''Ib and Little Christina'' refers to two theatrical adaptations by

Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ''The Merry Wi ...

of the 1855 fairy tale by Hans Andersen of the same name: a play (1900) and an opera (1901).

Play

The first version was a play subtitled "A Picture in 3 Parts", with

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

by Arthur Bruhns, first produced at the

Prince of Wales Theatre The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre ...

, opening on 15 May 1900 and running for 60 performances. It starred Martin Harvey and the nine-year-old

Phyllis Dare Phyllis is a feminine given name which may refer to: People * Phyllis Bartholomew (1914–2002), English long jumper * Phyllis Drummond Bethune (née Sharpe, 1899–1982), New Zealand artist * Phyllis Calvert (1915–2002), British actress * Ph ...

. The piece transferred to the Coronet Theatre that summer. There was also a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

run in 1900. It was revived at

Terry's Theatre Terry's Theatre was a West End theatre in the Strand, in the City of Westminster, London. Built in 1887, it became a cinema in 1910 before being demolished in 1923. History The theatre was built in 1887, near Fountain's Court, on the site of a ...

in January 1903, playing for 16 performances, and again at Terry's in early 1904, for 31 more performances. The play was also revived at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

in September 1908, playing for seven performances.

Opera

Hood rewrote ''Ib and Little Christina'' as an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

styled "A Picture in 3 Panels", with music by

Franco Leoni Franco Leoni (24 October 1864 – 8 February 1949) was an Italian opera composer. After training in Milan, he made most of his career in England, composing for Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and West End theatre, West End theatres. He is ...

. It was first produced by

William Greet William Greet (1851 – 25 April 1914) was a British theatre manager from the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Originally a business manager for other theatre licensees in the 1880s, he branched out as an independent manager ...

at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

on 14 November 1901 and ran together with Hood's ''

The Willow Pattern ''The Willow Pattern'' is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Basil Hood and music by Cecil Cook. It was first produced by William Greet at the Savoy Theatre on 14 November 1901, running for a total of 110 performances until 29 March 1902. ...

'' for 16 performances, until the end of November. The libretto was published by Chappell & Co., and a copy is in the British Library at 11778.f.23(4) (1901). ''The Times'' described the piece as "an opera of ultra-modern type" and compared it unflatteringly to the work of

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

, who had died earlier in that year. ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' later said that "the music, though clever and attractive in many ways, was too realistic and too Southern to reflect the Northern symbolism of Andersen's story, and that its peculiar vein of passion was out of place.""Music in London", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 13 January 1904, p. 4 The piece was revived at

Daly's Theatre Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresar ...

from 11 to 13 January 1904, then transferred to the Lyric Theatre from 19 January to 5 March 1904, running for a total of 23 matinee performances. The opera is not quite a full length piece and is played in three short scenes.

Opera synopsis

Ib and his father are poor and live alone; Old Henrik and his granddaughter Christina are their neighbours. The two children are in love, and Ib is willing to sacrifice everything for her. An old gypsy woman visits Ib and grants him three wishes. Fifteen years later, the children have grown up, and Christina is in love with John, a prosperous innkeeper. Broken‑hearted but faithful, Ib gives her up. Seven years later, the marriage brought no happiness to Christina, who died in poverty. The gypsy woman brings Christina's daughter (also called Christina) to Ib, and they live happily together.

Roles and original casts

:Source: ''The London Stage, 1900−1909'', '' The Era'', and ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

''.Wearing, pp. 29, 129, 205, 268 and 271; "Triple Bill at the Coronet", ''The Era'', 28 July 1900, p. 8; and "The Adelphi", ''The Stage'', 24 September 1908, p. 18

Notes

Sources

*{{cite book , last = Wearing , first =J. P. , authorlink=J. P. Wearing, title = The London Stage, 1900–1909: A Calendar of Plays and Players, date = 1981, location = Metuchen , publisher = Scarecrow Press, url=https://archive.org/details/londonstage190010000wear/page/n3/mode/2up, oclc =1245534136

External links

Libretto of the opera
at the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive

of

Savoy opera Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impr ...

companion pieces English-language operas English comic operas Operas 1901 operas Operas by Franco Leoni