You are here

»
»
قراءة كتاب
Books by Subject
Best Views
Newest
Authors

قراءة كتاب The Secrets of a Savoyard

تنويه: تعرض هنا نبذة من اول ١٠ صفحات فقط من الكتاب الالكتروني، لقراءة الكتاب كاملا اضغط على الزر “اشتر الآن"

‏اللغة: English
The Secrets of a Savoyard

The Secrets of a Savoyard

تقييمك:
0
No votes yet
المؤلف:
دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
الصفحة رقم: 1


THE SECRETS OF A SAVOYARD

The Author as "Jack Point"
The Author as "Jack Point"

THE SECRETS OF A SAVOYARD


BY

HENRY A. LYTTON



JARROLDS
PUBLISHERS (LONDON) LTD

TO
RUPERT D'OYLY CARTE.
THE UPHOLDER
OF
A GREAT TRADITION

"THE GONDOLIERS."

(After assisting at the first night of the new Gilbert-and-Sullivan revival.)

You may boast of your Georgian birds of song
And say that never was stuff so strong,
That its note of genius simply mocks
At yester-century's feeble crocks,
And floods the Musical Comedy stage
With the dazzling art of a peerless age.
But for delicate grace and dainty wit,
For words and melody closely knit,
Your best purveyors of mirth and joy
Were never in sight of the old Savoy;
They never began to compete, poor dears,
With Gilbert-and-Sullivan's Gondoliers.

For me, as an out-of-date Victorian,
Prehistoric and dinosaurian,
I hardly feel that I dare reflect
On the art of the day with disrespect;
But if anyone asks me, "Who'll survive—
The living dead, or the dead alive?
Which of the two will be last to go—
The Gondoliers or the latest show?"
I wouldn't give much for the latter's chance;
That is the view that I advance,
Trusting the public to bear me out
(The good from the bad they're quick to sever);
"Of this I nurse no manner of doubt,
No probable, possible shadow of doubt,
No possible doubt whatever."—O. S.

(Reprinted by kind permission of the proprietors of "Punch," and of Sir Owen Seaman.)

Contents.

PAGE.
FOREWORD. BY MR. RUPERT D'OYLY CARTE     8
HENRY A. LYTTON: AN APPRECIATION 9
CHAPTER.
I. YOUTH AND ROMANCE 13
II. VAGABONDAGE OF THE COMMONWEALTH 25
III. CLIMBING THE LADDER 38
IV. LEADERS OF THE SAVOY 53
V. ADVENTURES IN TWO HEMISPHERES 69
VI. PARTS I HAVE PLAYED 81
VII. FRIENDS ON AND OFF THE STAGE 94
VIII. HOBBIES OF A SAVOYARD 110
IX. GILBERT AND SULLIVAN 121
THE STORIES OF THE OPERAS 136
A SAVOYARD BIBLIOGRAPHY 185

FOREWORD.

There have been many who have made great reputations in the Gilbert and Sullivan characters and have established themselves as favourites with the public who love and follow the operas, and when the roll comes to be written down finally, if ever it is, Henry Lytton undoubtedly will be assigned a foremost place. He has played a wide variety of the parts, and the scope and versatility of his work is unique. It is unlikely that his record as a Gilbert and Sullivan artiste will ever be surpassed.

Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte

HENRY A. LYTTON.

By

AN ADMIRER OF HIS ART.

Sincerely indeed do I offer my good wishes to my old friend, Henry A. Lytton, on his giving to the world this most interesting book, "The Secrets of a Savoyard."

Lytton represents a distinct type on our musical comedy stage. No other artiste, I think, has quite that gift of wit which makes one not merely a happier, but a better, man for coming under its spell. Its touch is so true and refined and delightful. Somehow we see in him the mirror of ourselves, our whimsicalities, and our little conceits, and could ever a man captivate us so deliciously with the ironies of life or yet chide us so well with a sigh?

Certainly it was fortunate both to him and to us that circumstances, in the romantic manner this book itself

Pages