Alfred Cellier
[8] A reviewer in the London and Provincial Entr'Acte wrote that the music "is unexpectedly apropos and pretty ... and we have no hesitation in saying that Mr. Alfred Cellier's melodies will live even after the long life [of the production] shall have come to an end.
"[9] He achieved a favourable outcome with The Sultan of Mocha, produced at Prince's Theatre, Manchester, in 1874 and revived in London in 1876 and 1887 (with a new libretto) and in New York in 1880, among others.
[2] Cellier also wrote numerous separate songs and composed for orchestra (including his Suite Symphonique (1978)) and the piano; his Danse pompadour achieved particular popularity.
Pinafore (1878, for which he wrote the overture, based on themes from the opera),[12] Trial by Jury (1878), George Grossmith's Cups and Saucers (1878–79), and three of his own one-act works: Dora's Dream (1877–78 revival), The Spectre Knight (1878), and After All!
[16][17] Reviews of the premiere were mixed, praising the "gracefulness" of the music, but finding the opera lacking in dramatic intensity; it closed after two weeks.
Later, as a result of ill health, he resided mostly in America, where he was at times a representative for the D'Oyly Carte company, and Australia, where he conducted for the J. C. Williamson organization.
"[18] Stephenson rewrote the lyrics of one of Cellier's old songs, "Old Dreams" as "Queen of My Heart"; this helped the work to find success after it transferred in December to the Prince of Wales Theatre.
The following year H. J. Leslie took over the production from Edwardes and introduced new stars, including Marie Tempest and Ben Davies, who made Dorothy an even greater success at the box office.
Its initial run of a total of 931 performances was the longest of any piece of musical theatre up to that time,[19] considerably longer than even The Mikado, a fact that caused consternation to Cellier's friend Arthur Sullivan.
Some critics reconsidered their earlier condemnation, the work became regarded as a classic Victorian piece,[20] and the initially despised plot was traced seriously back to the Restoration playwrights David Garrick and Aphra Behn, and to Oliver Goldsmith and even Shakespeare.
[22] Cellier returned to Australia in 1888 to conduct Dorothy and a revival of his earlier work, Charity Begins at Home, and made a final brief visit there for health reasons in early 1891, together with Stephenson.
[23] His last comic operas, Doris (1889, with Stephenson) and The Mountebanks (with Gilbert, produced in January 1892, a few days after the composer's death), were both modestly successful.
[25] A reviewer of the 2018 recording of The Mountebanks commented: "There is a free-flowing style to Cellier’s compositions, with fine lyrical detail and sumptuous orchestration with which he provides a wide variety of musical effects.
