Misplaced Pages

#147852

190-406: While the effects of the trend were likely most pronounced in the visual arts, they extended to architecture, landscaping and gardening, and clothing. Even the performing arts were affected; Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado is perhaps the best example. From the 1860s, ukiyo-e , Japanese woodblock prints , became a source of inspiration for many Western artists. These prints were created for

380-469: A hot air balloon for the first time in human history; this extraordinary feat which represented a turning point in human civilization was done by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier . On 27 April 1784, Pierre Beaumarchais 's play The Marriage of Figaro premiered in Paris. Initially banned by the king due to its negative portrayal of the nobility, the play was finally allowed to be publicly performed because of

570-558: A 2016 production, objections by the Asian-American community prompted them to reset the opera in Renaissance-era Milan , eliminating all references to Japan. Reviewers felt that the change resolved the issue. Among other productions that have experimented with varying the original setting, a 2022 staging by Gilbert & Sullivan Austin, titled The McAdo , relocated the action to Scotland. A reviewer from CTX Live Theater praised

760-550: A bird who died of heartbreak ("Tit-willow"). She agrees ("There is beauty in the bellow of the blast") and, once the ceremony is performed (by Pooh-Bah, the Registrar), she begs for the Mikado's mercy for him and his accomplices. Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum then reappear, sparking Katisha's fury. The Mikado is astonished that Nanki-Poo is alive, as the account of his execution had been given with such "affecting particulars". Ko-Ko explains that when

950-527: A consistent plot, free from anachronisms, constructed in perfect good faith & to the best of my ability." The stalemate was broken, and on 20 May, Gilbert sent Sullivan a sketch of the plot to The Mikado . It would take another ten months for The Mikado to reach the stage. A revised version of The Sorcerer coupled with their one-act piece Trial by Jury (1875) played at the Savoy while Carte and their audiences awaited their next work. Gilbert eventually found

1140-477: A craze for collecting Japanese art, particularly ukiyo-e . Some of the first samples of ukiyo-e were seen in Paris. During this time, European artists were seeking alternatives to the strict European academic methodologies. Around 1856, the French artist Félix Bracquemond encountered a copy of the sketch book Hokusai Manga at the workshop of his printer, Auguste Delâtre. In the years following this discovery, there

1330-531: A few select points such as the bridge or the lilies, he was influenced by traditional Japanese visual methods found in ukiyo-e prints, of which he had a large collection . He also planted a large number of native Japanese species to give it a more exotic feeling. In the United States, the fascination with Japanese art extended to collectors and museums creating significant collections which still exist and have influenced many generations of artists. The epicenter

1520-587: A journalist, "I cannot give you a good reason for our ... piece being laid in Japan. It ... afforded scope for picturesque treatment, scenery and costume, and I think that the idea of a chief magistrate, who is ... judge and actual executioner in one, and yet would not hurt a worm, may perhaps please the public." In an 1885 interview with the New-York Daily Tribune , Gilbert said that the short stature of Leonora Braham , Jessie Bond and Sybil Grey "suggested

1710-525: A known conjugal visit from the King. Courtiers at Versailles noted in their diaries that the date of the child's conception corresponded perfectly with a period when the King and the Queen had spent much time together, but these details were ignored amid attacks on the Queen's character. These suspicions of illegitimacy, along with the continued publication of the libelles and never-ending cavalcades of court intrigues,

1900-462: A makeover to bring her more in line with the fashion of French royalty. This included the straightening of her teeth by a French dentist, the diversification of her wardrobe, and hairstyles reminiscent of Madame de Pompadour . She was also instructed by Jean-Georges Noverre , who taught her to walk in the gliding fashion characteristic of the court of Versailles. Following the Seven Years' War and

2090-651: A miscarriage. In 1783 the Queen played a decisive role in the nomination of Charles Alexandre de Calonne , a close friend of the Polignacs , as Controller-General of Finances , and of the Baron de Breteuil as the Minister of the Royal Household, making him perhaps the strongest and most conservative minister of the reign. The result of these two nominations was that Marie Antoinette's influence became paramount in government, and

SECTION 10

#1733086082148

2280-412: A new libretto in which people fall in love against their wills after taking a magic lozenge, was surprised to hear of Sullivan's hesitation. He wrote to Sullivan asking him to reconsider, but the composer replied on 2 April 1884 that he had "come to the end of my tether" with the operas: I have been continually keeping down the music in order that not one [syllable] should be lost. ... I should like to set

2470-533: A new opera would be required within six months. Sullivan's close friend, the conductor Frederic Clay , had suffered a serious stroke in December 1883 that effectively ended his career. Reflecting on this, on his own precarious health, and on his desire to devote himself to more serious music, Sullivan replied to Carte that "it is impossible for me to do another piece of the character of those already written by Gilbert and myself". Gilbert, who had already started work on

2660-507: A place for his "lozenge plot" in The Mountebanks , written with Alfred Cellier in 1892. In 1914, Cellier and Bridgeman first recorded the familiar story of how Gilbert found his inspiration: Gilbert, having determined to leave his own country alone for a while, sought elsewhere for a subject suitable to his peculiar humour. A trifling accident inspired him with an idea. One day an old Japanese sword that, for years, had been hanging on

2850-400: A reference to the sexual prudishness of British culture". Crowther noted that production design and other features of traditionally staged productions of the opera often "do look somewhat insensitive, not to say insulting. ... It should [be possible] to avoid such things in the future, with a little sensitivity. ... G&S is about silliness, and fun, and ... mocking the powerful, and accepting

3040-407: A reliable source for the artistic practices and everyday scenes of Japanese life. Beginning in 1885, Van Gogh switched from collecting magazine illustrations, such as Régamey, to collecting ukiyo-e prints which could be bought in small Parisian shops. He shared these prints with his contemporaries and organized a Japanese print exhibition in Paris in 1887. Van Gogh's Portrait of Père Tanguy (1887)

3230-460: A result of all these fashion activities, Marie Antoinette presided over one of the most important and fashionable courts in history and she was dominant over all of the other ladies of the court; as for her bearing and appearance the queen was very majestic and charismatic in spite of the fact that she gained much weight over the years due to her many pregnancies. By the time of the Flour War of 1775,

3420-593: A royal command for an execution is given, the victim is, legally speaking, as good as dead, "and if he is dead, why not say so?" The Mikado deems that "Nothing could possibly be more satisfactory", and everyone in Titipu celebrates ("For he's gone and married Yum-Yum"). The Mikado had the longest original run of the Savoy Operas. It also had the quickest revival: after Gilbert and Sullivan's next work, Ruddigore , closed relatively quickly, three operas were revived to fill

3610-451: A rustic retreat built by her favoured architect, Richard Mique , according to the designs of the painter Hubert Robert . Its creation, however, caused another uproar when its cost became widely known. However, the hamlet was not an eccentricity of Marie Antoinette's. It was en vogue at the time for nobles to have recreations of small villages on their properties. In fact, the design was copied from that of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé . It

3800-536: A scene from the opera was made in 1902. This was followed in 1906 by a silent film of the opera by Gaumont Film Company . Sound film versions of 12 of the musical numbers from The Mikado were produced in Britain and presented as programmes in 1907 titled Highlights from The Mikado . Another production was released the same year by the Walturdaw Company, starring George Thorne as Ko-Ko. Both of these programmes used

3990-429: A schoolgirl called Yum-Yum, who is a ward of Ko-Ko (formerly a cheap tailor). One of the gentlemen, Pish-Tush, explains that when the Mikado decreed that flirting was a capital crime, the Titipu authorities frustrated the decree by appointing Ko-Ko, a prisoner condemned to death for flirting, to the post of Lord High Executioner ("Our great Mikado, virtuous man"). As Ko-Ko was the next prisoner scheduled to be decapitated,

SECTION 20

#1733086082148

4180-533: A series of riots, due to the high price of flour and bread, had damaged her reputation among the general public. Eventually, Marie Antoinette's reputation was no better than that of the favourites of previous kings. Many French people were beginning to blame her for the degrading economic situation, suggesting the country's inability to pay off its debt was the result of her wasting the crown's money. In her correspondence, Marie Antoinette's mother, Maria Theresa, expressed concern over her daughter's spending habits, citing

4370-459: A stalemate, and Gilbert wrote, "And so ends a musical & literary association of seven years' standing – an association of exceptional reputation – an association unequaled in its monetary results, and hitherto undisturbed by a single jarring or discordant element." But by 8 May 1884, Gilbert was ready to back down, writing: "am I to understand that if I construct another plot in which no supernatural element occurs, you will undertake to set it? ...

