The Chieftain

It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 12 December 1894, under the management of Richard D'Oyly Carte, for a run of 97 performances (by Sullivan's standards, a flop).

Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia Limited had closed in June after a comparatively short (by G&S standards) nine-month run.

Desperate for a new work, he commissioned Sullivan and Burnand to patch up The Contrabandista, which could be made ready much faster than a new opera.

As Savoy audiences expected an opera conforming to the style that Gilbert and Sullivan had established, the relatively short Contrabandista needed to be expanded.

While the basic structure of the first act was retained, the dialogue was rewritten and several songs were added to bring it up to the usual length.

Although the piece was greeted warmly, as were most Savoy operas, audiences did not sustain enthusiasm for the work, and there were numerous revisions, particularly in the first act.

The fault lay partly in Burnand's weak and pun-filled libretto, but also was a result of changing audience tastes, as musical comedy, such as those produced at the Gaiety Theatre by George Edwardes, was supplanting light opera on the London stage.

Inez orders a shepherd boy to deliver a ransom note, and they hold his elderly father hostage in the meantime.

The action has transferred to the exterior of an inn where Rita and Vasquez are now staying, in the picturesque village of Dehesas, on the banks of the River Sil.

Realising Grigg's plight, the Ladrones agree to sell him a photograph of his wedding with Inez for £100, so that Dolly will never learn the truth.