An extra feature of the dvd is the following Glossary.
Note that the dvd has a copyright date of 1984 (really), with original release date of 1984.
Libretto: https://gsarchive.net/gondoliers/gn_lib.pdf
Act I
- Barataria - the title of Gilbert's mythical island kingdom of Spain comes from Cervante's Don Quixote where the Don promises his companion Sancho Panza the governorship of this island "surrounded by land"
- Dolce far niente - delightful idleness
- nobody contradicente - contradicting
- Ben venuti - welcome
- Gondolieri carissimi! Siamo contadine! - Dearest gondoliers! We are peasant girls!
- Servitori umilissimii! - most humble servants!
- Per chi questi fiori bellissimi? - For whom are these most beautiful flowers?
- Per voi, bel signori, O eccelienteissimi! - For you, dear gentlemen, oh most excellent ones!
- I ciel! - Oh, heaven!
- Buon giorno, cavalieri! - Good morning, gentlemen
- Siamo gondolieri / poveri gondolieri - We are gondoliers / poor gondoliers
- Signorina, io t'amo! / Contadine siamo - Lady, I love your! Peasant girls are we.
- Since we were short-coated - wearing children's clothes
- hidalgo - Spanish nobleman of lowest rank
- grandee - Spanish nobleman of highest rank (how the Duke of Plaza-Toro can be both a Grandee and a Hidalgo is one of Gilbert's paradoxes)
- plebeian position - low class
- the halberdiers are mercenary people - Guardsmen armed with ax-like spears
- cornet-á-piston - cornet (related to the trumpet) with three valves operated by pistons (though the Gondoliers is set in 1750, this valve-piston cornet was not invented until 1813)
- Duke of Plaza-Toro, Count Matadoro, Baron Picadoro - the Duke's titles derive from bull-fighting (Plaza do Toros being the arena, the matador and picador being different types of bullfighters)
- Married by proxy - with someone acting on your behalf, in your absence
- Converted to the metric system - at the time of this production, Canada had undergone this conversion less than 10 years previously. The original line read: "became a Wesleyan Methodist of the most bigoted and persecuting type".
- very knowing, overflowing, easygoing Paladin - heroic, chivalrous knight of old
- To men of grosser clay - of less distinguished and noble blood (clay = body)
- Don Alhambra del Bolero - his name comes from the Alhambra, the palace of the Moorish kings at Granada, with "del Bolero" added as a Gilbertian bit of humour (it refers to a type of dance)
- Jimp, isn't she - fetching, neat
- teach him the trade of a Timoneer - from French timonier, helmsman or steersman
- lying a corpse on his humble bier - the stand on which a corpse or coffin is placed
- your objections are not insuperable - impossible to overcome
- 'tis a glorious thing, I ween , to be a regular Royal Queen - I fancy, or believe
- not seal - refers to the efforts of animal rights activists to stop the annual slaughter of baby seals
- She'll bear away the bell - carry off the prize (from the custom of presenting the winners of horse races with a small gold of silver bell)
- My husband and I - a phrase, well-used, by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II
- fret at the Argentine - the then recent 1982 war between Britain and Argentina fought in the Faulklands
- serve intruders tea - an incident in which Queen Elizabeth II was awakened in the middle of the night to find a stranger in her bedroom
- the Chancellor in his peruke - powdered wig
- aristocrat who banks with Coutts - long-established London bank, used by royalty
- the noble lord who cleans the plate - silver or gold tableware or ornaments
Act II
- or happiness the very pith in Barataria you may see - essence
- This form of government we find / the beau ideal of its kind - model of excellence
- bilingualism - a jab at the federal law which makes Canada an officially bilingual country
- we may hold a Royal Levee - a court reception or gathering, in morning or early afternoon
- polish the Regalia and the Coronation Plate - polish the special emblems of royalty and the silver associated with the coronation (this is not a large plate)
- The Journal - a nightly in-depth examination of daily events following the news broadcast on the CBC
- having passed the Rubicon - the point of no return, a river significantly crossed by Caesar
- Take a pretty little cot - cottage
- Dance a cachuca, fandango, bolero - three Spanish dances (the music here is a cachuca - the fandango and the boler are much slower than this one and danced by two at a time)
- Xeres we'll drink Manzanilla, Montero - xeres is a fortified wine (the name is corrupted in English to sherry); manzanilla a light dry sherry; montero, thought it provides a good rhyme, does not appear to be a drink at all
- Ronny and Nancy - Ronald Reagan, President of the United States at the time of this production, and his wife Nancy
- Peter at Global - Peter Trueman was news anchorman on Canada's Global Television Network at the time of this production
- I tried to tame your great progenitor - father
- With double-shotted guns and colours nailed unto the mast - cannons loaded with twice the usual shot (a reckless tactic) and flag nailed so it cannot be lowered in surrender
- Royal Salute - the Duke is referring to an honorary display, but Giuseppe means a kiss
- Merrily crying out "premé, stali" - two things gondoliers apparently shout: "preme" means to push down on the pole, used to indicate imminent departure; "stali" means stop