4560-546: A story of human interest & probability where the humorous words would come in a humorous (not serious) situation, & where, if the situation were a tender or dramatic one the words would be of similar character. Gilbert wrote that Sullivan's letter caused him "considerable pain". Sullivan responded that he could not set the "lozenge plot", stating that it was too similar to the plot of their 1877 opera The Sorcerer . As April 1884 wore on, Gilbert tried to modify his plot, but he could not satisfy Sullivan. The parties were at

4750-446: A succession of world's fairs displayed Japanese decorative art to millions, and it was picked up by galleries and fashionable stores. Writings by critics, collectors, and artists expressed considerable excitement about this "new" art. Collectors including Siegfried Bing and Christopher Dresser displayed and wrote about these works. Thus Japanese styles and themes reappeared in the work of Western artists and craftsmen. During most of

4940-481: A train of little ladies", " Three little maids from school "). Pooh-Bah does not think that the girls have shown him enough respect ("So please you, sir"). Nanki-Poo arrives and informs Ko-Ko of his love for Yum-Yum. Ko-Ko sends him away, but Nanki-Poo manages to meet with his beloved and reveals his secret to Yum-Yum: he is the son and heir of the Mikado, but travels in disguise to avoid the amorous advances of Katisha, an elderly lady of his father's court. They lament that

5130-490: A treatise, with his own ukiyo-e styled paintings. The primary Japanese exports were initially silver, which was prohibited after 1668, and gold, mostly in the form of oval coins, which was prohibited after 1763, and later copper in the form of copper bars. Japanese exports eventually decreased and shifted to craftwork such as ceramics, hand fans, paper, furniture, swords, armors, mother-of-pearl objects, folding screens , and lacquerware, which were already being exported. During

5320-450: A version of a Japanese military march song, called "Ton-yare Bushi", composed in the Meiji era . Giacomo Puccini later incorporated the same song into Madama Butterfly as the introduction to Yamadori, ancor le pene . The characters' names in the play are not Japanese names, but rather (in many cases) English baby-talk or simply dismissive exclamations. For instance, a pretty young thing

5510-568: A wide array of sources for inspiration. Among prints shown to Degas was a copy of Hokusai 's Manga , which Bracquemond had purchased after seeing it in Delâtre's workshop. The estimated date of Degas' adoption of japonismes into his prints is 1875, and it can be seen in his choice to divide individual scenes by placing barriers vertically, diagonally, and horizontally. Similar to many Japanese artists, Degas' prints focus on women and their daily routines. The atypical positioning of his female figures and

5700-441: Is meiosis , a drastic understatement of the situation. Other examples of this are when self-decapitation is described as "an extremely difficult, not to say dangerous, thing to attempt", and also as merely "awkward". When a discussion occurs of Nanki-Poo's life being "cut short in a month", the tone remains comic and only mock-melancholy. Burial alive is described as "a stuffy death". Finally, execution by boiling oil or by melted lead

5890-627: Is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert , their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations . It opened on 14 March 1885, in London , where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. By the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing

Japonisme - Misplaced Pages Continue

6080-478: Is a capital offence. Fortuitously, Ko-Ko discovers that Nanki-Poo, in despair over losing Yum-Yum, is preparing to commit suicide. After ascertaining that nothing would change Nanki-Poo's mind, Ko-Ko makes a bargain with him: Nanki-Poo may marry Yum-Yum for one month if, at the end of that time, he allows himself to be executed. Ko-Ko would then marry the young widow. Everyone arrives to celebrate Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum's union ("With aspect stern and gloomy stride"), but

6270-408: Is a comedy, yet it deals with themes of death and cruelty. This juxtaposition works because Gilbert treats these themes as trivial, even lighthearted issues. For instance, in the song "Our great Mikado, virtuous man", Pish-Tush sings: "The youth who winked a roving eye / Or breathed a non-connubial sigh / Was thereupon condemned to die – / He usually objected." The term for this rhetorical technique

6460-587: Is a portrait of his color merchant, Julien Tanguy. Van Gogh created two versions of this portrait. Both versions feature backdrops of Japanese prints by identifiable artists like Hiroshige and Kunisada . Inspired by Japanese woodblock prints and their colorful palettes, Van Gogh incorporated a similar vibrancy into his own works. He filled the portrait of Tanguy with vibrant colors as he believed that buyers were no longer interested in grey-toned Dutch paintings and that paintings with many colors would be considered modern and desirable. The Belgian painter Alfred Stevens

6650-636: Is described by the Mikado as a "humorous but lingering" punishment. Death is treated as a businesslike event in Gilbert's topsy-turvy world. Pooh-Bah calls Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, an "industrious mechanic". Ko-Ko also treats his bloody office as a profession, saying, "I can't consent to embark on a professional operation unless I see my way to a successful result." Of course, joking about death does not originate with The Mikado . The plot conceit that Nanki-Poo may marry Yum-Yum if he agrees to die at

6840-453: Is named Pitti-Sing ; the beautiful heroine is named Yum-Yum ; the pompous officials are Pooh-Bah and Pish-Tush ; the hero is called Nanki-Poo , baby-talk for " handkerchief ". The headsman 's name, Ko-Ko , is similar to that of the scheming Ko-Ko-Ri-Ko in Ba-ta-clan by Jacques Offenbach . The Japanese were ambivalent toward The Mikado for many years. Some Japanese critics saw

7030-457: Is not difficult to imagine how Asian-Americans found the racial cross-dressing unbearable, as it may have reminded them of painful incidents of discrimination that they face as a minority in America." The company redesigned its Mikado production and debuted the new concept in December 2016, receiving a warm review from The New York Times . After Lamplighters Music Theatre of San Francisco planned

7220-414: Is of the woman leaning on a closed umbrella, which is borrowed directly from Hokusai's Manga . Japanese art was exhibited in Britain beginning in the early 1850s. These exhibitions featured various Japanese objects, including maps, letters, textiles, and objects from everyday life. These exhibitions served as a source of national pride for Britain and served to create a separate Japanese identity apart from

7410-443: Is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history. A feature on Chicago Lyric Opera 's 2010 production noted that the opera "has been in constant production for the past 125 years", citing its "inherent humor and tunefulness". The Mikado has been admired by other composers. Dame Ethel Smyth wrote of Sullivan, "One day he presented me with a copy of the full score of The Golden Legend , adding: 'I think this

7600-470: Is performed twice, first by Nanki-Poo in a new early scene in which he serenades Yum-Yum at her window, and later in the traditional spot. A new prologue which showed Nanki-Poo fleeing in disguise was also added, and much of the Act II music was cut. In 1966, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company made a film version of The Mikado that closely reflected their traditional staging, although there are some minor cuts. It

7790-411: Is scheduled to marry Ko-Ko on the very day that he has returned ("Young man, despair"). Ko-Ko enters ("Behold the Lord High Executioner") and asserts himself by reading off a list of people "who would not be missed" if they were executed ("As some day it may happen"), such as people "who eat peppermint and puff it in your face". Yum-Yum appears with Ko-Ko's other two wards, Peep-Bo and Pitti-Sing ("Comes

Japonisme - Misplaced Pages Continue

7980-467: Is searching for his son. When they hear that the Mikado's son "goes by the name of Nanki-Poo", the three panic, and Ko-Ko says that Nanki-Poo "has gone abroad". Meanwhile, Katisha is reading the death certificate and notes with horror that the person executed was Nanki-Poo. The Mikado, though expressing understanding and sympathy ("See How the Fates"), discusses with Katisha the statutory punishment "for compassing

8170-475: Is set in a swanky 1920s English seaside hotel, with sets and costumes in black and white "as an homage to the Marx Brothers , Noël Coward , and Busby Berkeley ". Canada's Stratford Festival has produced The Mikado several times, first in 1963 and again in 1982 (revived in 1983 and 1984) and in 1993. The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime: The Mikado

8360-443: Is the best thing I've done, don't you?' and when truth compelled me to say that in my opinion The Mikado is his masterpiece, he cried out: 'O you wretch!' But though he laughed, I could see he was disappointed." The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to the company's 1982 closure: Role of Go-To added from April 1885 ²For

8550-611: The Abbaye du Pont-aux-Dames in Meaux , pleasing both his wife and aunts. Two and a half years later, at the end of October 1776, Madame du Barry's exile ended and she was allowed to return to her beloved château at Louveciennes , but she was never permitted to return to Versailles. On 10 May 1774, upon the death of Louis XV , the Dauphin ascended the throne as King Louis XVI of France and Navarre with Marie Antoinette as his queen consort . At

8740-571: The American Revolution by securing Austrian and Russian support for France, which resulted in the establishment of the First League of Armed Neutrality that stopped Britain's attack, and by weighing in decisively for the nomination of Philippe Henri, Marquis de Ségur , as Minister of War and Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix as Secretary of the Navy in 1780, who helped George Washington defeat

8930-684: The Chichibu Mikado was performed at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in England. Since the 1990s, some productions of the opera in the United States have drawn criticism from the Asian-American community as promoting "simplistic orientalist stereotypes". In 2014, after a production in Seattle , Washington, drew national attention to such criticism, the Gilbert biographer Andrew Crowther wrote that The Mikado "does not portray any of

9120-514: The Cinematophone sound-on-disc system to synchronize phonograph recordings ( Phonoscène ) of the performers singing and speaking with the silent footage of the performance. The first full-length film of the opera, called Fan Fan , was a 1918 silent film with a cast of children; theatres could show the film with live musical accompaniment. In 1926, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company made a brief promotional film of excerpts from The Mikado . Some of

