. One went so far as to say: "We counsel those of our readers who have not as yet heard this operetta at once to seek an opportunity of doing so."
Yet, The Contrabandista is practically unknown today, having lain almost totally unperformed for 120 years.
The Contrabandista was Sullivan's first two-act comic opera and was written four years before the first Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration. The book was provided by F C Burnand, later editor of Punch, and who had also collaborated with Sullivan on the one-act Cox & Box, which is still staged today. After an initial London run it successfully toured the provinces and was even performed in America in 1880 with additional music by Sousa.
However, by the mid-1880s, the Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration had produced numerous successes including HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Sullivan's earlier operetta was overshadowed and then forgotten. Even among the amateur societies that regularly stage the G&S works, Contrabandista has been shunned; amateur performances since 1880 can be counted on one hand. Its American production in 1880 was its last professional performance, although Lesley Garrett has recorded the stunning soprano aria Only the night wind sighs alone.
This single concert performance, sponsored by the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society, was a major event, bringing together soloists from D'Oyly Carte, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Touring Opera and Opera North. The National Concert Orchestra was conducted by Malvern-based David Steadman, and the chorus provided by Cheltenham's Cotswold Savoyards.
"A concert version is the ideal way to appreciate this unknown work," said Savoyards' member Paul Scott. "Burnand's libretto is very much of its time and rather weak in comparison with Gilbert, so we presented the work with a narration, allowing people to follow the typically convoluted plot without having to sit through the dialogue."
The concert, held at 7.30 pm on Saturday 21 September at Cheltenham Town Hall, also included the ever-popular Gilbert & Sullivan one-act masterpiece, Trial by Jury, along with an orchestral piece arranged by David Steadman, G&S Fantasia Number 2. Some 100 members of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society travelled from across the UK to attend.
"Musically, Contrabandista lies closer to the frothy HMS Pinafore than the more sombre Yeomen of the Guard, containing some beautiful solos, some lively patter songs and two vivacious finales. It sits very well alongside the more well-known fun of Trial by Jury. We're very pleased to be involved in this unique event, especially in this, our 40th anniversary year."
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