Print Collection
Silk Playbill
1908 (printed)
1908 (printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Silk playbill for the Gala Performance in the presence of the President of the French Republic, Monsieur Fallière,s at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, 27th May, 1908. The programme included La Marseillaise, God Save the King, Act 1 of I Pescatori di Perle and Act 11 of Faust.
Silk or satin programmes were frequently produced to commemorate special evenings at the theatre during the 18th and 19th centuries. For this event in honour of the French President, the theatre was decorated with roses on a green trellis around the tiers, crimson and gold fabric festooned with orchids was hung around the six centre boxes on the grand tier that were made into the Royal Box, yellow and pink roses decorated the proscenium arch, with an Imperial crown above it.. Reviewers noted that it was an evening celebrating French opera which had previously been sadly neglected at Covent Garden in favour of German and Italian opera, but that Gounoud and Bizet were the composers 'par excellence' for a command performance. Both French operas were nevertheless sung in Italian, perhaps somewhat of a disappointment to the President.
Silk or satin programmes were frequently produced to commemorate special evenings at the theatre during the 18th and 19th centuries. For this event in honour of the French President, the theatre was decorated with roses on a green trellis around the tiers, crimson and gold fabric festooned with orchids was hung around the six centre boxes on the grand tier that were made into the Royal Box, yellow and pink roses decorated the proscenium arch, with an Imperial crown above it.. Reviewers noted that it was an evening celebrating French opera which had previously been sadly neglected at Covent Garden in favour of German and Italian opera, but that Gounoud and Bizet were the composers 'par excellence' for a command performance. Both French operas were nevertheless sung in Italian, perhaps somewhat of a disappointment to the President.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Print Collection (named collection) |
| Materials and techniques | Colour printing on silk |
| Brief description | Silk playbill for the Gala Performance for the President of the French Republic at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, 27 May 1908, comprising Act 1 of Bizet's I Pescatore di Perle and Act 11 of Gounod's Faust. Printed by Finden, Brown & Co. Ltd., 1908. |
| Physical description | Cream silk playbill for the Gala Performance in the presence of President Fallières, President of the French Republic at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Printed in yellow, orange, green, pale blue and brown, with a colour border around the text and cream silk fringe. Printed with details of the cast for Act 1 of I Pescatori di Perle- Mme Tetrazzini, John McCormack, Signor Sammarco and Signor Marcoux, and the cast for Act 11 of Faust- Mme Melba, Miss Hatchard, Signor Zenatello, Signor Marcoux and Mme Edna Thornton, the General Manager Neil Forsyth, the Musical Durector Percy Pitt, the Stage Magager M. Almanz and the Acting Manager P.C. Eales. La Marseillaise and God Save the Queen were both sung. Backed on canvas covered card. |
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| Summary | Silk playbill for the Gala Performance in the presence of the President of the French Republic, Monsieur Fallière,s at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, 27th May, 1908. The programme included La Marseillaise, God Save the King, Act 1 of I Pescatori di Perle and Act 11 of Faust. Silk or satin programmes were frequently produced to commemorate special evenings at the theatre during the 18th and 19th centuries. For this event in honour of the French President, the theatre was decorated with roses on a green trellis around the tiers, crimson and gold fabric festooned with orchids was hung around the six centre boxes on the grand tier that were made into the Royal Box, yellow and pink roses decorated the proscenium arch, with an Imperial crown above it.. Reviewers noted that it was an evening celebrating French opera which had previously been sadly neglected at Covent Garden in favour of German and Italian opera, but that Gounoud and Bizet were the composers 'par excellence' for a command performance. Both French operas were nevertheless sung in Italian, perhaps somewhat of a disappointment to the President. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.207-1981 |
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| Record created | April 1, 2011 |
| Record URL |
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