About the work
Comic opera in two acts by Arthur Sullivan and William Schwenck Gilbert, first performed on 22 January 1887 at the Savoy Theatre, London, by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. The work parodies Victorian melodrama and was originally titled "Ruddygore".
Plot
Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd lives incognito as the farmer Robin Oakapple to escape a family curse that forces every Baronet of Ruddigore to commit a crime each day, on pain of death. When his true identity comes out and two marriages are thrown into confusion, Robin escapes the curse through a logical loophole: since suicide is itself a crime, a baronet who refuses to sin can never lawfully die.
Cultural significance
With its blend of melodrama parody, ghostly haunting and social satire, Ruddigore is considered one of the pair's most formally daring works; after a mixed critical reception at its premiere, Gilbert and Sullivan revised several numbers, including the ending.