9310-665: The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, Empress Maria Theresa decided to end hostilities with her longtime enemy, King Louis XV of France. Their common desire to destroy the ambitions of Prussia and Great Britain , and to secure a definitive peace between their respective countries led them to seal their alliance with a marriage: on 7 February 1770, Louis XV formally requested the hand of Maria Antonia for his eldest surviving grandson and heir, Louis Auguste , Duke of Berry and Dauphin of France . Maria Antonia formally renounced her rights to Habsburg domains, and on 19 April 1770 she

9500-617: The Duchess of Polignac . In 1774, she took under her patronage her former music teacher, the German opera composer Christoph Willibald Gluck , who remained in France until 1779. Amidst the atmosphere of a wave of libelles , the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II came to France incognito, using the name Comte de Falkenstein, for a six-week visit during which he toured Paris extensively and

9690-559: The Edo period (1603–1867), Japan was in a time of seclusion and only one international port remained active. Tokugawa Iemitsu ordered that an island, Dejima , be built off the shores of Nagasaki from which Japan could receive imports. The Dutch were the only Westerners able to engage in trade with the Japanese, yet this small amount of contact still allowed for Japanese art to influence the West. Every year

SECTION 50

#1733086082148

9880-566: The Franco-Austrian Alliance and Marie Antoinette's marriage, and in exiling his sister, the Duchess of Gramont , one of Marie Antoinette's ladies-in-waiting. Marie Antoinette was persuaded by her husband's aunts to refuse to acknowledge du Barry, which some saw as a political blunder that jeopardized Austria's interests at the French court. Marie Antoinette's mother and the Austrian ambassador to France, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau , who sent

10070-492: The International Exposition of 1867 in Paris, where Japanese art and objects appeared for the first time. From the mid-1860's, Japonisme became a fundamental element in many of Stevens' paintings. One of his most famous Japonisme-influenced works is La parisienne japonaise (1872). He realized several portraits of young women dressed in kimono , and Japanese elements feature in many other paintings of his, such as

10260-537: The Irish National Stud . Samuel Newsom's Japanese Garden Construction (1939) offered Japanese aesthetics as a corrective in the construction of rock gardens , which owed their quite separate origins in the West to the mid-19th century desire to grow alpines in an approximation of Alpine scree . According to the Garden History Society , Japanese landscape gardener Seyemon Kusumoto was involved in

10450-564: The Kaei era (1848–1854), after more than 200 years of seclusion , foreign merchant ships of various nationalities began to visit Japan. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan ended a long period of national isolation and became open to imports from the West, including photography and printing techniques. With this new opening in trade, Japanese art and artifacts began to appear in small curiosity shops in Paris and London. Japonisme began as

10640-513: The Nihon-shiki system, in which the name 秩父 appears as "Titibu". Thus, it is easy to surmise that "Titibu", found in the London press of 1884, became "Titipu" in the opera. Japanese researchers speculate that Gilbert may have heard of Chichibu silk, an important export in the 19th century. The town's Japanese-language adaptation of The Mikado has been revived several times throughout Japan and, in 2006,

10830-588: The Parlement of Paris , Rohan was found innocent of any wrongdoing and allowed to leave the Bastille . Marie Antoinette, who had insisted on the arrest of the Cardinal, was dealt a heavy personal blow, as was the monarchy, and despite the fact that the guilty parties were tried and convicted, the affair proved to be extremely damaging to her reputation, which never recovered from it. Suffering from an acute case of depression,

11020-583: The Temple Prison on 13 August 1792. On 21 September 1792, France was declared a republic and the monarchy was abolished . Louis XVI was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793. Marie Antoinette's trial began on 14 October 1793; two days later, she was convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of high treason and executed by beheading by guillotine on 16 October 1793 at the Place de la Révolution during

11210-618: The Théâtre de la Reine built for her by Richard Mique . Repayment of the French debt remained a difficult problem, further exacerbated by Vergennes and also by Marie Antoinette prodding Louis XVI to involve France in the American Revolutionary War . The primary motive for the queen's involvement in political affairs in this period may arguably have had more to do with court factionalism than any true interest on her part in politics themselves, but she played an important role in aiding

11400-463: The Théâtre de la Reine . She limited the audience to her intimate circle and a few musicians, among them the Chevalier de Saint-Georges . "Admitted to perform music with the Queen," Saint-Georges probably played his violin sonatas for two instruments, with Her Majesty playing the fortepiano . She also supported some scientific endeavours, encouraging and witnessing the first launch of a Montgolfière ,

11590-642: The Tribune interview, Gilbert also related that he and Sullivan had decided to cut the only solo sung by the opera's title character (who appears only in Act II, played by Savoy veteran Richard Temple ), but that members of the company and others who had witnessed the dress rehearsal "came to us in a body and begged us to restore the excised 'number'". Gentlemen of the fictitious Japanese town of Titipu are gathered ("If you want to know who we are"). A handsome but poor minstrel, Nanki-Poo, arrives and introduces himself ("A wand'ring minstrel I"). He inquires about his beloved,

SECTION 60

#1733086082148

11780-459: The château Trompette in Bordeaux. This was unpopular, particularly with those factions of the nobility who disliked the Queen, but also with a growing percentage of the population, who disapproved of a queen of France independently owning a private residence. The purchase of Saint-Cloud thus damaged the public's image of the Queen even further. The château's high price, almost 6 million livres , plus

11970-410: The 1896–97 revival, Temple returned to play The Mikado during January and February 1896, and again from November 1896 – February 1897. The Mikado has been recorded more often than any other Gilbert and Sullivan opera. Of those by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the 1926 recording is the best regarded. Of the modern recordings, the 1992 Mackerras/Telarc is admired. A three-minute silent film of

12160-613: The 1926 season and were used until 1982. Peter Goffin designed new sets in 1952. In America, as had happened with H.M.S. Pinafore , the first productions were unauthorised, but once D'Oyly Carte's American production opened in August 1885, it was a success, earning record profits, and Carte formed several companies to tour the show in North America. Burlesque and parody productions, including political parodies, were mounted. More than 150 unauthorised versions cropped up, and, as had been

12350-678: The American singer Kenny Baker as Nanki-Poo and Jean Colin as Yum-Yum. Many of the other leads and choristers were or had been members of the D'Oyly Carte company. The music was conducted by Geoffrey Toye , a former D'Oyly Carte music director, who was also the producer and was credited with the adaptation, which involved a number of cuts, additions and re-ordered scenes. Victor Schertzinger directed, and William V. Skall received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. Art direction and costume designs were by Marcel Vertès . There were some revisions – The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze

12540-589: The British fascination with Japan and the Far East in the 1880s. Gilbert wrote, "The Mikado of the opera was an imaginary monarch of a remote period and cannot by any exercise of ingenuity be taken to be a slap on an existing institution." The Mikado "was never a story about Japan but about the failings of the British government". By setting the opera in a foreign land, Gilbert felt able to more sharply criticise British society and institutions. G. K. Chesterton compared

12730-802: The British in the American Revolutionary War, which ended in 1783. Marie Antoinette's second pregnancy ended in a miscarriage early in July 1779, as confirmed by letters between the Queen and her mother, although some historians believed that she may have experienced bleeding related to an irregular menstrual cycle, which she mistook for a lost pregnancy. Her third pregnancy was affirmed in March 1781, and on 22 October she gave birth to Louis Joseph Xavier François , Dauphin of France. Empress Maria Theresa died on 29 November 1780 in Vienna. Marie Antoinette feared that

12920-497: The Dutch arrived in Japan with fleets of ships filled with Western goods for trade. The cargo included many Dutch treatises on painting and a number of Dutch prints. Shiba Kōkan (1747–1818) was one of the Japanese artists who studied the imports. Kōkan created one of the first etchings in Japan which was a technique he had learned from one of the imported treatises. Kōkan combined the technique of linear perspective , which he learned from

13110-483: The Empress secret reports on Marie Antoinette's behaviour, pressured Marie Antoinette to speak to Madame du Barry, which she grudgingly agreed to do on New Year's Day 1772. She merely commented to her, "There are a lot of people at Versailles today", but it was enough for Madame du Barry, who was satisfied with this recognition, and the crisis passed. Two days after the death of Louis XV in 1774, Louis XVI exiled du Barry to

13300-796: The English-speaking world and beyond since the 1880s. One production during World War I was given in the Ruhleben internment camp in Germany. After the Gilbert copyrights expired in 1962, the Sadler's Wells Opera mounted the first non-D'Oyly Carte professional production in England, with Clive Revill as Ko-Ko. Among the many professional revivals since then was an English National Opera production in 1986, with Eric Idle as Ko-Ko and Lesley Garrett as Yum-Yum, directed by Jonathan Miller . This production, which has been revived numerous times over three decades,

