Sir Arthur Sullivan Book

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III FIRST PUBLIC SUCCESS (1861-1866) Charles Dickens?First Visit to Paris?Rossini?Organist St. Michael's and at Covent Garden Opera?Visits Ireland ?Germ of English Comic Opera. ON his return from Leipzig Sullivan added several numbers to his " Tempest" music, and it was produced at the Crystal Palace Concert on April 5, 1862. This was his dclmt. His previous successes were in the direction of scholastic achievement, and had brought his name before the public in but a minor degree. The winning of the Mendelssohn scholarship, of course, appealed mainly to a more or less intimate musical circle, and so far, the by no means unenviable reputation which he had gained, more especially as being a conscientious worker, and a young man of considerable promise, had been confined to his immediate associates, andthose concerned in the direction, or criticism, of the work done at the Conservatorium in Leipzig. The production of the " Tempest" proved a veritable triumph for the youthful composer. The musical critics were enthusiastic, and it is no exaggeration to say that, like the poet, Sullivan woke up the next morning to find himself famous. Sir George Grove and Mr. Manns, who conducted the concerts at the Crystal Palace, decided to repeat the performance on the following Saturday. On that occasion there was a record attendance. All musical London would seem to have gone down to hear it. After it was over Charles Dickens, who had gone down with Chorley, waited in the artists' room until Sullivan came out, and with a characteristic grip of the hand, said: " I don't profess to be a musical critic, but I do know that I have listened to a very remarkable work." This was the beginning of a firm friendship between them, and one which was only severed by death. It is from this ...Read More