Victorian English Opera

This website is devoted to English opera, i.e. opera with an original English libretto, written during the Victorian Era and which aspired to rival continental, most particularly Italian, opera of the day.

NEWS

Victorian Opera Northwest's recording of Macfarren's Robin Hood has been released on Naxos 8.660306-07. Further details may also be found here.

Guild (www.guildmusic.com) have released a CD of Balfe songs on GMCD 7359 entitled Michael William Balfe 1808-1870 - Songs and Ballads Rediscovered. They are sung by Sally Silver with Richard Bonynge on the piano. An excerpt from "The green trees whispered", one of seven Longfellow poems that Balfe set, can be found here. Other than one song, they are a completely different selection than that recorded by Victorian Opera Northwest on WRW 204-2.

Opera South will be performing German's Merrie England on February 22-25, 2012 at Haslemere Hall, Haslemere, Surrey

The era can be divided into two. The first part covers 1834-1866, whose chief protagonist was Michael William Balfe but in which other composers, such as John Barnett, Julius Benedict, Edward Loder, George Alexander Macfarren and William Vincent Wallace, also played a significant part. Many of their operas enjoyed initial success but few managed to hold the stage until the 20th century and even they had essentially disappeared within the first few decades. The second part, which stretched from 1876 until 1901, was a rather more disparate effort, mainly under the aegis of the Carl Rosa Company, with, once again, some initial success but ultimately failure to gain a hold in the repertoire.

Any correspondence should be addressed to victorianenglishopera@gmail.com

� Victorian English Opera, 2011