13490-639: The French Revolution. Marie Antoinette, full name Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, was born on 2 November 1755 at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna , Archduchy of Austria, at 20:30. She was the youngest daughter and 15th child of Empress Maria Theresa , ruler of the Habsburg monarchy , and her husband Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor . Maria Theresa gave birth to all of her previous children without any problems. During

13680-542: The Hofburg Palace and Schönbrunn , the imperial summer residence in Vienna, where on 13 October 1762, when she was seven, she met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , two months her junior and a child prodigy. Despite the private tutoring she received, the results of her schooling were less than satisfactory. At the age of 10 she could not write correctly in German or in any language commonly used at court, such as French or Italian, and conversations with her were stilted. Under

13870-502: The Japanese aesthetic [in the 1880s]." Gilbert sought authenticity in the Japanese setting, costumes, movements and gestures of the actors. To that end, he engaged some of the Japanese at the Knightsbridge village to advise on the production and to coach the actors. "The Directors and Native Inhabitants" of the village were thanked in the programme that was distributed on the first night. Sullivan inserted into his score, as "Miya sama",

14060-922: The Kabuki revolving stage in 1896 and ten years later Max Reinhardt employed it in the premiere of Frühlings Erwachen by Frank Wedekind . Soon this revolving stage was a trend in Berlin . Another adaptation of the Kabuki stage popular among German directors was the Blumensteg, a jutting extension of the stage into the audience. The European acquaintance with Kabuki came either from travels in Japan or from texts, but also from Japanese troupes touring Europe. In 1893, Kawakami Otojiro and his troupe of actors arrived in Paris, returning again in 1900 and playing in Berlin in 1902. Kawakami's troop performed two pieces, Kesa and Shogun, both of which were westernized and were performed without music and with

14250-550: The King began to seek the advice of his wife. In her new role and with increasing political power, the Queen tried to improve the awkward situation brewing between the Parlement and the King. This change of the queen's position signaled the end of the Polignacs' influence and their impact on the finances of the Crown. Continuing deterioration of the financial situation despite cutbacks to the royal retinue and court expenses ultimately forced

14440-616: The King, the Queen and the Controller-General of Finances, Charles Alexandre de Calonne , at the urging of Vergennes, to call a session of the Assembly of Notables , after a hiatus of 160 years. The assembly was held for the purpose of initiating necessary financial reforms, but the Assembly refused to cooperate. The first meeting took place on 22 February 1787, nine days after the death of Vergennes on 13 February. Marie Antoinette did not attend

14630-454: The Parisian populace and press. The measure also blocked the access of 'commoners', mainly sons of members of the professional classes, and of more recently elevated nobility to important positions in the armed forces. As such, the decree became an important grievance for social classes that had been habitually supportive of the monarchy and established order, and which went on to supply the bulk of

14820-416: The Polignacs' dominance at court, and also fueled the increasing popular disapproval of Marie Antoinette, mostly in Paris. De Mercy wrote to the empress: "It is almost unexampled that in so short a time, the royal favour should have brought such overwhelming advantages to a family". In June 1783, Marie Antoinette's new pregnancy was announced, but on the night of 1–2 November, her 28th birthday, she suffered

15010-519: The Queen was able to obtain her brother's support against Great Britain in the American Revolution and she neutralized French hostility to his alliance with Russia. In 1782, after the governess of the royal children, the Princesse de Guéméné , went bankrupt and resigned, Marie Antoinette appointed her favourite, the Duchess of Polignac , to the position. This decision met with disapproval from

15200-558: The Queen's support and its overwhelming popularity at court, where secret readings of it had been given by Marie Antoinette. The play was a disaster for the image of the monarchy and aristocracy. It inspired Mozart 's The Marriage of Figaro , which premiered in Vienna on 1 May 1786. On 24 October 1784, putting the Baron de Breteuil in charge of its acquisition, Louis XVI bought the Château de Saint-Cloud from Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans in

15390-724: The Revolution after the government placed the royal family under house arrest in the Tuileries Palace in October 1789. The June 1791 attempted flight to Varennes and her role in the War of the First Coalition were immensely damaging to her image among French citizens. On 10 August 1792, the attack on the Tuileries forced the royal family to take refuge at the Assembly , and they were imprisoned in

15580-457: The West as the graphic arts. During the Meiji era (1868–1912), Japanese pottery was exported around the world. From a long history of making weapons for samurai , Japanese metalworkers had achieved an expressive range of colours by combining and finishing metal alloys. Japanese cloissoné enamel reached its "golden age" from 1890 to 1910, producing items more advanced than ever before. These items were widely visible in nineteenth-century Europe:

15770-613: The actions of Joseph II in the Kettle War , the purchase of Saint-Cloud and the Affair of the Diamond Necklace combined to turn popular opinion sharply against the Queen, and the image of a licentious, spendthrift, empty-headed foreign queen was quickly taking root in the French psyche. A second daughter, her last child, Marie Sophie Hélène Béatrix , Madame Sophie , was born on 9 July 1786 and lived only eleven months until 19 June 1787. She

15960-492: The adaptation, writing that The Mikado ' s "story is universalizing and could be set anywhere on the planet in any society". Modern productions update some of the words and phrases in The Mikado . For example, two songs in the opera use the word " nigger ". In "As some day it may happen", often called the "list song", Ko-Ko names "the nigger serenader and the others of his race". In the Mikado's song, "A more humane Mikado",

16150-550: The advisability of grouping them as three Japanese school-girls", the opera's "three little maids". He also recounted that a young Japanese lady, a tea server at the Japanese Village, came to rehearsals to coach the three women in Japanese dance. On 12 February 1885, one month before The Mikado opened, The Illustrated London News wrote about the opening of the Japanese Village noting, among other things, that "the graceful, fantastic dancing featured ... three little maids!" In

16340-431: The age of 13, important writing skills. Nonetheless, he also complimented her, stating "her character, her heart, are excellent". He found her "more intelligent than has been generally supposed," but since "she is rather lazy and extremely frivolous, she is hard to teach". Under the recommendation of Étienne François de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul , a strong supporter of her prospective marriage, Maria Antonia also received

16530-453: The audience) is kept fixed with gruesome persistence... [Gilbert] has unquestionably succeeded in imbuing society with his own quaint, scornful, inverted philosophy; and has thereby established a solid claim to rank amongst the foremost of those latter-day Englishmen who have exercised a distinct psychical influence upon their contemporaries." The opera is named after the Emperor of Japan using

16720-401: The birth of her last daughter, serious complications arose, and doctors even feared for the life of the mother. Her godparents were Joseph I and Mariana Victoria , King and Queen of Portugal; Archduke Joseph and Archduchess Maria Anna acted as proxies for their newborn sister. Maria Antonia was born on All Souls' Day , a Catholic day of mourning, and during her childhood her birthday

16910-496: The brief conflict, with the Queen imposing French mediation at her mother's insistence and Austria's gaining the Innviertel territory of at least 100,000 inhabitants—a strong retreat from the early French position which was hostile towards Austria. This gave the impression, partially justified, that the Queen had sided with Austria against France. Meanwhile, the Queen began to institute changes in court customs. Some of them met with

17100-487: The broad idea,' as he said later. His journalistic mind, always quick to seize on topicalities, turned to a Japanese Exhibition which had recently been opened in the neighbourhood. Gilbert had seen the little Japanese men and women from the Exhibition shuffling in their exotic robes through the streets of Knightsbridge. Now he sat at his writing desk and picked up the quill pen. He began making notes in his plot-book. The story

17290-492: The case with Pinafore , Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan could do nothing to prevent them or to capture any license fees, since there was no international copyright treaty at the time. Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte tried various techniques for gaining an American copyright that would prevent unauthorised productions. The U.S. courts held, however, that the act of publication made the opera freely available for production by anyone. In Australia, The Mikado 's first authorised performance

17480-409: The characters as being 'racially inferior' or indeed fundamentally any different from British people. The point of the opera is to reflect British culture through the lens of an invented 'other', a fantasy Japan that has only the most superficial resemblance to reality." For example, the starting point for the plot of The Mikado is "an invented 'Japanese' law against flirting, which makes sense only as

17670-416: The child and to a noticeable decline of the Queen's reputation in public opinion. The majority of Marie Antoinette's and Louis XVII's biographers believe that the young prince was the biological son of Louis XVI, including Stefan Zweig and Antonia Fraser , who believe that Fersen and Marie Antoinette were indeed romantically involved. Fraser has also noted that the birthdate matches up perfectly with

17860-696: The civil unrest it was beginning to cause. As early as 1774, Marie Antoinette had begun to befriend some of her male admirers, such as the Baron de Besenval , the Duc de Coigny , and Count Valentin Esterházy , and also formed deep friendships with various ladies at court. Most noted was Marie-Louise, Princesse de Lamballe , related to the royal family through her marriage into the Penthièvre family . On 19 September 1774, she appointed her superintendent of her household, an appointment she soon transferred to her new favourite,

