Editing Henry Wood (section)

===Opera===
On leaving the Royal Academy of Music in 1888, Wood taught singing privately and was soon very successful, attracting "more singing pupils than I could comfortably deal with"<ref>Wood, p. 36</ref> at half a guinea an hour.{{refn|Ten shillings and sixpence: 52½ pence in decimal terms; in 2009 values somewhere between £40 (based on retail prices) and £275 (based on average earnings).<ref name=worth/> Jacobs (p. 19) suggests that Wood may have exaggerated his fee when recalling it in his memoirs.|group= n}} He also worked as a [[répétiteur]]. According to his memoirs, he worked in that capacity for [[Richard D'Oyly Carte]] during the rehearsals for the first production of ''[[The Yeomen of the Guard]]'' at the [[Savoy Theatre]] in 1888.<ref>Wood, p. 39</ref> His biographer [[Arthur Jacobs]] doubts this and discounts exchanges Wood purported to have had with [[Arthur Sullivan|Sir Arthur Sullivan]] about the score.<ref>Jacobs, p. 14</ref> Jacobs describes Wood's memoirs as "vivacious in style but factually unreliable".<ref name=grove>Jacobs, Arthur, [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/30538 "Wood, Sir Henry J."] ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online. Retrieved 17 October 2010 {{subscription}}</ref>

[[File:La-Basoche-Pick-Me-Up-1891.jpg|thumb|left|alt=magazine sketch of an operatic production, showing a man and a woman among mediaeval scenery|1891 production of [[André Messager|Messager]]'s ''[[La Basoche]]'', for which Wood was répétiteur]]
It is certain, however, that Wood was répétiteur at Carte's [[Palace Theatre, London|Royal English Opera House]] for Sullivan's [[grand opera]] ''[[Ivanhoe (opera)|Ivanhoe]]'' in late 1890 and early 1891, and for [[André Messager]]'s ''[[La Basoche]]'' in 1891–92.<ref name=mop/> He also worked for Carte at the Savoy as assistant to [[François Cellier]] on ''[[The Nautch Girl]]'' in 1891.<ref name=mop>"Mr. Henry J. Wood", ''Musical Opinion & Music Trade Review'', March 1899, pp. 389–90</ref> Wood remained devoted to Sullivan's music and later insisted on programming his concert works when they were out of fashion in musical circles.<ref>Jacobs, p. 329</ref> During this period, he had several compositions of his own performed, including an [[oratorio]], ''St. Dorothea'' (1889), a light opera, ''Daisy'' (1890), and a one-act comic opera, ''Returning the Compliment'' (1890).<ref name=mop/>

Wood recalled that his first professional appearance as a conductor was at a choral concert in December 1887.  Ad hoc engagements of this kind were commonplace for organists, but they brought little prestige such as was given to British conductor-composers such as Sullivan, [[Charles Villiers Stanford]] and [[Alexander Mackenzie (composer)|Alexander Mackenzie]], or the rising generation of German star conductors led by [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]] and [[Arthur Nikisch]].<ref>Jacobs, pp. 3 and 17</ref> His first sustained work as a conductor was his 1889 appointment as musical director of a small touring opera ensemble, the Arthur Rouseby English Touring Opera. The company was not of a high standard, with an orchestra of only six players augmented by local recruits at each tour venue. Wood eventually negotiated a release from his contract,<ref>Wood, pp. 53–56 and Jacobs, pp. 19–20</ref> and after a brief return to teaching he secured a better appointment as conductor for the [[Carl Rosa Opera Company]] in 1891. For that company he conducted ''[[Carmen]]'', ''[[The Bohemian Girl]]'', ''[[The Daughter of the Regiment]]'', ''[[Maritana]]'', and ''[[Il trovatore]]''.<ref>Elkin, Robert, "Henry J. Wood: Organist, Accompanist, Opera Conductor, and Composer", ''The Musical Times'', August 1960, pp. 488–90</ref> This appointment was followed by a similar engagement with a company set up by former Carl Rosa singers.<ref>Wood, pp. 58–60 and Jacobs, pp. 21–22</ref>

When Signor Lago, formerly impresario of the Imperial Opera Company of St. Petersburg, was looking for a second conductor to work with [[Luigi Arditi]] for a proposed London season, Garcia recommended Wood.<ref>Wood, p. 59</ref> The season opened at the newly rebuilt [[Olympic Theatre (London)|Olympic Theatre]] in London, in October 1892, with Wood conducting the British premiere of [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]'s ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]''.<ref>Jacobs, p. 24</ref> At that time the operatic conductor was not seen as an important figure, but the critics who chose to mention the conducting gave Wood good reviews.{{refn|[[George Bernard Shaw]], in a long review in ''[[The World (journal)|The World]]'', commented on all the principal singers, the costumes, scenery and choreography, but did not mention the conductor.<ref>Laurence, pp. 718–21</ref>|group= n}} The work was not popular with the public, and the season was cut short when Lago absconded, leaving the company unpaid.<ref>Jacobs, p. 26</ref> Before that debacle, Wood had also conducted performances of ''Maritana'' and rehearsed ''[[Oberon (Weber)|Oberon]]'' and ''[[Der Freischütz]]''.<ref name=mop/> After the collapse of the Olympic opera season, Wood returned once more to his singing tuition. In 1894 he contributed to a song in the operetta ''[[The Lady Slavey]]''<ref>[https://gsarchive.net/british/slavey/index.html '''The Lady Slavey''' - British Musical Theatre website]</ref> and also conducted performances during its three month London run.<ref>[[J. P. Wearing]], [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nF8pAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA228&lpg=PA228&dq ''The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''], Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books pg. 228</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.momh.org.uk/exhibitions-detail-photo.php?cat_id=5&prod_id=369&type=sub&id=2081 |title=Henry Wood and ''The Lady Slavey'' (1894) - Museum of Music History |access-date=24 March 2020 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801183508/https://www.momh.org.uk/exhibitions-detail-photo.php?cat_id=5&prod_id=369&type=sub&id=2081 |url-status=dead }}</ref> With the exception of a season at the [[Opera Comique]] in 1896, Wood's subsequent conducting career was in the concert hall.<ref>Jacobs, p. 27</ref>