William Wallace's 'Lurline'

[albion]

Wonderful news! Victorian Opera Northwest's new complete recording of William Vincent Wallace's beautiful opera Lurline (1860) will be released by Naxos on 1st June 2010:

http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.660293-94

Anybody remotely interested in British music and/ or opera will welcome this wonderful enterprise. With George Macfarren's Robin Hood (1860) due for release in six-months time it looks as though the long-overdue revival of Victorian opera is at last underway!

[Pengelli]

Releasing it on the Naxos,budget label,is a pretty shrewd move! Some people who may have balked at the prospect of shelling out on an obscure opera and composer,that most people have never heard of,may be tempted into buying it. The cost of the Cameo label release of Balfe's 'The Maid of Artois' probably put some people off. You have to be a real enthusiast of rare music,to pay out sums like that. Not that I blame Cameo,of course,but it doesn't help. Hopefully,when more,professionally performed, British opera's from this period have been transferred to cd,in state of the art recordings,the situation will change.
   With respect to this project, I must express some suprise that the opera's of Charles Stanford,appear to have been ignored. I'm not a huge fan of Stanford's music,myself;but he is one of the best known composers from this period,and he wrote quite a few,apparently. I also,am given to understand,that one or two of them are considered to be quite good!
   Another opera,from this period,that could do with a complete recording,is the opera,'Jeanie Deans',by Hamish MacCunn.

[Pengelli]

And from a Welsh perspective,what about a complete professional recording of Joseph Parry's opera, 'Blodwen',(1880),possibly,the first Welsh opera? By 1896,it had,apparently, received 500 performances in Wales,England and America. Joseph Parry is still a celebrated figure in his native country,and his famous hymns are still sung. There was even a very good television adaption of the Jack Jones novel based on his life,some years ago. Yet,most of his large scale works,which include oratorios,opera's,a cantata,and symphony remain unperformed.

[albion]

With respect to this project, I must express some suprise that the opera's of Charles Stanford,appear to have been ignored. I'm not a huge fan of Stanford's music,myself;but he is one of the best known composers from this period,and he wrote quite a few,apparently. I also,am given to understand,that one or two of them are considered to be quite good!
   Another opera,from this period,that could do with a complete recording,is the opera,'Jeanie Deans',by Hamish MacCunn.

My understanding is that the Victorian Opera project is (initially at least) concentrating it's efforts on the composers active around the middle of the century - Loder, Wallace, Balfe and Macfarren. Something of Wallace's style is already known through Maritana (although this is a lesser work than Lurline) but I think that the operatic music by Macfarren in particular will come as a surprise to those who think of him as a dry-as-dust academic - in the stage works, his melodies blossom under the influence of folk-tunes (one of his many interests) and there is a real sense of dramatic pacing: along with Robin Hood, it would be wonderful to have recordings of his two other great operas of the 1860s, She Stoops to Conquer and Helvellyn.

Certainly Stanford and MacCunn deserve attention, as does Arthur Goring Thomas (Esmeralda in particular) - the problem will always be primarily one of finance and sponsorship: the excellent Chandos recording of Sullivan's Ivanhoe chiefly came about through the generosity of private donors and members of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society.

[edurban]

I've had a score of Helvellyn for many years, and it's a powerful, vigorous work (lots of folk music and dancing, too).  The villain is an absolute blackguard with a murder in his past and he is appropriately dispatched at the end by divine intervention: 

[Luke] casts her off, and runs through the folding doors, where finding himself at the brink of the abyss, he clings to the blasted tree which is struck by a thunderbolt and precipitated with Luke into the valley.

That's the stuff.  The text, however, (by Macfarren's frequent collaborator John Oxenford) is worse than bad.  It's just plain incomprehensible in places.