18050-467: The commercial market in Japan. Although a percentage of prints were brought to the West through Dutch trade merchants, it was not until the 1860s that ukiyo-e prints gained popularity in Europe. Western artists were intrigued by the original use of color and composition. Ukiyo-e prints featured dramatic foreshortening and asymmetrical compositions. Japanese decorative arts , including ceramics , enamels, metalwork, and lacquerware , were as influential in

18240-499: The country was facing a grave financial crisis and the population was suffering. Rose Bertin created dresses for her, and hairstyles such as poufs , up to three feet (90 cm) high, and the panache — a spray of feather plumes. She and her court also adopted the English fashion of dresses made of indienne , a material banned in France from 1686 until 1759 to protect local French woolen and silk industries, percale and muslin . As

18430-486: The court as the duchess was considered to be of too modest origins to occupy such an exalted position. In contrast, both the king and the queen trusted Madame de Polignac completely, gave her a thirteen-room apartment in Versailles and paid her well. The entire Polignac family benefited greatly from royal favour in titles and positions, but its sudden wealth and lavish lifestyle outraged most aristocratic families, who resented

18620-464: The death of Louis XV, the king gave his wife the Petit Trianon , a small château on the grounds of Versailles that had been built by Louis XV for his mistress, Madame de Pompadour . Louis XVI allowed Marie Antoinette to renovate it to suit her own tastes; soon rumours circulated that she had plastered the walls with gold and diamonds. The Queen spent heavily on fashion, luxuries, and gambling, though

18810-458: The death of her mother would jeopardise the Franco-Austrian alliance, as well as, ultimately, herself, but her brother, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, wrote to her that he had no intention of breaking the alliance. A second visit from Joseph II, which took place in July 1781 to reaffirm the Franco-Austrian alliance and also to see his sister, was tainted by false rumours that Marie Antoinette

19000-546: The death of the heir apparent" to the Imperial throne – something lingering, "with boiling oil ... or melted lead". With the three conspirators facing painful execution, Ko-Ko pleads with Nanki-Poo to reveal himself to his father. Nanki-Poo fears that Katisha will demand his execution if she finds he is alive, but he suggests that if Katisha could be persuaded to marry Ko-Ko, then Nanki-Poo could safely "come to life again", as Katisha would have no claim on him ("The flowers that bloom in

19190-497: The dedication to reality in his prints aligned him with Japanese printmakers such as Hokusai, Utamaro , and Sukenobu . In Degas' print Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery (1879–80), the artist uses of two figures, one seated and one standing, which is a common composition in Japanese prints. Degas also continued to use lines to create depth and separate space within the scene. His most clear appropriation

19380-422: The depiction of the title character as a disrespectful representation of the revered Meiji Emperor ; Japanese theatre was prohibited from depicting the emperor on stage. Japanese Prince Komatsu Akihito , who saw an 1886 production in London, took no offence. When Prince Fushimi Sadanaru made a state visit in 1907, the British government banned performances of The Mikado from London for six weeks, fearing that

19570-752: The development of around 200 gardens in the UK. In 1937, he exhibited a rock garden at the Chelsea Flower Show , and worked on the Burngreave Estate at Bognor Regis, a Japanese garden at Cottered in Hertfordshire, and courtyards at Du Cane Court in London. The impressionist painter Claude Monet modelled parts of his garden in Giverny after Japanese elements, such as the bridge over the lily pond, which he painted numerous times. In this series , by detailing just on

19760-410: The disapproval of the older generation, such as the abandonment of heavy make-up and the popular wide-hooped panniers . The new fashion called for a simpler feminine look, typified first by the rustic robe à la polonaise style and later by the gaulle , a layered muslin dress Marie Antoinette wore in a 1783 Vigée-Le Brun portrait. In 1780 she began to participate in amateur plays and musicals in

19950-453: The early La Dame en Rose (1866), which combines a view of a fashionably dressed woman in an interior with a detailed examination of Japanese objects, and The Psyché (1871), wherein on a chair there sit Japanese prints, indicating his artistic passion. In the 1860s, Edgar Degas began to collect Japanese prints from La Porte Chinoise and other small print shops in Paris. His contemporaries had begun to collect prints as well, which gave him

20140-570: The early leadership of the French Revolution. Count Axel von Fersen , after his return from America in June 1783, was accepted into the Queen's private society. There were claims that the two were romantically involved, but since most of their correspondence has been lost, destroyed, or redacted, for many years there was no conclusive evidence. Starting in 2016, scientists at the Centre for Research and Restoration of Museums of France (CRCC), uncovered some of

20330-406: The end of the month was used in A Wife for a Month , a 17th-century play by John Fletcher . Ko-Ko's final speech affirms that death has been, throughout the opera, a fiction, a matter of words that can be dispelled with a phrase or two: being dead and being "as good as dead" are equated. In a review of the original production of The Mikado , after praising the show generally, the critic noted that

20520-597: The era of seclusion, Japanese goods remained a luxury sought after by European elites. The production of Japanese porcelain increased in the seventeenth century, after Korean potters were brought to the Kyushu area. The immigrants, their descendants, and Japanese counterparts unearthed kaolin clay mines and began to make high quality pottery. The blend of traditions evolved into a distinct Japanese industry with styles such as Imari ware and Kakiemon . They would later influence European and Chinese potters. The exporting of porcelain

20710-409: The exotic wares, but the ownership of a few pieces was possible for a wide and increasing social range of the middle class. Marie Antoinette  and  Maria Theresa  are known collectors of Japanese lacquerware, and their collections are often exhibited in the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles. The European imitation of Asian lacquerwork is referred to as Japanning . During

20900-487: The far east, gleaned by Gilbert from the glimpses of Japanese fashion and art that immediately followed the beginning of trade between the two island empires, and during rehearsals Gilbert visited the popular Japanese exhibition in Knightsbridge , London. A critic wrote in 2016: "It has been argued that the theatricality of the show was ... a tribute on the part of Gilbert and Sullivan to the growing British appreciation of

21090-503: The festivities are interrupted by the arrival of Katisha, who has come to claim Nanki-Poo as her husband. But the townspeople are sympathetic to the young couple, and Katisha's attempts to reveal Nanki-Poo's secret are drowned out by their shouting. Outwitted but not defeated, Katisha makes clear that she intends to be avenged. Yum-Yum's friends are preparing her for her wedding ("Braid the raven hair"). She muses on her own beauty ("The sun whose rays"), but Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo remind her of

21280-476: The festivities, the day ended with the ritual bedding . The couple's longtime failure to consummate the marriage plagued the reputations of the royal couple for the next seven years. The initial reaction to the marriage between Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI was mixed. On the one hand, the Dauphine was beautiful, personable and well-liked by the common people. Her first official appearance in Paris on 8 June 1773

21470-452: The first authorised American production in New York. From then on, The Mikado was a constant presence on tour. From 1885 until the company's closure in 1982, there was no year in which a D'Oyly Carte company (or several of them) was not presenting it. The Mikado was revived again while The Grand Duke was in preparation. When it became clear that that opera was not a success, The Mikado

21660-473: The fundamental absurdity of life". Some commentators dismissed the criticism as political correctness but a public discussion of the issue in Seattle a month later drew a large crowd who nearly all agreed that, although works like The Mikado should not be abandoned in their traditional form, there should be "some kind of contextualizing apparatus to show that the producers and performers are at least thinking about

21850-466: The gardens of any country, teaching, as it does, how to convert into a poem or picture a composition, which, with all its variety of detail, otherwise lacks unity and intent. Tassa (Saburo) Eida created several influential gardens, two for the Japan–British Exhibition in London in 1910 and one built over four years for William Walker, 1st Baron Wavertree . The latter can still be visited at

22040-403: The geisha was reduced to the level of other objects signifying Japan in the drama, Japanese performers in Germany served German play wrights in their quest to renew the German drama. Just as ukiyo-e had proven useful in France, severed from any understanding of Japan, the troupes of Japanese actors and dancers that toured Europe provided materials for "a new way of dramatizing" on stage. Ironically,

22230-722: The generalized "Orient" cultural identity. James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American artist who worked primarily in Britain. During the late 19th century, Whistler began to reject the Realist style of painting that his contemporaries favored. Instead, he found simplicity and technicality in the Japanese aesthetic. Rather than copying specific artists and artworks, Whistler was influenced by general Japanese methods of articulation and composition, which he integrated into his works. The first popular stagings of Asia were depictions of Japan from England . The comic opera Kosiki (originally titled The Mikado but renamed after protest from Japan)

22420-471: The inexperienced—then still only 22-year-old—Louis XVI had confided in him the course of action he had been undertaking in their marital bed; saying Louis XVI "introduces the member," but then "stays there without moving for about two minutes," withdraws without having completed the act and "bids goodnight." Suggestions that Louis suffered from phimosis , which was relieved by circumcision , have been discredited. Nevertheless, following Joseph's intervention,

22610-693: The interregnum until The Yeomen of the Guard was ready, including The Mikado , just 17 months after its first run closed. On 4 September 1891, D'Oyly Carte's touring "C" company gave a Royal Command Performance of The Mikado at Balmoral Castle before Queen Victoria and the Royal Family. The original set design was by Hawes Craven , with men's costumes by C. Wilhelm . The first provincial production of The Mikado opened on 27 July 1885 in Brighton , with several members of that company leaving in August to present

