William Vincent Wallace?

[Jonathan]

Hi All,
While browsing the upcoming releases page at MDT, I came across this:
http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/pages/product/product.asp?ctgry=NR_August11&prod=8572774

Has anyone ever heard anything by this composer?  There is a bit on Wikipaedia but not very much and no hint as to what style he wrote in although the review at MDT mentions Liszt as an influence in these particular works.

Having said that, it's still being added to my wishlist...

[edurban]

W. V. Wallace wrote one-third of the so-called 'Irish Ring', the delightful English (Irish?) opera Maritana.  Maritana is about equal parts Rossini, ballad opera, Weber and Heaven-knows-what-else.  It's delightful and appeared on a Marco Polo set which shouldn't be hard to track down.  More recently, Wallace's even better Lurline appeared on Naxos, conducted by Bonynge.  Wallace was a colorful Irishman who roamed the world as pianist, violinist and composer.  He was resident here in New York, I believe, for a while, playing pieces like those on this new disc, as well as his once-famous pianistic calling card, the Krakowiak (which can be found in numerous mid 19th century anthologies.)  He must have been quite a player...

This cd makes my wish list, too.

David

Ps.  The other two-thirds of the 'Irish Ring' are Balfe's The Bohemian Girl and Sir Julius Benedict's The Lily of Killarney.  As might be gleaned, the term was not one of respect.

[eschiss1]

just the overture to Maritana, but there's a large, large load of his piano pieces at IMSLP, selected from an even larger load @LoC... (I think- there's several William Wallace s who composed- but yes, I believe that William Vincent Wallace is the one I am thinking of.

[Hovite]

the delightful English (Irish?) opera Maritana.

Well, it is an English language work. From the booklet: William Wallace was born in Waterford. His father was from Scotland. William Wallace became a Catholic in 1830 and changed his name to William Vincent Wallace. He moved to Australia in 1835, which is where he began to write Maritana. He became an American in 1850. Maritana was first performed in London in 1845, and reached Dublin and Philadelphia the following year. When it returned to Dublin in 1877, it was sung in Italian.

There was another William Wallace who wrote some rather splendid symphonic poems, including one called Sir William Wallace, which is possibly the best.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I used to sing "Yes, let me like a soldier fall" from 'Maritana' at recitals. It has some dreadful words ("This breast expanding for the ball..." etc) but a terrific tune - and one can take a high B flat at the end, which all show-off tenors (including yours truly!) love to do. Not sure I could do it anymore, however.

[giles.enders]

It may be of interest that Naxos have just released a cd of opera Fantasies and Paraphrases played on two pianos by Richard Bonynge and Rosemary Tuck.  Most of these are opera transcriptions by Wallace of other composers operas.