Opera Picciona Records Lost Gilbert and Sullivan Songs from Iolanthe

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Alice J. Lambert, Cameron Smith, and David Bell feature in the newly released recordings.

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Last month, Marc Shepherd uncovered the manuscript scores for three cut songs from Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe. Opera Picciona has recorded and released all three, now available!

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Listen to the songs in the playlist below:

The songs, in full score, were found by Shepherd bound in the back of a copyist's manuscript which was misfiled at the British Library. The score was in the possession of the D'Oyly Carte organization until their archive was acquired by the British Library in 2015.

The first song is a quartet for the characters of Phyllis, Lord Tolloller, Lord Mountararat, and the Lord Chancellor, titled "On you they'd set a coronet." It came in the first act as part of a larger musical sequence in which the House of Peers profess their love to Phyllis, and Phyllis repeatedly rejects them. Opera Picciona's recording features Alice J. Lambert as Phyllis, Cameron Smith as Lord Tolloller, Richard Holmes as Lord Mountararat, and David Bell as the Lord Chancellor. Marisa Green accompanies at the piano.

The second is a solo for Phyllis, which she was to have sung upon her first entrance in the second act. The ballad, titled "My love for him is dead," has Phyllis reflecting on her feelings for Strephon after breaking off their engagement in the previous act. Alice J. Lambert sings with pianist Marisa Green and lamb Molly.

The third song immediately follows Phyllis' ballad, and is the best-known of the three. "De Belleville was regarded as the Crichton of his age" - commonly known as simply "the De Belleville song" - was sung by Lord Mountararat to explain the virtues of hereditary nobility. This song was included in the first edition of the published libretto, and was reported to have been "recited", rather than sung, at the London production's opening night performance, but was cut shortly thereafter. Gilbert later published the lyric as a standalone poem. Richard Holmes, a veteran Mountararat with companies including the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, gave the song its modern public premiere in a concert with Light Opera Of New York on May 28.

A fourth cut song is included in the materials discovered by Shepherd, a solo for Strephon titled "Fold your flapping wings." This song, also included in the opening night libretto, was not considered lost, as it is included, bound in the back of Sullivan's autograph manuscript, also held by the British library. The song is sometimes included in modern performances.

Marc Shepherd, a Gilbert and Sullivan researcher who has published editions of several of the creators' operas, has transcribed and published the three new discoveries, and generously made full scores and piano scores available for free .

It is not certain why these songs were preserved in the copyist manuscript, however it likely has to do with the fact that Iolanthe, uniquely among the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, was prepared for simultaneous premieres in London and New York on November 25, 1882. In order to send the performance materials to New York in a timely fashion, the full score had to be prepared and copied earlier in the process than was typical for Sullivan, and some changes made late in rehearsals in London were unable to be transferred to New York in time for the premiere. Reviews indicate that the De Belleville song was sung at the New York premiere, and it is known that Sullivan instructed Alfred Cellier, the opera's conductor in New York, to write his own overture, as Sullivan was unable to have his sent over in time.

Opera Picciona is proud to present these recordings as part of its focus on less frequently performed gems of the light operatic repertoire. The company will present a double bill of Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne and Offenbach's Le 66 later this month, and this fall will produce W.S. Gilbert and Frederic Clay's Ages Ago, with musical direction by Green. Visit opnyc.org for more information.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwopera/article/Listen-Opera-Picciona-Records-Lost-Songs-From-Gilbert-And-Sullivans-Iolanthe-20260601)._