Conductor
B. WALTON O'DONNELL
DAVID BUCHAN (pianoforte)
When Sullivan died in 1901 he left his last opera, The Emerald Isle, unfinished. Edward German was offered the commission to finish it, and so skilfully did he do his work that it is not easy for those who do not know to distinguish which of the music is Sullivan's and which is German's. Naturally, the next opera to be put on at the Savoy was one all by German, Merrie England, and this work ranks in charm and merit equally with the rest of the Savoy repertory. The book was by Basil Hood and deals with the days of Queen Elizabeth. It has been revived with great success and is now running at the Prince's Theatre, London.
DAVID BUCHAN
Short Improvisations on Themes just played by the Military Band
Round the Regions : Improvised Impressions on one of the foregoing tunes in styles peculiar to various parts of the British Isles
Rossini's last opera, William Tell, was a much more serious work than The Barber of Seville and the other lighthearted operas of his early career. The libretto is based on Schiller's famous play, and Rossini put his best effort into making the opera as dignified a work as the subject called for.
Where, in the play, room could be found for a ballet it is difficult to say, but no opera in those days, however serious, would have been tolerated in performance unless it provided for the appearance of the corps de ballet. William Tell was no exception to this inviolable rule.