FULL Haddon Hall (Sullivan) Reading 1992 Anne Todd Howarth, Anthony Witt, Ian Henderson
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Haddon Hall
- Composer: Sullivan Arthur
- Libretto: Sydney Grundy Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Reading University, England
- Recorded: 1992
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Anne Todd Howarth, Anthony Witt, Ian Henderson
- Conductor: Nigel Burton
- Orchestra:
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Format: Unknown
- Quality Video: 2 Audio:2
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
HADDON HALL. Reading University. 7 May 1992.
The breach between Gilbert and Sullivan occurred after The Gondoliers, and the composer’s next light opera, Haddon Hall, revealed the magnitude of the disaster. Sullivan may have welcomed the change from Gilbertian extravaganza to romance with comic relief by Sydney Grundy but, alas, he was also exchanging a librettist of genius for a lame duck. Not entirely at ease in serious drama, the composer needed Gilbert’s guidance all the more, as the history of The Yeomen of the Guard shows. Who was it vetoed the first, unsatisfactory version of “Is life a boon?” and gave invaluable advice about the setting of “I have a song to sing, O”?
Haddon Hall features the rivalry of a royalist and a puritan for the hand of Dorothy Vernon and its background of 17th century political conflict calls for a historical approach. Unfortunately, Sullivan’s essays in Olde English manner tend to be self–conscious and need satirical Gilbertian texts to give them spontaneity; that is why “He is an Englishman” and “When Britain really ruled the waves” have become classics while the Vernons’ “When the budding blooms of May” and “In days of old when men were bold” are forgotten. Throughout Haddon Hall Grundy is a liability. His burlesque Scotsman and puritans are notably unfunny and Dorothy’s charming theme song “When yestereve” is nearly spoiled by its platitudinous lyric. However, the book manages to inspire Sullivan to some dramatic music and a haunting finale in Act 2 and the Edward German–like dances, which have few words, are wholly delightful.
The Reading University revival, celebrated both Haddon Hall’s centenary and the 150 anniversary of Sullivan’s birth. Distancing themselves from the Jonathan Miller approach, the production team attempted to create the original performance conditions; the dialogue was given unrevised and the cast followed the stage directions meticulously. The result, if somewhat static and uninventive, was a not unwholesome antidote to what usually passes for Savoy Opera nowadays with professional companies. Solo performances were unremarkable apart from the Rupert Vernon of Anthony Witt, who sang fluently and even extracted humour from the pedestrian dialogue. Nigel Burton, conducting the excellent student orchestra, imparted an infectious lilt to the dances and a sense of opulence to the festive music. ROBERT BOAS
Quoted from gsarchive.net