Australia, 5 August 1978. Dear Michael, Your Gilbertian Gossips continue to provide a bright spot in the otherwise generally arid inflow of mail … Thanks also for your letter. No - I hadn't heard the 2nd verse to the opening duet to Act 2 of Ruddigore before, so now the mystery of Gideon Crawle is finally explained. I wonder how many people have detected the lurking villain in the faithful old retainer under his original name "Old Adam", this being a theological term for man unregenerate wallowing in sin! The Anglican ritual for baptism speaks of a hope that "the Old Adam in this child may be so buried, that the new man may be raised up in him"… and I believe there is a reference to it among the ramblings of that sex-crazed closet-Puritan, St. Paul. And of course Adam is a servant in As You Like It, revealing again Gilbert's acquaintance with the bard he professed to dislike…The "silly concert" for the King of Denmark sounds a pure joy, and Father Owen seems a real Gerald Hoffnung character. I was interested to see mention of the pianoforte duet "Qui Vive''! which my mother used to play as a duet with a variety of ladies, and which I myself have had a bash at. Can't agree that the whole programme comprised "bad" Victorian music ("bad" to me simply means boring) - and I'd give a month's salary to hear Sullivan's setting of the Tennyson Ode! … Three other ridiculous names from this part of the world are a solicitor called Tarkitover, a Rev. Godbehear, and a Henrietta Bugg! Dennis Olsen recently showed his versatility by appearing on TV here playing the piano in the slow movement of Mozart's piano concerto no 21 … He did 'Tit-Willow' and 'If you're anxious for to shine', as well as a clipped, articulate reading of Dame Edith Sitwell's poems from Facade with Walton's music, - a tour de force where his Major-General Stanley training stood him in good stead. Dennis told me that at "NIDA" (the National Institute of Dramatic Art) in Sydney where he studied) they use Gilbert as a discipline for diction, and "My name is John Wellington Wells" read simply as a poem, is a regular standby. …Yours in C major. DAVID THOMAS

Beaurepaire, Quebec 7 Aug. 1978. Dear Michael, Thank you for GG 10 and your letter. GG is not a paper one can put down until it's completely read through … I got up to Ottawa last week to see the D'Oyly Carte. I saw Iolanthe, Princess Ida, Pinafore & Mikado. I got back yesterday. I was very pleasantly surprised. I thought, judging from a record my sister has of their newest Iolanthe, that I wouldn't enjoy it much but the G&S magic is still there. Royston Nash & the musicians were excellent - the music has all the charm it has on the old 78s. To me, the 78s are the Bible of G&S - especially the "Art of the Savoyard." They sing them exactly the way they're supposed to be sung. I use them as a guide to all G&S I hear - if I don't think it reaches the quality of the 78s - it doesn't pass. These last performances by Carte passed easily to my mind. I liked Mikado best - even though it's not my favourite opera. The chorus, the acting the voice quality were excellent, truly professionals. This is the first time I've seen the Carte, "in person" & in colour. I've seen them on TV (black & white) but its much better on stage. I hope they'll come again soon. Next time I hope they'll come to Montreal. Our theatre is every bit as good as the one in Ottawa, and the Montreal audiences are more educated that the Ottawa audiences … Sincerely, ADRIAN WILLISON [This letter took me back 18 years to when I first saw the D'Oyly Carte in 1960 in the Opera House, Belfast; and the thrill I felt when I realised that Kenneth Sandford really did exist, and wasn't just a disembodied voice on a gramophone record. Perhaps those of us who can see G&S, and D'Oyly Carte, as often as we like, and have grown cynical and coldly critical; have lost something. "Youth is a boon avowed". Ed.]

Wimbledon, LONDON. Dear Michael, Thank you for sending me the latest issue of your Gilbertian Gossip (No 9) some while ago. I'm afraid I get very little time to take an interest in these things nowadays - with two small children, a very demanding job, and at present two books on the go, there is no time left over ... I was very saddened to read your account of the ULU Pinafore. As you may know, I was for two years Chairman of this group, and I think I can truthfully say that in those days (early 60s) our standard was very high. I like to think that you were perhaps in an unkind mood that night, but on reflection I expect you were right. What has happened to them? ... Yours sincerely, Christopher REDWOOD.

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