H. M. S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances. It was Gilbert and Sullivan’s fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation. The story takes place aboard the Royal Navy ship HMS Pina Fore.
About H.M.S. Pinafore in brief
H. M. S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances. It was Gilbert and Sullivan’s fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation. The story takes place aboard the Royal Navy ship HMS Pina Fore. The captain’s daughter, Josephine, is in love with a lower-class sailor, Ralph Rackstraw. Her father intends her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty. She abides by her father’s wishes at first, but Sir Joseph’s advocacy of the equality of humankind encourages Ralph and Josephine to overturn conventional social order. They declare their love for each other and eventually plan to elope. But a surprise disclosure changes things dramatically near the end of the story. The title of the piece comically applies the name of a garment for girls and women, a pinafore, to the fearsome symbol of a warship. The structure and style of these operas, particularly PinaFore, were much copied and contributed significantly to the development of modern musical theatre. Their works dominated the musical stage on both sides of the Atlantic for more than a decade and continue to be performed today. The success of The Sorcerer paved the way for another collaboration by Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte for a new Comedy Opera Company, and began work on H.M.S. Pinafore before end of 1877.
Some of the characters also have prototypes in the ballads: Dick Deye, General John and Captain Reece. Gilbert’s father had been a naval surgeon, and the theme of the opera appealed to him. He drew on several of his earlier \”Bab Ballad\” poems, including \”Woman’s Gratitude\” ; an early version of the theme can be seen in the opera’s nautical theme, ‘Joe Go-Lightly’, with its madly in love in its love with its sailor with a madly madly ill-tempered character. The opera’s humour focuses on love between members of different social classes and lampoons the British class system in general. It also pokes good-natured fun at patriotism, party politics, theRoyal Navy, and the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority. The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado were followed by the similar success of a series ofGilbert and Sullivan works, including The Pirates Of Penzane and The Midsummer Night’s Dream. They were later known as the Savoy operas and are still performed today in Britain and the U.S., as well as in Europe and North America. They are the first operas to be written by a team of three men, rather than by a single man, and to be produced with their own financial support. They chose talented actors, most of whom were not well-known stars and did not command high fees. They then tailored their work to the particular abilities of these performers.
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