Ivanhoe, my thoughts.

I am happy to say that I was actually able to listen to a decent amount of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s Ivanhoe. If I hadn’t known that this opera had been composed by Sullivan I’m not sure I would have guessed that he was the composer. However, because I did know that Sullivan was the composer of this work, it makes it rather difficult for me to be entirely objective, but I shall try.

First of all, I can absolutely hear a difference in the way the text of this opera was set compared to the way the text was set in his various other operettas with Gilbert as the librettist. I think Gilbert had a very distinct way of writing; he puts a premium on rhymes and the rhythm of the English language. There is always something very ‘English’ about his lyrics, and I think Sullivan reflects this in the operettas the two collaborated on together.

When listening to Ivanhoe it is immediately apparent that the classic Gilbert and Sullivan speech pattern is absent. The text is much less campy and more like natural speech, not necessarily in their delivery, but in the words themselves. And Sullivan no longer plays up the campiness of the lyrics because it’s not there.

However, there are still moments in which I can totally identify the composer as Arthur Sullivan. I’m not sure what it is about his compositional style that makes him so identifiable, but there are certain pieces that I hear and I think, “oh yeah, that is totally Sullivan.” For example, “But hark! What sound is in mine ear?” But I don’t know why. The overall orchestration sounds so much more sophisticated as is the vocal writing, perhaps it is the syllabification of the text, still I don’t know. Perhaps what I am hearing is just what Sullivan felt was an English sound and the way the language would be delivered in England.

Ivanhoe so much more dramatic than his operettas with Gilbert, obviously it’s a grand opera, but I am really impressed. I can’t say that I am particularly a fan of this opera, if I’m to be completely honest I still feel like the opera is a little redundant; by the third act I feel like I’ve heard this all before. I still think it’s cool to hear what Sullivan sounds like without Gilbert, although I don’t think it makes his music any better or worse, it’s just different.