David

[albion]

Great - another Macfarren enthusiast. I've got the vocal scores of Robin Hood, She Stoops to Conquer, Helvellyn and The Soldier's Legacy and it always amazes me how, once away from the shackles of symphony and oratorio, Macfarren's very considerable melodic gift blossomed. I think that his real genius lay in dramatic composition - the Oliver Goldsmith opera is a joy from start to finish!

[Gareth Vaughan]

You can buy a recording of Joseph Parry's "Blodwen" here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gwyl-Gerdd-Menai-Joseph-Parry/dp/B000WTQ2GU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1274805381&sr=1-1

Gareth

[Pengelli]

I am fully aware of that recording. I was,actually, referring to the lack of a professional performance,on cd. The one on Sain is a bit of a 'doofer', like the Pearl recording of 'Ivanhoe'.

[albion]

The Pearl recording of Ivanhoe was certainly no more than a useful stop-gap, but the Chandos recording is such a revelation that we must always be aware that no work should really be judged until it receives a rendition worthy of it. The excerpts available on the MP3 page at Amazon indicate that Lurline has been treated to an excellent performance:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003MZSAVG/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1274815915&sr=8-3

[Pengelli]

Quite so;but,thank you,anyway,Alan.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I admit the Sain recording of "Blodwen" leaves something to be desired, but it's nothing like as bad as the Pearl "Ivanhoe", which was dismal. Unfortunately, I doubt we shall get a good modern recording of "Blodwen" - and, to be honest, although there is much enjoyable music in the work, I personally think there are other operas of the period that are more deserving of attention, some of which have been mentioned in posts above.

[albion]

I personally think there are other operas of the period that are more deserving of attention, some of which have been mentioned in posts above.

A characteristically modest wish-list of unrecorded British operas of (roughly) the period:

Julius Benedict: The Gipsy's Warning; The Bride of Venice; The Crusaders; The Lily of Killarney
Michael Balfe: Satanella; The Siege of Rochelle; The Rose of Castille; The Talisman
Edward Loder: The Night-Dancers; Raymond and Agnes
William Wallace: The Amber Witch; Love's Triumph
George Macfarren: King Charles II; She Stoops to Conquer; Helvellyn
Arthur Sullivan: The Chieftain; The Beauty Stone
Alexander Mackenzie: Colomba; The Troubadour
Charles Villiers Stanford: The Canterbury Pilgrims; Much Ado About Nothing
Frederick Corder: Nordisa
Arthur Goring Thomas: Esmeralda; Nadeshda
Frederic Cowen: Pauline; Thorgrim; Signa; Harold
Ethel Smyth: Fantasio; Der Wald
Hamish MacCunn: Jeannie Deans; Diarmid
Learmont Drysdale: Fionn and Tera; The Red Spider

Tragically some revivals would be hampered (to say the least) by the absence of a full score and/or orchestral parts. This certainly applies to all four of Cowen's operas and also (I think) The Amber Witch. Does anybody know anything about the survival status of Benedict's earlier operas, Nordisa or Nadeshda?

[Pengelli]

I would't judge Joseph Parry on that sub standard recording, myself. I would also like to point out that he is considered an iconic figure here in Wales,and there are some people here who  might be inclined to disagree with you. Having sad that, I think I would rather hear 'Lurline',or 'The Amber Witch',myself!!

[Pengelli]

...'sad that'! My typing really helps,doesn't it? Anyway, not wishing to get into nationalistic disputes , I must say, you're list of unrecorded British opera, (or English,Scottish,Irish?), is fascinating,Albion.

[edurban]

I'm familiar with 2 John Barnett (1802-1890) operas from vocal score, The Mountain Sylph (1834) and Farinelli (1839) and they are among the best works I've seen from a period where, to be frank, British opera composing was not quite up to the international standard.  Barnett was a serious fellow and The Mountain Sylph had a considerable success.  Farinelli is more of a curiosity, the castrato of the title was first sung by Balfe!

BTW, Barnett's daughter, Clara Kathleen Rogers was also an estimable composer, active in America.  Some years back there was a recording of her fine violin sonata.

David