It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 28 May 1898, closing on 16 July 1898 after a run of just 50 performances, making it the least successful of Sullivan's operas. Reviewers criticised the lyrics and lengthy dialogue scenes and the lack of humour in the story. Savoy audiences, accustomed to more comic and satiric pieces, did not find the opera attractive. The cast of The Beauty Stone included Savoy regulars Walter Passmore, Rosina Brandram, Ruth Vincent, Emmie Owen and Henry Lytton, as well as opera singer Pauline Joran.
The opera was revived by the Carl Rosa Opera Company in 1901–02 on tour in a cut version.
Read more about The Beauty Stone: Background, Production, Reception and Aftermath, Roles and Original Cast, Musical Numbers
Famous quotes containing the words beauty and/or stone:
“What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a godthe beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)