22800-488: The jewelers Boehmer and Bassenge of the price of an expensive diamond necklace they had originally created for Madame du Barry . The main actors in the scandal were Cardinal de Rohan , Prince de Rohan-Guéméné , Grand Almoner of France , and Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy , Countess de La Motte, a descendant of an illegitimate child of Henry II of France of the House of Valois . Marie Antoinette had profoundly disliked Rohan since

22990-463: The lady who modifies her appearance excessively is to be punished by being "blacked like a nigger with permanent walnut juice". These references are to white performers in blackface minstrel shows , a popular entertainment in the Victorian era, rather than to dark-skinned people. Until well into the 20th century, British people did not consider the word "nigger" offensive. Audience members objected to

23180-574: The law forbids them to flirt ("Were you not to Ko-Ko plighted"). Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah receive news that the Mikado has just decreed that unless an execution is carried out in Titipu within a month, the town will be reduced to the rank of a village, which would bring "irretrievable ruin". Pooh-Bah and Pish-Tush point to Ko-Ko himself as the obvious choice for beheading, since he was already under sentence of death ("I am so proud"). But Ko-Ko argues that it would be "extremely difficult, not to say dangerous", for someone to attempt to behead himself, and that suicide

23370-461: The limited duration of her approaching union with Nanki-Poo. Joined by Nanki-Poo and Pish-Tush, they try to keep their spirits up ("Brightly dawns our wedding-day"), but soon Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah enter to inform them of a twist in the law that states that when a married man is beheaded for flirting, his wife must be buried alive ("Here's a how-de-do"). Yum-Yum is unwilling to marry under these circumstances, and so Nanki-Poo challenges Ko-Ko to behead him on

23560-458: The little list song, to take advantage of opportunities for topical jokes. Richard Suart , a singer well known in the role of Ko-Ko, published a book containing a history of rewrites of the little list song, including many of his own. As soon as the opera premiered, Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte began to license numerous products that used the opera's name, characters, lyrics, lines and designs, not just for licensing fees, but to drive ticket sales;

23750-437: The majority of the dialogue eliminated. This being the case, these performances tended toward pantomime and dance. Dramatists and critics quickly latched on to what they saw as a “re-theatricalization of the theater.” Among the actors in these plays was Sada Yacco , first Japanese star in Europe, who influenced pioneers of modern dance such as Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan ; she performed for Queen Victoria in 1900, and enjoyed

23940-592: The male chorus, the female dancing chorus and the orchestra were Japanese. General Douglas MacArthur banned a large-scale professional 1947 Tokyo production by an all-Japanese cast, but other productions have occurred in Japan. For example, the opera was performed at the Ernie Pyle Theatre in Tokyo in 1970, presented by the Eighth Army Special Service. In 2001, the town of Chichibu (秩父), Japan, under

24130-449: The marriage was finally consummated in August 1777. Eight months later, in April 1778, it was suspected that the queen was pregnant, which was officially announced on 16 May. Marie Antoinette's daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte , Madame Royale , was born at Versailles on 19 December 1778. The child's paternity was contested in the libelles , as were all her children's. In the middle of

24320-412: The meeting and her absence resulted in accusations that the Queen was trying to undermine its purpose. The Assembly was a failure. It did not pass any reforms and, instead, fell into a pattern of defying the King. On the urging of the Queen, Louis XVI dismissed Calonne on 8 April 1787. On 1 May 1787 Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne , Archbishop of Toulouse and one of the queen's political allies

24510-457: The most famous Savoyards of the day are seen in this film, including Darrell Fancourt as The Mikado, Henry Lytton as Ko-Ko, Leo Sheffield as Pooh-Bah, Elsie Griffin as Yum-Yum, and Bertha Lewis as Katisha. In 1939, Universal Pictures released a ninety-minute film adaptation of The Mikado . Made in Technicolor , the film stars Martyn Green as Ko-Ko, Sydney Granville as Pooh-Bah,

24700-829: The music, but also to "the wholly original stage performance, unique of its kind, by Mr D'Oyly Carte's artists ... riveting the eye and ear with its exotic allurement." The Mikado was performed more than 200 times in Berlin alone by 1891 and 100 times in Vienna, of just one of the translations available, by 1894; Sullivan went to Berlin in 1900 to conduct the opera at the Royal Opera as a command performance for Kaiser Wilhelm II . Productions continued in German-speaking countries, both authorised and unauthorised by D'Oyly Carte, and productions were also seen in France, Holland, Hungary, Spain, Belgium, Scandinavia, Russia and elsewhere. Thousands of amateur productions have been mounted throughout

24890-468: The name of "Tokyo Theatre Company", produced an adaptation of The Mikado in Japanese. Locals believe that Chichibu was the town Gilbert had in mind when he named his setting "Titipu", but there is no contemporary evidence for this theory. Although the Hepburn system of transliteration (in which the name of the town appears as "Chichibu") is usually found today, it was very common in the 19th century to use

25080-416: The name of his wife, which she wanted due to their expanding family. She wanted to be able to own her own property, one that was actually hers, to then have the authority to bequeath it to "whichever of my children I wish," choosing the child she thought could use it rather than it going through patriarchal inheritance laws or whims. It was proposed that the cost could be covered by other sales, such as that of

25270-477: The necklace as a gift to Marie Antoinette, for him to gain the queen's favour. When the affair was discovered, those involved, except de La Motte and Rétaux de Villette, who both managed to flee, were arrested, tried, convicted, and either imprisoned or exiled. Madame de La Motte was sentenced for life to confinement in the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital , which also served as a prison for women. Judged by

25460-472: The new ministers rejected any major change to the structure of the old regime. More than that, the decree by de Ségur , the minister of war, requiring four quarterings of nobility as a condition for the appointment of officers, mainly served the interest of older noble families including poorer provincial ones, who were widely seen as a reactionary interest group by ambitious members of the middle and professional classes, by some more recent nobility, and even by

25650-411: The opera brought on a slew of Madame Something or Others, including Madames Cherry, Espirit, Flott, Flirt, Wig-Wag, Leichtsinn, and Tip Top, all of whom appeared around 1904 and disappeared relatively quickly. They were not without lasting effect, however, and the geisha had established herself among the scrolls, jade, and images of Mount Fuji that signified Japan to the West. Much as this human figure of

25840-518: The opera's satire to that in Jonathan Swift 's Gulliver's Travels : "Gilbert pursued and persecuted the evils of modern England till they had literally not a leg to stand on, exactly as Swift did. ... I doubt if there is a single joke in the whole play that fits the Japanese. But all the jokes in the play fit the English. ... About England, Pooh-bah is something more than a satire; he is the truth." The opera's setting draws on Victorian notions of

26030-472: The opera. The Mikado is the most internationally successful Savoy opera and has been especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has been translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history. The Mikado is a satire of late 19th century British institutions, society and politics. By setting the opera in a fantasy Japan, an exotic locale far away from contemporary Britain, Gilbert

26220-413: The orchestra and noted, "Knowing how fine this cast can be in its proper medium, one regrets the impression this Mikado will make on those not fortunate enough to have watched the company in the flesh. The cameras have captured everything about the company's acting except its magic." Video recordings of The Mikado include a 1972 offering from Gilbert and Sullivan for All ; the 1982 Brent-Walker film;

26410-449: The outset, the new queen had limited political influence with her husband, who, with the support of his two most important ministers, Chief Minister Maurepas and Foreign Minister Vergennes , blocked several of her candidates from assuming important positions, including Choiseul. The queen did play a decisive role in the disgrace and exile of the most powerful of Louis XV's ministers, the Duc d'Aiguillon . On 24 May 1774, two weeks after

26600-406: The play might offend him – a manoeuvre that backfired when the prince complained that he had hoped to see The Mikado during his stay. A Japanese journalist covering the prince's stay attended a proscribed performance and confessed himself "deeply and pleasingly disappointed." Expecting "real insults" to his country, he had found only "bright music and much fun." After World War II , The Mikado

26790-591: The popularity and influence of these Japanese dramas had a great deal to do with the westernization of the Japanese theater in general and of the pieces performed in Europe in particular. Invented for the Kabuki theatre in Japan in the 18th century, the revolving stage was introduced into Western theater at the Residenz theatre in Munich in 1896 under the influence of japonism fever. The Japanese influence on German drama first appeared in stage design. Karl Lautenschlager adopted

26980-502: The problems in the work". In 2015 a planned production by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players was withdrawn after its publicity materials ignited a similar protest in the Asian-American blogosphere. A Tokyo-based writer who was sympathetic to Gilbert and Sullivan's original setting of the opera later noted: "While as a Japanese residing in Japan I am not offended by the production photos [that offended many Asian-Americans], it

