Gilbert joined forces. In 'The Grand Duke' (1896)
there were fitful gleams of the old splendour, notably in an amazing
sham--Greek chorus, which no one but Sullivan could have written, but
the piece could not for a moment be compared to even the weakest of the
earlier operas. The fate of 'The Beauty Stone' (1898), written to a
libretto by Messrs Pinero and Comyns Carr, was even more deplorable.
Fortunately Sullivan's collaboration with Captain Basil Hood brought him
an Indian summer of inspiration and success. 'The Rose of Persia'
(1900), if not upon the level of his early masterpieces, contained
better music than he had written since the days of 'The Gondoliers,' and
at least one number--the marvellous Dervish quartet--that for sheer
invention and musicianship could hardly be matched even in 'The Mikado'
itself. There was a great deal of charming music, too, in 'The Emerald
Isle' (1901), which Sullivan left unfinished at his death, and Mr.
Edward German completed.
During his lifetime, Sullivan was called the English Auber by people who
wanted to flatter him, and the English Offenbach by people who wanted to
snub him. Neither was a very happy nickname. He might more justly have
been called the English Lortzing, since he undoubtedly learnt more than
a little from the composer of 'Czar und Zimmermann,' whose comic operas
he heard during his student days at Leipzig.
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