H.M.S. PINAFORE BACKGROUND NOTES

By 1878, W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan had collaborated on three works and achieved a modicum of success with Trial by Jury and The Sorcerer. Their next opera, H.M.S. Pinafore, would become their first indisputable hit and international sensation. Yet, it almost didn't turn out that way.

H.M.S. Pinafore opened on May 28, 1878, at the Opera Comique to respectful reviews. Audiences responded enthusiastically, but that summer was particularly hot, and the theater was seldom full. The cast took a pay cut with the hope that if they survived the summer, the opera might catch on. Sullivan did his part by including a suite from Pinafore on a summertime Promenade (Proms) Concert. By August, the heat had subsided and the theater began to fill. Pinafore not only survived but ran for 571 performances, the second-longest-running play in London to that time.

It also began to catch on internationally. There were no international copyright laws at that time to protect author's rights, and, between 1878 and 1879, 150 pirated productions played in the United States. At one point, eight Pinafores were running simultaneously in New York. In an effort to secure their rights, Gilbert and Sullivan (and their producer Richard D'Oyly Carte) came to New York in 1879 to mount an authorized production. By this time, the local Pinafore market had been saturated, so the authors quickly finished and produced their new work, The Pirates of Penzance, which received its premiere in New York (and premiered in London the following day), thereby protecting their U.S. copyright.

H.M.S. Pinafore had many admirers. The future Kaiser Wilhelm, on being introduced to Gilbert, offered to "polish up the handle of the big front door." One dignitary who did not appreciate the work, however, was British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. Sir Joseph Porter was clearly modeled on his First Lord of the Admiralty, W.H. Smith (owner of the bookseller of that name), who had reached his position despite having no nautical experience. He was especially well known for his conservatism and prudishness, and he would have reacted strongly to the use of "the big D" as in the second act. Soon he was being called "Pinafore Smith," and on one occasion when visiting a ship, he was greeted by a rendition of "When I was a lad."

H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado remain the most successful works in the Gilbert and Sullivan canon. The delightful score and clever book might make one miss the sophisticated satire and parody contained within. The libretto mocks the perceived differences in social classes and a system that would allow a patently unqualified individual to run the revered British navy. Musically, the work is no less of an achievement. Sullivan mimics numerous Italian opera conventions. Quotes from Schubert's Erlkiinig, as well as satire of Verdi's II trovatore, would have been well known to those first Victorian audiences.

If the references are more obscure for modern audiences, the infectious score, witty lyrics and recognizably comic situations make for an evening (or afternoon) of great fun.

-  Richard Russell