Our April concert will be a delightful celebration of the music of Sullivan
and his contemporaries, including Edward German, Lionel Monckton
and Alfred Cellier. There will be a performance of Sullivans first two-act
comic opera THE CONTRABANDISTA, offering a rare chance to hear
this charming early work.
THE CONTRABANDISTA is set in the mountains of Spain and the
typically absurd plot concerns a gang of bandits and smugglers who are
arguing over who should be their new leader. When an English tourist
wanders into the camp he is forced at gunpoint to become their captain
and will have to marry the recently widowed queen of the gang.
To give you some idea of the characters, imagine that the Penzance
pirates have become the smugglers in Act 3 of Carmen and that the
Major General has arrived and found he has to marry Katisha. Add to
this a disguised hero trying to rescue his abducted sweetheart, a sacred
hat, a large case of dynamite and the compulsory dancing of the bolero
and you have a fun-filled rarity with Sullivans masterful music.
Amongst the other items in the concert will be the Brindisi from THE
ROSE OF PERSIA, Charming weather from THE ARCADIANS and
The Yeomen of England from MERRIE ENGLAND.
Book now to join us for a joyful evening celebrating the very best of
British music from the Victorian and Edwardian eras.