On March 7, 1896, Gilbert and Sullivan's last collaboration, The Grand Duke, premiered. It ran for only 123 performances, a very small number by the standards of the duo. Although history is filled with stories of early failures that later proved quite durable—Bizet's ever popular Carmen is a perfect example—this work has never really caught on, even among Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiasts. The plot is convoluted and sillier than usual, the lyrics are often forced, and the music is not always as neatly tailored to the words as could rightfully be expected from Sullivan. Even the fictitious location, Pfennig Halbpfennig, and such character names as Dr. Tannhauser and Ernest Dummkopf are not worthy of Gilbert's genius.

Sullivan had been eager to expand his musical horizons after his long series of light opera successes. After its initial success, his grand opera Ivanhoe disappeared from the stage. Even though Sullivan resisted the idea of writing another light opera, Gilbert and the Savoy Theatre impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte convinced him to collaborate once again.

Considering that the last four operettas—Ruddigore, The Yeomen of the Guard, The Gondoliers, even Utopia Limited—had each revealed greater dramatic gifts from Sullivan than had previously been heard, one might surmise that the problems of The Grand Duke would have come from an attempt by Sullivan to be too serious or experimental. Unfortunately, even though there are moments of inspiration, too much of the work is merely a weak echo of the classic Gilbert and Sullivan works.

After its initial run, The Grand Duke was never remounted by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (the official Gilbert and Sullivan performers), and it was not till 1975 that they did it in concert and followed up with its only professional recording. For the neophyte Savoyard, this is not the best introduction to a body of work that still can delight the listener.

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