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.

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, often under the aegis of the Carl Rosa Company, with, once again, some initial success but ultimately failure to gain a hold in the repertoire.

NEWS

Attempts are currently being made to arouse interest in the music of Edward Loder based around the forthcoming 150th anniversary of his death. Please download the flyer here for more details. There is also an article by Andrew Lamb on Loder at MusicWeb International.

The orchestra of Victorian Opera Northwest under Richard Bonynge have recorded a number of Victorian English opera overtures and they are now available on SOMM CD 0123 : British Opera Overtures. More detail on the content can be found here.

A DVD has been made of the Wallace Bi-centenary Festival Gala Concert in Ballina last year, whose programme contained several rarities including a number from his opera, Matilda of Hungary.

The running time is 128 mins. For more details or to purchase, please contact Terry Reilly, terryreilly@eircom.net, or Pat Diamond, pat.diamond1@gmail.com, or write to Pat Diamond, Rathkip, Ballina, Co Mayo, Ireland.

There is also a new biography by Andrew Lamb entitled William Vincent Wallace (Fullers Wood Press, 2012). See here for details of availability.

Naxos (Naxos 8.660308-09) have re released their recording of Maritana, Wallace's best known work..

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.

Any correspondence should be addressed to victorianenglishopera@gmail.com