The D'Oyly Carte Opera: The Pirates of Penzance, 2CD

On a building in East Twentieth Street, New York, is to be found the following inscription: “On this site Sir Arthur Sullivan composed ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ in 1879.” How this most British of operettas came not only to be completed but also produced in the United States of America is a fascinating part of the history of the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership.

With their production of H.M.S. Pinafore in 1878 William Schwenk Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) achieved a popular success which far surpassed that of their previous collaborations and confirmed their place amongst the front rank of creators of operetta. “Pinafore Mania” - to quote a contemporary headline - swept not only Britain but also the United States of America. Within a few months of its success in London, numerous companies were presenting their version of the operetta on the other side of the Atlantic, but without payment of any kind by way of royalties to its creators - such was the inadequacy of the international copyright laws. The injustice rankled with both Gilbert and Sullivan, as well as with their guiding impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte. Having visited America to assess the situation, Carte concluded that the best way of dealing with unauthorized productions there was to take the authentic article across the Atlantic to show up the inferior and ludicrously modified ‘pirate’ versions for what they were. The plan succeeded brilliantly. Gilbert and Sullivan’s production of H.M.S. Pinafore took New York by storm.

TRACKLIST: