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Princess Ida

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"Princess Ida" (VHS cover) King Gama and Princess Ida
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"Princess Ida" (VHS cover)
King Gama and Princess Ida

"Princess Ida" (VHS cover) Cyril, Prince Hilarion and Florian
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"Princess Ida" (VHS cover)
Cyril, Prince Hilarion and Florian

Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant, is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Savoy Theatre on January 5 1884, for a run of 246 performances. By Savoy Opera standards, it was not considered a success (a particularly hot summer in London did not help ticket sales), and it was not revived in London until 1919. This was the eighth collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan.

Princess Ida is based on Tennyson's poem The Princess. Gilbert had written a blank verse parody of the same material in 1870. According to biographer Hesketh Pearson, Gilbert lifted parts of the dialogue from the earlier play into the libretto. Princess Ida thus became the only Gilbert and Sullivan work with dialogue entirely in blank verse. It is also the only one of their works in three acts.

The opera satirizes feminism, women's education, and Darwinian evolution, all of which were controversial topics in conservative Victorian England. Like the Patience and Iolanthe, Ida concerns the war between the sexes. Whereas, in Patience, the aesthetic-crazed women are contrasted with vain military men; and in Iolanthe, the vague and flighty fairies (women) are pitted against the ineffective, dim-witted peers (men); in Ida, overly serious students and professors at a women's university (women) defy a marriage-by-force ultimatum by a militaristic king and his testosterone-laden court (men).

Sullivan's score is majestic, and a sequence of songs in Act II, sometimes known as the "string of pearls", is particularly well loved. Although Gilbert's libretto contains some very funny lines, the iambic pentameter and three act structure tend to make it more difficult than some of the other Savoy Operas to keep the audience's interest to the end. In addition, modern audiences sometimes find the libretto's stereotyped portayal of sex roles and the awkward resolution of the opera unsatisfying.

Contents

Roles

Synopsis

Act I

In a pavilion at King Hildebrand's Palace, courtiers wait expectantly for the arrival of Princess Ida, who was betrothed in infancy to Prince Hilarion. Hilarion – who is in love with Ida, although he has not seen her since he was two years old – wonders how she may have changed over the ensuing twenty years.

Ida's father, King Gama, and her brothers Arac, Guron and Scynthius, arrive at Hildebrand's Palace without her. King Gama says that Princess Ida has foresworn men, and founded a women's university at Castle Adamant, one of his many country houses. King Hildebrand tells Hilarion to go to Ida to claim her as his bride. Hilarion takes his friends Cyril and Florian with him, and tells them that he will employ gentler means to win Ida's love. Meanwhile, King Gama and his sons are to remain at Hildebrand's Palace as hostages.

Act II

At Castle Adamant, Princess Ida's pupils are taught that "Man, sprung from an Ape, is Ape at heart." Lady Psyche warns that "Man will swear, and Man will storm," while Lady Blanche doles out the Princess's list of punishments. The Princess delivers a stern lecture, predicting that "Woman, in her turn, shall conquer Man." Lady Blanche resents the Princess, and predicts that one day she will replace her as head of the university.

Hilarion, Cyril and Florian sneak into Castle Adamant. They scoff at the idea of a woman's college. Finding some discarded academic robes, the three men disguise themselves as young maidens wishing to join the university, and are welcomed by Princess Ida. Florian realises that their disguises won't fool his sister, Lady Psyche, and they take her into their confidence. Lady Psyche warns them that they will face death if the Princess discovers who they are. Melissa, Lady Blanche's daughter, has overheard them, and falls in love with Florian at first sight. Lady Psyche, Melissa, and the three men celebrate joyously the discovery that men are not monsters, as Princess Ida had claimed.

Lady Blanche, who has not fallen for the men's disguises, confronts Melissa. Though indignant at first, she is persuaded to let the men remain when her daughter points out that if Hilarion is able to woo Princess Ida, Blanche will become head of the university.

During lunch, Cyril gets tipsy and inadvertently gives away his friends' identity. In the ensuing confusion, Princess Ida falls into a stream, and Hilarion rescues her. Although she is grateful to him, Ida condemns Hilarion and his friends to death. King Hildebrand and his soldiers arrive, with Arac, Guron and Scynthius in chains. He reminds her that she is contractually bound to marry Hilarion, and gives her until the following afternoon to comply. The defiant Ida replies that, although Hilarion saved her life, she would rather die than be his bride.

