The Gondoliers, by Gilbert and Sullivan: a summary of the plot

The Gondoliers (1889) was the last comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan to achieve popular success, and strains were already appearing in the relationship between librettist and composer. However, it was most certainly a success, containing some excellent music and a typically Gilbertian plot. Despite Gilbert’s digs at aristocracy and monarchy, the Gondoliers was performer by royal command at Windsor Castle in 1891, the first light entertainment to be performed before Queen Victoria since the death of Prince Albert 20 years previously.

Act 1. The Piazetta, Venice.

The opening musical number lasts for about 15 minutes and sets the scene both musically and dramatically. The chorus of Venetian maidens have only one thing on their minds, which two among them are going to lucky enough to grab the two hottest catches among the gondoliers, namely the brothers Marco and Giuseppe Palmieri?

When the gondoliers appear, it is agreed that the decision is to be made by lot, as the result of a game of catch. The two lucky ladies are Tessa and Gianetta, but nobody is left empty-handed because all the other ladies are able to find a gondolier to suit them.

When they all go off to the church to get married, a gondola slides into view, and the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, together with their daughter Casilda and servant Luiz arrive. It is soon made clear that the Duke, despite being a Spanish nobleman of high birth, is also very short of cash, and his mission to Venice has a pecuniary purpose.

They tell Casilda that, in infancy, she was married by proxy to the infant son and heir of the King of Barataria. However, the Grand Inquisitor became concerned that the King, who had converted to Wesleyan Methodism, was becoming bigoted in his views. The Grand Inquisitor therefore had the prince abducted and taken to Venice, so that he should not be infected by the King’s views. Now that the King has been killed in an insurrection, Casilda is the new Queen of Barataria and has been conveyed to Venice so that she can meet her husband for the first time and acquire the wealth that goes with the position.

The Duke then explains that, in order to make ends meet, he has registered himself as a limited company, and he then launches into his patter song that concerns his military exploits of “leading his regiment from behind”.

As the Duke and Duchess move offstage to meet the Grand Inquisitor, Casilda and Luiz rush into each others’ arms, as they have long been secret lovers. However, all that must end, now that Casilda knows that she is already married. Luiz lets slip that he always knew about the Barataria prince, because his mother had been the nurse into whose charge the prince had been entrusted.

The Duke and Duchess return, accompanied by Don Alhambra del Bolero, the Grand Inquisitor. He explains that there is a small problem in finding the prince, because, after he had brought the boy to Venice he left him with a gondolier, who raised him alongside his own son. Unfortunately, the gondolier was much given to drink and could never make out which was his own son and which was the prince. Even more unfortunately, the gondolier is now dead (“A taste for drink, combined with gout, had doubled him up for ever”), so telling the boys apart will now depend entirely on the testimony of the prince’s former nursemaid, Luiz’s mother. She has been sent for and, when she arrives, according to Don Alhambra, everything will be sorted out.

The gondoliers and contadine now take the stage, rejoicing in their newly-wedded state. Don Alhambra enters and, as the chorus members slink off, learns that both Palmieri brothers have just got married. Marco and Giuseppe, who declare that they are staunch republicans who despise kings and hold all men to be equal, are then told that one of them is indeed a king. They suddenly discover that their republicanism might not be absolute, and that some kings are all right, especially those who are nice to gondoliers.

Don Alhambra says that it is essential that the king take his throne immediately and therefore he must sail for Barataria at once. Given the problem of identity, the two must act as joint sovereign until things can be sorted out. Marco and Giuseppe are allowed to take their fellow gondoliers with them but must leave their wives behind, at least for the time being.

When the chorus of gondoliers return, they are told that they are all going to Barataria, and that everyone will enjoy equality when they get there, whether they be “the noble lord who rules the state” or “the noble lord who scrubs the grate”.

The gondoliers prepare to leave, and their wives tell them to behave themselves when they get to Barataria.

Act 2. The Court of Barataria

The gondoliers have become courtiers or artisans, all with equal status. Marco and Giuseppe complain that, although they are one person as far as being king is concerned, they would prefer to be regarded as two people when it comes to the food ration. This is agreed. They then give an account of how useful they are around the palace, doing lots of little jobs to help out, as well as making all the important decisions.

Only one thing is missing, and that is their wives. Marco sings of the recipe for perfect happiness, of which the main ingredient is female company. No sooner has he finished than that is exactly what he gets, as the wives and female chorus suddenly appear, explaining that they got bored in Venice and simply had to come to Barataria.

This leads to a wild group dance that is interrupted by the arrival of Don Alhambra, who is astonished at what he finds, particularly the breakdown of social distinctions. He points out that promoting everyone to high rank is bound to lead to problems because “when everybody’s somebody, then no-one’s anybody”.

Don Alhambra then tells them that the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro are about to arrive, with Casilda, and that one of the gondoliers is an unintentional bigamist. The two couples then try to work out how two husbands have managed to acquire three wives. The two women get particularly heated at the prospect of having to share a husband.

The Duke and Duchess then take the stage. The Duchess explains to Casilda that the secret of a happy marriage is to give way at the right moments but assume command when necessary. The Duke gives an account of his money-making activities that are only possible because of his titled status.

When Marco and Giuseppe arrive, the Duke takes them to task for their lack of respect to their noble visitors, then gives them a lesson in courtly demeanour.

The Duke and Duchess leave Casilda alone with Marco and Giuseppe, but Tessa and Gianetta soon arrive. The five of them then try to work out how marriage can be described as a state of unity, “when excellent husbands are bisected, wives divisible into three”.

However, the whole company now comes on stage, bringing forward Inez, who was the nursemaid of the real king. She reveals that, when Don Alhambra’s men came to take the prince, she substituted her own son for the prince, whom she brought up as her own. The rightful king is therefore none other than Luiz.

Everyone therefore ends up with the right partner, although neither Tessa nor Gianetta will get to be a queen!

© John Welford