Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-05-31
FLOR TIE STAR.
ALAST LCOK 1T PINAFORE.

FLOR TIE STAR.
A LAST LCOK 1T PINAFORE.
Her Majesty Ship Plnafore has loosea from
her moorin IS at last-the saucy ship Is sailing
OF, and the 'aH echoes OF ave sail the oceaI
| blue" are dying away. BY another season prob
the Skorhegan World will repuGiate the now
popular phrase, "what, never" etc., as entirely
paSsee. Even now comes the story OF one editor
calling his sub editors and reporters together
and telling them 'that this thing is getting
monotOnous, and must be stopped; TO- days
edition had that abom1nable Pinafore gag q
dozen times repeated, and wish 7eoer 10 see II
again" And the response, as one man was
| ''What, never" little regret1uiy we WaS u
the sails dip below the MISUNDERSTANDING VI zig
merry hours we have speha M'n o,,r reGrets are
Vain a New York authority says ''of1icially',
that P1nafore is likely to BECOME STANDARD 1ar
Iers at first, how even the genius OF Sullivan
can ssfioat" anything so fimsy and preposterous.
But q closer inspection shows that "honOrS" are
MI GILBERT is due full share of Pinafore's pop
ularity. The opera is satirtcal-its shafts
aimed at many follies and absurdities. OF the
full. For instance, Little Buttercup tells us that
she "mixed those children up" strangely
familiar catastrophe, that seems. Can it be
that the witty sat1rist had In his mind the tragic
Azucena in Iroratore and the way she mixed
up her hapless charges? She intends, In direct
revenge, to burn up the Counts Child, but by
some mistake she precipitates her own infant
into the flames. What mixing up was there!
Still whoever thinks OF the absurdity while he Is
thrilled with the strains Of Stride la uampa'"
The quas-tragic Instrumentation accompany
ing the Duet between Buttercup and the Cap
tain Is another instance in point The Captain
famous admission, 'hardly ever" and his QueS-
ton "Why is everything either at skies or at
Sevens" make us friends with him at once. "One
nj Ya 10 q yrho inr
and there Is so much nature in both of these
speeches. Who has not asked the Captains
question In one form or another? Hamlet ex-
claims bitterly-"The time is out of jo1nt,"-it
is the same song In another key. Sir Joseph
Porter is delightful. If the self -made man will
gaze carefully at the mirror held up to nature,
by the Admiral, he Will get glimpse at fail
ing of his own-namely, an OverWeenlng pride
In his own creation. He glories in telling how,
from the Office boy, he rose to the top of the
tree. One stanza deserves special mention.
He says:
81 grew so rich that was sent
By pocket borough into Parliament,
always voted at my party's call
thought SO little they rewarded me
By making me the Ruler Of the Queens Navee''
Being sent into Parliament appears to be the
sequence Of the riches. The stanza, however,
needs no further comment-it is worthy of a
modern Juvenal. A large class OF liberals, who
always manage to keep their own aristocratic
privileges intact, might take lesson from Sir
excepting mine" He viii not marry Josephine
after her decline In rank. 1t Is no use to re.
mind him Of his official statement that Glove
Levels all Tanksn He replies ut
Some one remarks that Dick Deadeye Is shown
up as villain, because he is the only one on
board who has any common sense. II the poor
fellow remarks that It's a queer world, 1t is
shuddered at as revolutionary sentiment.
His only Villains deed Is betraying the lovers.
The Duet with the Captain, In which Dick an
fine bit of satire of Grand opera as the piece
contains. Ralph and Josephine are going s1m-
mediate, yet there seems to be plenty OF time
lor the refrain, "Sing, hey, the merry maiden
nbusiness" OF the scene, If we clap long enough.
Ralph and his lady are not quite the peers Of
Ine p1quant company In which we find them.
an tnat Lovers are 50 absurd per Sc That
less noticeable? What an obliging crowd
the chorus are How invariably they sympa-
thize with the last speaker Slmilar-mtnded
3 me grand finale. 80 joy, rapture unforeseen,
CT an Light operas. 1t is imperative that all
everything should be direfu1ly at skies and at
sevens.
That the composers have received little or no
compensation for their work, In America, is
wen Known. AprOpoS of this subject, Mr.. Sui
ivan, In recent letter to friend in New
4 0rK, says: II am beyond measure gratified at
4 lnaIOre'S success In America; but there is
OF matter OF great regret to me. Not the
% Oney question; for although don't for an in
s. ant pretend to assert that 1 should not prefer
TO De paid for my work, still my income is sum-
clently large for me to feel that payment in this
n ter Is secondary consideration" He then
roceeds, at some length, to state his grievance,
v ncn Is a purely musical one, namely: that we
90 not use the score as he wrote 1t. 1t is thor
oughly artistic view of the matter. II we have
r0thlDg more substantial to OfYer let us
Give three cheers and one cheer more
For the bright composers of the Pinafore.