Gilbert and Sullivan: A Dual Biography

by Michael Ainger

"A Gilbert is of no use without a Sullivan." With these words, W.S. Gilbert summed up his reasons for persisting in his collaboration with Arthur Sullivan despite the combative nature of their relationship. In fact, Michael Ainger suggests in Gilbert and Sullivan the success of the pair's work is a direct result of their personality clash, as each partner challenged the other to produce his best work. After exhaustive research into the D'Oyly Carte collection of documents, Ainger offers the most detailed account to date of Gilbert and Sullivan's starkly different backgrounds and long working partnership. Having survived an impoverished and insecure childhood, Gilbert flourished as a financially successful theater professional, married happily and established himself as a property owner. His sense of proprietorship extended beyond real estate, and he fought tenaciously to protect the integrity of his musical works. Sullivan, the product of a supportive family who nourished his
talent, was much less satisfied with stability than his collaborator. His creative self-doubts and self-demands led to nervous and physical breakdowns, but it also propelled the team to break the successful mode of their earliest work to produce more ambitious pieces of theater, including The Mikado and The Yeoman of the Guards . Offering previously-unpublished draft libretti and personal letters, this thorough double-biography will be an essential addition to the library of any Gilbert and Sullivan fan.

Genres: Biography

528 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read excerpts from this for Culture et civilisation anglophones (research for ÉSP). This dual biography was very good at painting a picture of the two artists, their relationship and their works.

When I picked up this book, I felt as if I didn’t have much time to read through all nine books in less than a week. So, I skipped over their personal lives and focused on their partnership onwards. I would have liked to have read about Gilbert’s childhood as, apparently, it was quite eventful. This book was insightful, offering many sources and references to their personal diaries. Some excerpts were very technical; details about their director, the actors, the venues and their extracurricular activities were less useful for my paper. I did cite this book many times though!

[Joey Knightbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read if your a fan of the operas by the duo but probably incessantly boring if you're not. It covers a nice range of personal and business issues and really gives you a good sense of the life of the two greatest English playwrights ever! SPOILER ALERT: they both die at the end; it's kind of a downer.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insanely, staggeringly well researched. It can be a bit of a slog to read with what seems like down to the hour play by plays, but if you're a super fan and really want to know what their lives were like, this is the book for you. I was delighted to find that some of the dialogue from the film, Topsy Turvy, was quoted directly from their letters!

[Carlene Havel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, especially if you love, love, love G&S (I do).