Gilbert and Sullivan Archive The Rose of Persia or, The Story-Teller and the Slave A Comic Opera in Two Acts. written by Basil Hood. music by Arthur Sullivan. November 29, 1899 - June 28, 1900 (220 performances).

The American coloratura soprano Ellen Beach Yaw as Sultana Zubeydeh (Rose-in-Bloom).

Hassan is a rich philanthropist who entertains beggar-men at his house, much to the dismay of his 25 wives. The Sultana, escaping the strict confines of the royal household, sneaks into Hassan's house with her three favorite slaves disguised as dancing girls. She is followed by the Sultan, who is bored with his obligations, accompanied by his three top officials. Hassan, while under the influence of the drug bhang, admits to the Sultan that the Sultana is in his house, thus compromising her life and his own. To punish Hassan (and to give himself a little holiday), the Sultan takes him to the palace and commands his court to treat Hassan as if he were sultan.

This is Sullivan's last completed opera.

• Plot summary

• Introduction to the Libretto

• Libretto in text or WordPerfect format.

• Reviews:
  • Opening night review from the London Times, published November 30, 1899.
  • Review from the Staffordshire Sentinel, 1 May 1900, submitted to the Archive by Louis Silverstein

• The Suppressed Saga of Two Savoy Sultanas. The part of Sultana Zubeydeh (Rose-in-Bloom) was created by the American soprano Ellen Beach Yaw, but early in the run she was replaced by Isabel Jay. John Cannon has contributed an article describing the circumstances surrounding Miss Yaw's dismissal from the Savoy.

• Discography: Marc Shepherd's Rose of Persia Discography

• Vocal Score:
  • Download: Andrew Smith has given us a downloadable version of the Rose of Persia vocal score in PDF Format. This score is a scanned image and is broken into five PDF files for ease of downloading.
  • Purchase: The vocal score for The Rose of Persia can be purchased from Christopher Browne's Gilbert & Sullivan Catalogue
    
    
• "'Neath my Lattice": For the twelve performances of the run of this opera, the part of Rose-in-Bloom was played by the American soprano Ellen Beech Yaw. She was the posessor of a remarkable voice and she sang the piece in B major - a minor third higher than the version which appeared in the vocal score. This took her up to the F sharp in alt., a semi-tone higher than the highest note given by Mozart to the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. At least one reviewer doubted the singer's ability to perform so taxing a number night after night, and in the event Miss Yaw was replaced by Isobel Jay who sang a revised version. Robert Watson has produced a performng version of "'Neath my Lattice" in its original key of B major with the cadenza Sullivan composed specially for Ellen Beach Yaw. You can listen to a MIDI file of the original version [3' 14", 20 KB] and download the score as a PDF File [220 KB]

• Rose of Persia Page on the Musical Theatre Guide web site.

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Updated 7 February, 2007