27170-427: The provinces who dresses like a guy", where guy refers to the dummy that is part of Guy Fawkes Night , meaning a tasteless woman who dresses like a scarecrow . In the 1908 revival Gilbert allowed substitutions for "the lady novelist". To avoid distracting the audience with references that have become offensive over time, lyrics are sometimes modified in modern productions. Changes are also often made, especially in

27360-451: The queen and a variety of other nobles in a political statement decrying the immoral practices of the court. As time went on, these came to focus more on the queen. They described amorous encounters with a wide range of figures, from the Duchess of Polignac to Louis XV. As these attacks increased, they were connected with the public's dislike of her association with the rival nation of Austria. It

27550-537: The queen's pregnancy, two events occurred which had a profound effect on her later life: the return of her friend, the Swedish diplomat Count Axel von Fersen the Younger to Versailles for two years, and her brother's claim to the throne of Bavaria , contested by Saxony and Prussia. Marie Antoinette pleaded with her husband for the French to intercede on behalf of Austria. The Peace of Teschen , signed on 13 May 1779, ended

27740-401: The redacted text of the queen's letters to Fersen. The revealed texts do not mention a physical relationship, but do confirm a very strong emotional relationship. Around this time, pamphlets describing farcical sexual deviance including the Queen and her friends in the court were growing in popularity around the country. The Portefeuille d'un talon rouge was one of the earliest, including

27930-438: The ruler has come to see whether an execution has been carried out. Aided by Pitti-Sing and Pooh-Bah, he graphically describes the supposed execution ("The criminal cried") and hands the Mikado the certificate of death, signed and sworn to by Pooh-Bah as coroner. Ko-Ko notes slyly that most of the town's important officers (that is, Pooh-Bah) were present at the ceremony. But the Mikado has come about an entirely different matter: he

28120-433: The show "was by far the most successful example [of merchandising] in the 19th century". Mikado trading cards were created that advertised various products. Other Mikado products included figurines, fabrics, jewelry, perfumes, puzzles, toothpaste, soap, games, wallpaper, corsets, sewing thread and stoves. The Mikado became the most frequently performed Savoy Opera and has been translated into numerous languages. It

28310-414: The show's humour nevertheless depends on "unsparing exposure of human weaknesses and follies – things grave and even horrible invested with a ridiculous aspect – all the motives prompting our actions traced back to inexhaustible sources of selfishness and cowardice... Decapitation, disembowelment, immersion in boiling oil or molten lead are the eventualities upon which [the characters'] attention (and that of

28500-504: The spot. It turns out that the soft-hearted Ko-Ko has never executed anyone and cannot execute Nanki-Poo. Instead, he sends Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum away to be wed (by Pooh-Bah, as Archbishop of Titipu), promising to present to the Mikado a false affidavit in evidence of the fictitious execution. The Mikado and Katisha arrive in Titipu accompanied by a large procession ("Mi-ya Sa-Ma", "From Every Kind of Man"). The Mikado describes his system of justice ("A more humane Mikado"). Ko-Ko assumes that

28690-784: The spread of information regarding Japanese art and techniques. Ukiyo-e prints were one of the main Japanese influences on Western art. Western artists were inspired by the different uses of compositional space, flattening of planes, and abstract approaches to color. An emphasis on diagonals, asymmetry, and negative space can be seen in the works of Western artists who were influenced by this style. Vincent van Gogh 's interest in Japanese prints began when he discovered illustrations by Félix Régamey featured in The Illustrated London News and Le Monde Illustré . Régamey created woodblock prints, followed Japanese techniques, and often depicted scenes of Japanese life. Van Gogh used Régamey as

28880-406: The spring"). Though Katisha is "something appalling", Ko-Ko has no choice: it is marriage to Katisha or painful death for himself, Pitti-Sing and Pooh-Bah. Ko-Ko finds Katisha mourning her loss ("Alone, and yet alive") and throws himself on her mercy. He begs for her hand in marriage, saying that he has long harboured a passion for her. Katisha initially rebuffs him, but is soon moved by his story of

29070-452: The status of a European star. The aesthetic of Japanese gardens was introduced to the English-speaking world by Josiah Conder 's Landscape Gardening in Japan ( Kelly & Walsh , 1893), which sparked the first Japanese gardens in the West. A second edition was published in 1912. Conder's principles have sometimes proved hard to follow: Robbed of its local garb and mannerisms, the Japanese method reveals aesthetic principles applicable to

29260-404: The substantial extra cost of redecorating, ensured that much less money was going towards repaying France's substantial debt. On 27 March 1785, Marie Antoinette gave birth to a second son, Louis Charles, who bore the title of Duke of Normandy . The fact that the birth occurred exactly nine months after Fersen's return did not escape the attention of many, leading to doubt as to the parentage of

29450-471: The teaching of Christoph Willibald Gluck , Maria Antonia developed into a good musician. She learned to play the harp , the harpsichord and the flute . She sang during the family's evening gatherings, as she was known to have had a beautiful voice. She also excelled at dancing, had "exquisite" poise, and loved dolls. The death of her older sister Maria Josepha from smallpox during the epidemic in Vienna in October 1767 made an everlasting impression on

29640-437: The term mikado (御門 or 帝 or みかど), literally meaning "the honourable gate" of the imperial palace, referring metaphorically to its occupant and to the palace itself. The term was commonly used by the English in the 19th century but became obsolete. To the extent that the opera portrays Japanese culture, style and government, it is a fictional version of Japan used to provide a picturesque setting and to capitalise on Japonism and

29830-420: The throne as Louis XVI and she became queen. As queen, Marie Antoinette became increasingly a target of criticism by opponents of the domestic and foreign policies of Louis XVI, and those opposed to the monarchy in general. The French libelles accused her of being profligate, promiscuous, having illegitimate children, and harboring sympathies for France's perceived enemies, including her native Austria . She

30020-553: The time he had been the French ambassador to Vienna when she was a child. Despite his high clerical position at the Court, she never addressed a word to him. Others involved were Nicole Lequay , alias Baronne d'Oliva , a prostitute who happened to look like Marie Antoinette; Rétaux de Villette , a forger; Alessandro Cagliostro , an Italian adventurer; and the Count de La Motte, Jeanne de Valois' husband. Madame de La Motte tricked Rohan into buying

30210-467: The title character to the stock characters representing Japan, the figure of the geisha belongs to the "objects" which in and of themselves meant Japan in Germany and throughout the West. The period from 1904 to 1918 saw a European boom in geisha dramas. The most famous of these was, Puccini 's opera Madama Butterfly . In 1900, Puccini saw a staging of David Belasco 's play of the same name and reportedly found it so moving that he wept. The popularity of

30400-408: The town authorities reasoned that he could "not cut off another's head until he cut his own off", and since Ko-Ko was not likely to execute himself, no executions could take place. But all the town officials, except the haughty nobleman Pooh-Bah, proved too proud to serve under an ex-tailor and resigned. Pooh-Bah now holds all their posts and collects all their salaries. He informs Nanki-Poo that Yum-Yum

30590-421: The wall of his study, fell from its place. This incident directed his attention to Japan. Just at that time a company of Japanese had arrived in England and set up a little village of their own in Knightsbridge . The story is an appealing one, but it is largely fictional. Gilbert was interviewed twice about his inspiration for The Mikado . In both interviews the sword was mentioned, and in one of them he said it

30780-423: The well-regarded 1984 Stratford Festival video; and the 1986 English National Opera production (abridged). Opera Australia have released videos of their 1987 and 2011 productions. Since the 1990s, several professional productions have been recorded on video by the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival . The Mikado was adapted as a children's book by W. S. Gilbert titled The Story of The Mikado , which

30970-428: The word during the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's 1948 American tour, however, and Rupert D'Oyly Carte asked A. P. Herbert to supply revised wording. These alterations have been incorporated into the opera's libretto and score since then. Also included in the little list song are "the lady novelist" (referring to writers of fluffy romantic novels; these had been lampooned earlier by George Eliot ) and "the lady from

31160-400: The writer is from the incident, the more graphically it is recalled." Leslie Baily , for instance, told it this way in 1952: A day or so later Gilbert was striding up and down his library in the new house at Harrington Gardens, fuming at the impasse, when a huge Japanese sword decorating the wall fell with a clatter to the floor. Gilbert picked it up. His perambulations stopped. 'It suggested

31350-512: The young Maria Antonia. Maria Antonia, in her later life, recalled the ailing Maria Josepha taking her in her arms. She told her that she would not be traveling to Naples to marry King Ferdinand IV of Naples , to whom she was betrothed, but for the family vault . Later in 1768, Mathieu-Jacques de Vermond was dispatched by Louis XV to tutor Marie Antoinette as she became the future wife to Louis XVI. Serving as an educator, Abbé de Vermond found her to be unsatisfactorily educated and lacking in, at

31540-401: Was Princess Ida (1884), which ran for nine months, a short duration by Savoy opera standards. When ticket sales for Princess Ida showed early signs of flagging, the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte realised that, for the first time since 1877, no new Gilbert and Sullivan work would be ready when the old one closed. On 22 March 1884, Carte gave Gilbert and Sullivan contractual notice that

