Ages Ago (1869)
Libretto by W. S. Gilbert
Music by Frederic Clay
| Sir Ebenezer Tare, later Lord Carnaby Poppytop | Erik Dickinson |
| Rosa, his niece, later Lady Maud | Janeene Maze |
| Mrs. MacMotherly, later Dame Cherry Maybud | Jenny Nicholson |
| Mr. Columbus Hebblethwaite, later Sir Cecil Blunt | Eric Roberts |
| Steward, later Brown | Eric Sosman |
The Royal Victorian Opera Company
Wayne Ward, music director and pianist
Reviewed by J. Donald Smith
 Gallery of Illustration Advertising Poster |
This is the only work of Gilbert's six German Reed operas whose vocal score was published. The story of the opera includes a gallery of ancestral portraits that come to life, clearly prefiguring Ruddigore.
While there is a much more thorough and detailed level of composition here, one is struck by the lack of musical 'humor', which characterized Sullivan's setting of Gilbert's words. One can appreciate the work for what it is while recognizing that Gilbert & Clay would not have come down to posterity in the same way that Gilbert & Sullivan have.
The video is very well performed and worth repeated viewing.
| Date | Label | Format | Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | [none] | VHS NTSC | [no number] |
