This was the longest Savoy opera, lasting over four hours on opening night. In its original version, it requires a cast of 21 principals.

The Devil comes to Mirlemont, a fifteenth century Flemish village, bearing with him a stone which, when worn around the neck, conveys upon the wearer perfect beauty. He gives it to Laine, the crippled daughter of Simon Limal, the village weaver. She becomes beautiful and wins the top honors at a local beauty contest organized by Philip, Lord of Mirlemont. Philip has recently returned from war in the Middle East, bringing with him Saida, a Mediterranean beauty whose charms are beginning to fade. Saida plots to steal the beauty stone, and when Laine, disgusted at Philip's dissolute behavior, throws the stone away to be picked up by her father, Saida schemes to wheedle it away from him.

• Introduction

• Notes on the libretto.

• Preface and Argument by Arthur Wing Pinero and J. Comyns Carr

• Synopsis by Arthur Robinson

• Libretto in text or WordPerfect format.

• Web Opera - Colin Johnson has provided us with MIDI files of all of the music from The Beauty Stone, which we have used to create another of our Web Operas, a G&S Archive exclusive. With all of the music, lyrics, and spoken dialogue, now you can get to know this long forgotten opera.

• Discography: Marc Shepherd's Beauty Stone Discography

• Vocal Score:
  • A facsimile of the original vocal score for The Beauty Stone, prepared by Adam Cuerden, can be downloaded in PDF format from the Score Download page.
  • A paper copy can be purchased from Christopher Browne's Gilbert & Sullivan Catalogue or from Scott Farrell.
  • Opening night review from The Times, published May 30, 1898.

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