31730-519: Was married by proxy with Louis Auguste at the Augustinian Church, Vienna , with her brother Archduke Ferdinand standing in for the Dauphin. On 14 May 1770 she met her husband at the edge of the forest of Compiègne . Upon her arrival in France, she adopted the French version of her name: Marie Antoinette. A further ceremonial wedding took place on 16 May 1770 in the Palace of Versailles and, after

31920-519: Was Gilbert's last literary work. It is a retelling of The Mikado with various changes to simplify language or make it more suitable for children. For example, in the "little list" song, the phrase "society offenders" is changed to "inconvenient people", and the second verse is largely rewritten. Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette ( / ˌ æ n t w ə ˈ n ɛ t , ˌ ɒ̃ t -/ ; French: [maʁi ɑ̃twanɛt] ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793)

32110-537: Was a guest at Versailles. He met his sister and her husband on 18 April 1777 at the Château de la Muette , and spoke frankly to his brother-in-law, curious as to why the royal marriage had not been consummated, arriving at the conclusion that no obstacle to the couple's conjugal relations existed save the Queen's lack of interest and the King's unwillingness to exert himself. In a letter to his brother Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany , Joseph II described them as "a couple of complete blunderers." He disclosed to Leopold that

32300-456: Was a resounding success. On the other hand, those opposed to the alliance with Austria had a difficult relationship with Marie Antoinette, as did others who disliked her for more personal or petty reasons. Madame du Barry proved a troublesome foe to the new dauphine. She was Louis XV's mistress and had considerable political influence over him. In 1770 she was instrumental in ousting Étienne François, duc de Choiseul , who had helped orchestrate

32490-524: Was able to satirise British politics more freely and soften the impact of his criticisms of British social institutions, in a similar way that he used other "foreign" settings in Princess Ida , The Gondoliers , Utopia, Limited and The Grand Duke . Nevertheless, some 21st-century productions of the opera in the United States have drawn criticism for promoting stereotypes of East Asians . Gilbert and Sullivan 's opera immediately preceding The Mikado

32680-469: Was also significantly smaller and less intricate than many other nobles'. Around this time she accumulated a library of 5,000 books. Those on music, often dedicated to her, were the most read, though she also liked to read history. She sponsored the arts, in particular music. Marie Antoinette preferred to hold her musicales in the salon of her Petit appartement de la reine in the Palace of Versailles, or in

32870-423: Was an increase of interest in Japanese prints. They were sold in curiosity shops, tea warehouses, and larger shops. Shops such as La Porte Chinoise specialized in the sale of Japanese and Chinese imports. La Porte Chinoise, in particular, attracted artists James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Édouard Manet , and Edgar Degas who drew inspiration from the prints. It and other shops organized gatherings which facilitated

33060-437: Was appointed by the King at her urging to replace Calonne, first as Controller-General of Finances and then as Chief Minister . He began to institute more cutbacks at court while trying to restore the royal absolute power weakened by the Parlement. Brienne was unable to improve the financial situation, and since he was the Queen's ally, this failure adversely affected her political position. The continued poor financial climate of

33250-404: Was dramatised in more or less this form in the 1999 film Topsy-Turvy . But although the 1885–87 Japanese exhibition in Knightsbridge had not opened when Gilbert conceived of The Mikado , European trade with Japan had increased in recent decades, and an English craze for all things Japanese had built through the 1860s and 1870s. This made the time ripe for an opera set in Japan. Gilbert told

33440-459: Was falsely accused of defrauding the Crown's jewelers in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace , but the accusations damaged her reputation further. During the French Revolution, she became known as Madame Déficit because the country's financial crisis was blamed on her lavish spending and her opposition to social and financial reforms proposed by Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Jacques Necker . Several events were linked to Marie Antoinette during

33630-401: Was filmed on enlarged stage sets rather than on location, much like the 1965 Laurence Olivier Othello , and was directed by the same director, Stuart Burge . It stars John Reed , Kenneth Sandford , Valerie Masterson , Philip Potter , Donald Adams , Christene Palmer and Peggy Ann Jones and was conducted by Isidore Godfrey . The New York Times criticised the filming technique and

33820-544: Was further boosted by the effects of the Ming-Qing transition , which immobilized the center of Chinese porcelain production in Jingdezhen for several decades. Japanese potters filled the void making porcelain for European tastes. Porcelain and lacquered objects became the main exports from Japan to Europe. An extravagant way to display porcelain in a home was to create a porcelain room with shelves placed throughout to show off

34010-501: Was given at matinees, and the revival continued when The Grand Duke closed after just three months. In 1906–07, Helen Carte , the widow of Richard D'Oyly Carte , mounted a repertory season at the Savoy, but The Mikado was not performed, as it was thought that visiting Japanese royalty might be offended by it. It was included, however, in Mrs. Carte's second repertory season, in 1908–09. New costume designs were created by Charles Ricketts for

34200-702: Was in Boston, likely due to Isabella Stewart Gardner , a pioneering collector of Asian art. As a result, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston now claims to house the finest collection of Japanese art outside Japan. The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery house the largest Asian art research library in the United States, where they house Japanese art together with the Japanese-influenced works of Whistler . The Mikado The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu

34390-564: Was instead celebrated the day before, on All Saints' Day , due to the connotations of the date. Shortly after her birth she was placed under the care of the governess of the imperial children, Countess von Brandeis. Maria Antonia was raised together with her sister, Maria Carolina of Austria , who was three years older, and with whom she had a lifelong close relationship. Maria Antonia had a difficult but ultimately loving relationship with her mother, who referred to her as "the little Madame Antoine". Maria Antonia spent her formative years between

34580-478: Was named after the King's aunt, Princess Sophie of France . Marie Antoinette began to abandon her more carefree activities to become increasingly involved in politics in her role as queen of France. By publicly showing her attention to the education and care of her children, the queen sought to improve the dissolute image she had acquired in 1785 from the "Diamond Necklace Affair", in which public opinion had falsely accused her of criminal participation in defrauding

34770-457: Was on 14 November 1885 at the Theatre Royal, Sydney , produced by J. C. Williamson . During 1886, Carte was touring five Mikado companies in North America. Carte toured the opera in 1886 and again in 1887 in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. In September 1886 Vienna's leading critic, Eduard Hanslick , wrote that the opera's "unparalleled success" was attributable not only to the libretto and

34960-412: Was one of the earliest collectors and enthusiasts of Japanese art in Paris. Objects from Stevens' studio illustrate his fascination with Japanese and exotic knick-knacks and furniture. Stevens was close with Manet and to James McNeill Whistler , with whom he shared this interest early on. Many of his contemporaries were similarly enthused, especially after the 1862 International Exhibition in London and

35150-422: Was publicly suggested that her supposed behaviour was learned at the Austrian court, particularly lesbianism, which was known as the "German vice". Her mother again expressed concern for the safety of her daughter, and she began to use Austria's ambassador to France, Comte de Mercy , to provide information on Marie Antoinette's safety and movements. In 1783, the Queen was busy with the creation of her " hamlet ",

35340-476: Was sending money to him from the French treasury. Despite the general celebration over the birth of an heir, Marie Antoinette's political influence, such as it was, was perceived to greatly benefit Austria. During the Kettle War , in which her brother Joseph attempted to open the Scheldt river for naval passage, Marie Antoinette succeeded in obliging Vergennes to pay huge financial compensation to Austria. Finally,

35530-459: Was staged in Japan in a number of private performances. The first public production, given at three performances, was in 1946 in the Ernie Pyle Theatre in Tokyo, conducted by the pianist Jorge Bolet for the entertainment of American troops and Japanese audiences. The set and costumes were opulent, and the principal players were American, Canadian, and British, as were the women's chorus, but

35720-549: Was the inspiration for the opera, though he never said the sword had fallen. What puts the entire story in doubt is Cellier and Bridgeman's error concerning the Japanese Village exhibition in Knightsbridge : it did not open until 10 January 1885, eight months after Gilbert sent the outline of the plot to Sullivan and almost two months after Gilbert had completed Act I. Gilbert scholar Brian Jones, in his article "The Sword that Never Fell", notes that "the further removed in time

35910-655: Was the last Queen of France prior to the French Revolution and the French First Republic . Marie Antoinette was the wife of Louis XVI . Born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria , she was the penultimate child and youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I . She married Louis XVI, Dauphin of France , in May 1770 at age 14. She then became the Dauphine of France . On 10 May 1774, her husband ascended

36100-703: Was written in 1876. In 1885, Gilbert and Sullivan , apparently less concerned about Japanese perceptions, premiered their Mikado . This comic opera enjoyed immense popularity throughout Europe where seventeen companies performed it 9,000 times within two years of its premiere. Translated into German in 1887, The Mikado remained the most popular drama in Germany throughout the 1890s. In the wake of this popularity, comedies set in Asia and featuring comic Asian figures appeared in rapid succession, both in comic opera and drama. The successor to The Mikado as Europe's most popular Japan drama, Sidney Jones' opera The Geisha (1896) added

#147852