William Wallace's 'Lurline'

[Gareth Vaughan]

I know what an iconic figure Joseph Parry is considered in Wales. I'm a Welshman myself. He was a superb writer of hymn tunes. I just think we should keep his music in perspective. Parry was not an operatic genius and "Blodwen" is not a forgotten masterpiece (IMHO). He was a fine melodist, however - and that is what we should celebrate.

But, leaving aside the merits (or otherwise) of Joseph Parry, the problem with reviving a lot of the "forgotten" British 19th century operas lies not in the music, which is often supremely lovely, but in the disappointingly incompetent librettos from which many suffer. The wonder is that these composers wrote the music they did when they were given such embarrassingly bad lyrics to set (not all the time, of course, but depressingly often). For example, Wallace wrote a great tune in 'Maritana' with "Yes, let me like a soldier fall..." - despite the awfulness of lines like "This breast expanding for the ball..."  What a pity the ball didn't pierce the breast of the librettist!

[albion]

the problem with reviving a lot of the "forgotten" British 19th century operas lies not in the music, which is often supremely lovely, but in the disappointingly incompetent librettos from which many suffer. The wonder is that these composers wrote the music they did when they were given such embarrassingly bad lyrics to set

The main culprits (with some of their effusions) were: Alfred Bunn (1796-1860) - The Maid of Artois, The Bohemian Girl; Edward Fitzball (1792-1873) - Maritana, Lurline, Raymond and Agnes; John Oxenford (1812-1877) - Robin Hood, Helvellyn, The Lily of Killarney; and Henry Chorley (1808-1872) - The Amber Witch.

Ultimately, I am very much against 'updating' or tinkering with the text as originally set and performed. Yes, modern audiences would be quite bewildered by the convoluted constructions and flowery vocabulary, and would probably have to be supplied with 'translations' or at least a detailed synopsis, but a similar solution is commonly adopted when modern school-children first approach the unfamiliar idiom of Shakespeare. Victorian operas, for all their creaky plots, inconsistent characters and labyrinthine libretti, are endlessly fascinating and full of musical treasures.

[Baxluk]

Victorian Opera Northwest deserve great credit in recording Lurline and in attracting Richard Bonynge and a star cast.  I think that this is their third CD after the Maid of Artois and Balfe Songs. They recorded McFarren's Robin Hood in March and this is due for release at the end of 2010 or early 2011. I understand all have been produced on a shoe-string budget and all organised by a few volunteers. My heartiest congratulations to all.

[albion]

Having listened several times now to the new recording of Lurline, I can strongly recommend it to anybody interested in British music or nineteenth-century opera in general. Although the orchestra and chorus may very occasionally lack the last degree of refinement, they generally give a splendidly assured account of the music whilst the soloists (especially Sally Silver in the title role) are uniformly excellent and Bonynge shapes everything beautifully.

At two-and-a-half hours it is quite a lengthy score, but interest never flags, as Wallace pours melody after melody onto Fitzball's entertainingly dotty lyrics.  Bonynge has effectively given us everything that Wallace composed for different editions of the opera, whilst acknowledging very minor cuts (mostly to recitatives) made by the composer. The libretto is available online from Naxos, but I would recommend purchasing the cd-sized booklet from Victorian opera, or better still the vocal score. I'm greatly looking forward to Macfarren's Robin Hood and heartily wish this enterprising project all the success it deserves.

[pcc]

I must defend, to a degree, Bunn and Fitzball as librettists.  I strongly believe their excessive language is congruent with what was conceived as operatic literary style at the time throughout Europe, coupled with native British melodramatic practice.  Does anyone here have a sufficient lingual and period cultural grasp to analyze Solera's or Vernoy de St. Georges' "poetry", for example?  You might criticize B's and F's metre and scansion (as Balfe supposedly did on occasion in private, according to the St. Leger recollections), or their inconsistent (to put it kindly) dramatic construction, but the emotions and word choice -- Forsooth! or "per Dio!"

I can't wait to get my hands on Lurline.  I conducted a reading of the overture once, after I'd finally amassed the forces necessary, and it was an enchanting experience I'd long dreamed of.

[Pengelli]

Joseph Parry rules!

[Gareth Vaughan]

I listened again to the SAIN CD of Parry's "Blodwen" and must confess to revising my opinion completely. I must have been in a bad mood the first time I heard the work - or perhaps I was irritated by the shortcomings of the performance. I really enjoyed it and have to admit that it contains some first rate melodies and gorgeous ensembles.
I repent in ashes!

[Pengelli]

Really? The 'Joseph Parry Rules' was a tongue in cheek response to PCC's defence of Bunn and Fitzball. Who I confess,I'm not that familiar with. I do think he has a point,in a way,terrible as some of those libretti appear. That sort of material would certainly have appeared more acceptable to people living in that period. Maybe we should try and look at some of this material through 'Victorian eyes' & sensibilities instead of our own. I mean,let's face it,some of the stuff we regard as literature might very well be viewed as 'howlers',one day!
  Regarding,Joseph Parry. I wasn't suggesting that there were any forgotten masterpieces in his output,but it would be nice to hear a little more of his serious music,particularly his choral output, But maybe, this is the sort of thing that should happen in Wales itself. Anyway,glad you enjoyed it!

[pcc]

Thank you, Pengelli, for your gracious thoughts; and in kind, I'm ordering _Blodwen_ from the UK based upon yours and others comments, and am studying the vocal score available online.  Fascinating, and good!  How could I have missed this??  My defense of Bunn and Fitzball is partially based upon my sense that English-language countries trash their native librettists far more readily than Italians or the French, for example, and on poetic or textual grounds.  Most criticism I read of libretti like Count Pepoli's for _I puritani_ or Cormon and Carré's for _Les pêcheurs de perles_ (if you want two notoriously "weak" books) focuses on their dramatic content, rather than the quality of their poetry or the language they use.  I remember as a kid reading Bunn's libretto to _The Bohemian Girl_ on its own as it is helpfully printed at the front of the old Schirmer vocal score; the Count's charge to Thaddeus on finding him in the wardrobe in Act 3 (all right, this does sound a little silly put this way, but it's what happens) "Depart, ere my thirsty weapon stains/These halls with the blood of thy recreant veins" drove me to to the dictionary to look up "recreant"!  Also, there is a certain ebullient sonority about it that I quite relish.  Getting the British public to accept opera in their own language meant giving a bit of the dramatic language they expected in both melodrama (Fitzball in particular wrote quite a number) and more overtly literary drama (like Sheridan Knowles's plays).  Dickens was accounted a fine actor, but his great vehicle was Wilkie Collins's melodrama _The Frozen Deep_, which is strong meat indeed.  And present-day libretti presenting potetial future "howlers"? -- well, let's just say there are mixed opinions on _Doctor Atomic_!

Anyway, _Blodwen_ and _Lurline_ are both coming through Amazon UK as they are unavailable yet directly over here.  What _we_ need here in the US are recordings of William Henry Fry's _Leonora_, which is an above-average bel canto piece with excellent orchestration, and Chadwick's _The Padrone_, which ought to be a real shocker.  Thanks again, Pengelli.