Act III

Ida's students prepare to meet Hildebrand's soldiers in battle, but the terrified girls admit that they are afraid of fighting. Princess Ida is disgusted with their lack of courage, and vows that if necessary she will fight Hildebrand's army alone. King Gama arrives with a message from Hildebrand: The King prefers not to go to war with women. He suggests instead that Hilarion and his friends will fight King Gama's sons, with Ida's hand to be decided on the outcome. Ida is insulted to be "a stake for fighting men," but realises that she has no alternative.

Hilarion, Cyril, and Florian are still in their women's robes. King Gama and his sons ridicule them. Meanwhile, Gama's sons shed their heavy armor, saying that it is too bulky to be effective. The fight ensues, with Hilarion, Cyril and Florian quickly defeating Gama's sons.

Ida yields to Hilarion, and bitterly asks Lady Blanche if she can resign her post with dignity. The delighted Blanche, who will succeed her as head of the university, assures her that she can. Ida laments the failure of her "cherished scheme," but King Hildebrand points out the fatal flaw:

:::: If you enlist all women in your cause,
:::: And make them all abjure tyrannic Man,
:::: The obvious question then arises, "How
:::: Is this Posterity to be provided?"
Princess Ida replies, "I never thought of that!" Hilarion makes an emotional appeal, urging her to give Man one chance, while Cyril observes that if she grows tired of the Prince, Ida can return to the Castle. Lady Psyche says that she, too, will return to the Castle if Cyril does not behave, but Melissa swears that she will not return under any circumstances.

Finally, Ida admits that she has been wrong, and declares that indeed she loves Hilarion. The curtain falls "With joy abiding."

Musical numbers

Act I

Act II

1 Starting in the 1920s, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company traditionally deleted this song.

Act III

  • 21. "Death to the invader" (Melissa and Chorus of Girls)
  • 22. "Whene'er I spoke" (King Gama with Chorus of Girls)2
  • 23. "I built upon a rock" (Princess)
  • 24. "When anger spreads his wing" (Chorus of Girls and Soldiers)
  • 25. "This helmet, I suppose" (Arac with Guron, Scynthius, and Chorus)
  • 26. "This is our duty" (Chorus)
  • 27. "With joy abiding" (Ensemble)
2 In the original production, No. 22 followed No. 23. The present order first appeared in vocal scores published after the first London revival in 1919.

Versions of the text

Princess Ida was not revived in London during the authors' lifetimes, and there were no substantive changes to the text after the premiere. The one alteration was purely cosmetic: the first act had originally been called a "Prologue." It was re-designated Act I, with a consequent renumbering of the remaining acts.

At around the time of the first London revival, in 1919, there were changes to the running order of Act III. As written originally, the sequence of Act III is as follows:

  1. "Death to the invader"
  2. Princess Ida then addresses the girls and then dismisses them
  3. "I built upon a rock" (Princess)
  4. The girls re-enter, shortly followed by King Gama
  5. "When e'er I spoke sarcastic joke" (King Gama, Ladies' Chorus)
  6. Dialogue in which the Princess agrees to let her brothers fight for her
  7. "When anger spreads his wing" (Double chorus)
  8. Dialogue preceding the fight
  9. "This helmet, I suppose" (Arac, Guron, Scynthius, Chorus)
  10. "This is our duty plain" (Chorus during the fight)
  11. Dialogue and finale
As re-ordered in the 1920s, the running order is as follows:

  1. "Death to the invader"
  2. Princess Ida addresses the girls and then dismisses them
  3. The girls re-enter, shortly followed by King Gama
  4. "When e'er I spoke sarcastic joke" (King Gama, Ladies' Chorus)
  5. Dialogue in which the Princess agrees to let her brothers fight for her
  6. "I built upon a rock" (Princess)
  7. "When anger spreads his wing" (Double chorus)
  8. "This helmet, I suppose" (Arac, Guron, Scynthius, Chorus)
  9. Dialogue preceding the fight
  10. "This is our duty plain" (Chorus during the fight)
  11. Dialogue and finale
The Chappell vocal score was re-issued to conform to this revised order.

The other significant change is that, at some point in the 1920s, it became traditional to delete Lady Blanche's Act II song, "Come, mighty must" (although it continued to be printed in the vocal score). The song is included in the 1924 D'Oyly Carte recording, but on none of the three recordings the Company made after that (1932, 1955, 1965).

External links

 

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