Ruddigore
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Ruddigore, or The Witch's Curse, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas. It was first performed by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre in London on 22 January 1887.
The first night was not altogether a success. After some changes—including respelling the title (it had been Ruddygore)— it achieved a run of 288 performances. There were further changes and cuts, including a new overture, when Rupert D'Oyly Carte revived Ruddigore after the First World War. Although never a big money-spinner, it remained in the repertoire until the company closed in 1982. A centenary revival at Sadler's Wells in London restored the opera to almost its original first-night state.
Contents |
Roles
Mortals
- Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd Disguised as Robin Oakapple, a Young Farmer (baritone)
- Richard Dauntless His Foster-Brother - A Man-o'-war's-man (tenor)
- Sir Despard Murgatroyd of Ruddigore, A Wicked Baronet (bass-baritone or baritone)
- Old Adam Goodheart Robin's Faithful Servant (bass)
- Rose Maybud A Village Maiden (soprano)
- Mad Margaret (mezzo-soprano)
- Dame Hannah Rose's Aunt (contralto)
- Zorah Professional Bridesmaid (soprano)
- Ruth Professional Bridesmaid (speaking/chorus)
Ghosts
- Sir Rupert Murgatroyd The First Baronet
- Sir Jasper Murgatroyd The Third Baronet
- Sir Lionel Murgatroyd The Sixth Baronet
- Sir Conrad Murgatroyd The Twelfth Baronet
- Sir Desmond Murgatroyd The Sixteenth Baronet
- Sir Gilbert Murgatroyd The Eighteenth Baronet
- Sir Mervyn Murgatroyd The Twentieth Baronet
- Sir Roderic Murgatroyd The Twenty-first Baronet (bass-baritone – his predecessors are speaking/chorus roles)
- Chorus of Officers, Ancestors, Professional Bridesmaids and Villagers
Synopsis
Act I
The chorus of Professional Bridesmaids speculate on what their next opportunity for a wedding will be. Rose Maybud, a pretty young lady never without the book of etiquette upon which she bases her ideas of Right and Wrong, is being wooed by shy country youth Robin Oakapple. However, he has a rival for her affections, the staunch sailor Richard, Robin's foster-brother, a man who always follows his conscience. Deciding that etiquette permits it, Rose finally accepts Robin's suit. Richard, following the dictates of his conscience, promptly goes to reveal a secret to the local Bad Baronet, Sir Despard Murgatroyd, who labours under a family curse that compels him to commit a crime every day.
Thus, the nuptials of Rose and Robin are rudely interrupted by Sir Despard Murgatroyd, who reveals that Robin Oakapple is none other than his elder brother, Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, who, in a cowardly fashion, has run away from a life of evil. As a result, Robin/Ruthven is the direct inheritor of the family curse, which Despard until now had been forced to carry out by Ruthven's abdication of his duties. For reasons of etiquette, Rose cannot marry a Bad Baronet, of course, so she turns to Dick; Ruthven is excoriated out of the town.
Act II
Despard atones for some of his previous evil acts, impelled by the family curse, by marrying the woman he once seduced and abandoned, Mad Margaret. The two together embark on a life of charity. Ruthven, meanwhile, tries to come to grips with being a Bad Baronet, a task at which he proves to be spectacularly lacking. His weak attempts at crimes stir his ancestral ghosts from their usual haunt of the portrait-gallery. They reveal that they are the enforced enforcers of the curse, and will condemn him to a "slow and lingering demise" if he doesn't get about some proper crimes, such as abducting a lady.
Ruthven, under threat of torture, dispatches Adam to go find a lady to abduct; Adam returns with Robin's nurse, much to the dismay of the leading ghost, who recognizes the nurse as his old sweetheart. Meanwhile, Rose, with Richard accompanying, comes to the castle to attempt to persuade Ruthven to reform; Despard and Margaret assist. Ruthven, bad at being a Bad Baronet, is tempted to agree, and so his ancestors appear to threaten him again. Inspiration strikes, and Ruthven points out that each ancestor in turn has, at some point, declined to perform a daily crime and accepted his fate. However, in doing so, he has effectively committed suicide - itself a crime at the time. Thus, he proposes, none of his ancestors need have died after all and, true to form, they all return to life. The first ex-ghost, Rupert, he-aquires the tile of Baronet, Rose is happy to wed the un-cursed Ruthven, the former ghosts take up with the Professional Bridesmaids, and revelry ensues. (in the revised version, generally perfomed today, only the leading ghost, Sir Roderic, returns to life and takes up with Dame Hannah).
Musical numbers
- Original Overture (includes "I once was as meek", "Oh, why am I moody and sad?", "Welcome, gentry", "The battle's roar is over", and "When a man has been a naughty Baronet")
- Revised Overture (arranged by Geoffrey Toye, 1920; includes "I once was as meek", "When the night wind howls", "I know a youth", "My eyes are fully open", and Hornpipe)
Act I
- 1. "Fair is Rose" (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
- 2. "Sir Rupert Murgatroyd, his leisure" (Hannah and Chorus)
- 3. "If somebody there chanced to be" (Rose)
- 4. "I know a youth" (Rose and Robin)
- 5. "From the briny sea" (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
- 6. "I shipp'd, d'ye see, in a revenue sloop" (Richard and Chorus)
- 6a. Hornpipe
- 7. "My boy, you may take it from me" (Robin and Richard)
- 8. "The battle's roar is over" (Rose and Richard)
- 9. "If well his suit has sped" (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
- 10. "In sailing o'er life's ocean wide" (Rose, Richard, and Robin)
- 11. "Cheerily carols the lark" (Margaret)
- 12. "Welcome, gentry" (Double Chorus)
- 13. "Oh, why am I moody and sad?" (Sir Despard and Chorus)
- 14. "You understand? I think I do" (Richard and Sir Despard)
- 15. "Hail the bride" (Ensemble)
Act II
- 16. "I once was as meek" (Sir Ruthven and Adam)
- 17. "Happily coupled are we" (Rose and Richard)
- 18. "In bygone days" (Rose with Chorus of Bridesmaids)
- 19. "Painted emblems" (Sir Ruthven, Sir Roderic, and Chorus of Ancestors)
- 20. "When the night wind howls" (Sir Roderic and Chorus)
- 21. "He yields" (Chorus)
- [21a. "Away, remorse!" (Robin): two versions of the song exist (the preceding recitative is the same) but it is usually cut.]
- 22. "I once was a very" (Margaret and Despard)
- 23. "My eyes are fully open" (Margaret, Sir Ruthven, and Despard)
- 24. Melodrame
- 25. "There grew a little flower" (Hannah with Sir Roderic)
- 26. "Having been a wicked baronet a week" (Ensemble)1
1This is the original finale, but some performances shorten the version of "Oh, happy the lily when kissed by the bee" which concludes the finale.
External links