Opera Rarities

[Master Jacques]

The evening was a total delight, and if there's a lot of "spot the influence"* that can be had throughout, Stanford had assimilated these influences convincingly - and, as I said, the Music for Hero & Claudio is in a class of its own. A great deal better than many a more famous repertory work that gets regularly put on (no names, nobody gets upset) and it's probably the only time it'll ever get performed, alas, so the opportunity should be grabbed by anyone interested in this repertoire who can get to it.

This has been a good time for Stanford's operatic reputation, with the New Sussex Opera The Travelling Companion having made a very strong impression in London and around the South and East of the country - the production was nominated for an Opera International award, for best rediscovery. It has been recorded by Somm, and should appear fairly soon.

I wish somebody would also revive The Critic, based fairly closely on Sheridan's play, which on the page looks well worth reviving for its wit and tuneful economy.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

This has been a good time for Stanford's operatic reputation, with the New Sussex Opera The Travelling Companion having made a very strong impression in London and around the South and East of the country - the production was nominated for an Opera International award, for best rediscovery. It has been recorded by Somm, and should appear fairly soon.

Well, I shall be looking out for the release with a helluva lot more enthusiasm than I would have dreamt probable before seeing last night's show. Thanks for mentioning this, MJ.

I wish somebody would also revive The Critic, based fairly closely on Sheridan's play, which on the page looks well worth reviving for its wit and tuneful economy.

(I presume that "tuneful economy" doesn't mean "there aren't many"? )

[Once Was 4]

I agree –and I thought the RNCM production was really fine (I reviewed it at length in the June edition of Opera Magazine).

One real rarity is getting an extremely enterprising outing next month: Holst's "Lansdown Castle or The Sorcerer of Tewkesbury." There are two performances in Cheltenham, being given by musicians from Pate's Grammar School. It is on 19 September at 7 pm at the school, and on 21 September at 3 pm at St. Andrew's, Montpelier, GL50 1SP. Admission is free with a retiring collection. Sadly I'm going to be abroad, but I hope it might be of interest.

Does anybody recall a spoof on G&S with a storyline regarding cricket? I played in a BBC recording of this which took place in the old Leeds Civic Theatre (now the Leeds Museum) in the early 80s; it went out on Radio 2 I think but I do not remember much about it. I will dig out my old contracts and see if that will tell me anything.

[Master Jacques]

(I presume that "tuneful economy" doesn't mean "there aren't many"?)

You presume right. There are lots of tunes, including some naughty allusions to other people's. At the line "Oh fatal parry" at the end of the duel, Stanford goes so far as to quote "Blest Pair of Sirens"!

[Master Jacques]

Does anybody recall a spoof on G&S with a storyline regarding cricket? I played in a BBC recording of this which took place in the old Leeds Civic Theatre (now the Leeds Museum) in the early 80s; it went out on Radio 2 I think but I do not remember much about it. I will dig out my old contracts and see if that will tell me anything.

You may mean Engaged, which isn't so much a spoof as a pastiche, turning Gilbert's three-act comedy into a comic opera using music by Sullivan (Rowell and Mobbs, 1962). It does feature a chorus of cricketers, marooned in Gretna Green by a train accident (criminally instigated). It's excellent, but has sadly fallen out of favour lately.

[Once Was 4]

You may mean Engaged, which isn't so much a spoof as a pastiche, turning Gilbert's three-act comedy into a comic opera using music by Sullivan (Rowell and Mobbs, 1962). It does feature a chorus of cricketers, marooned in Gretna Green by a train accident (criminally instigated). It's excellent, but has sadly fallen out of favour lately.

No, not that one. Strangely I do not seem to have a BBC contract in my files but I remember that it was done under the auspices of the Light Music Department in Manchester but with Fred Truman taking part (hence the recording in Leeds); it was very much centred on cricket but was more a send up of the old public school image of certain players rather than the game itself. I remember the conductor having a speaking (actually shouting) role at one point - "hit him for six George!" and that the conductor may have been Bernard Herrmann who was MD of the Northern Dance Orchestra before it was re-formed as the Northern Radio Orchestra. And definately a spoof on G&S.

By the way: how many operas have train accidents in them? One was/is 'Jony Spielt Auf' by Ernst Krenek which we did in the 80s.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0b4f84ec9ba44428986621bd5d4238b7

[Master Jacques]

how many operas have train accidents in them?

Well ... not quite what you mean, but the many operatic incarnations of Anna Karenina naturally culminate in one. Iain Hamilton provided a particularly lugubrious climax to his version at ENO. The only other which comes to mind is the contemporary American composer Paul Crabtree, who early this decade wrote a chamber opera based on Arnold Ridley's classic crime drama The Ghost Train (though again, the final accident is rather incidental).

[Once Was 4]

Yes, that's the one - thank you. It brings back a lot of memories: the village team were playing the MCC I now recall and there were a lot of exaggerated mock public school accents that smacked of inverted snobbery. I think that the orchestra was led by the late Norman George which is probably how I got the gig (although I had been playing in the Northern Radio Orchestra off and on up until 1978 and occasionally thereafter). Other players that I remember on the date included the late Barry Gomersall who was the dark haired, bespectacled violinist who was always prominent in the pit for the BBC TV's 'The Good Old Days'. I'll shut up now!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Batsman's Bride had been broadcast before - in 1955 on the Home Service - and published in 1957. The composer, Percy Meredith Heywood, was himself a public schoolboy (ex-Haileybury College) and Director of Music at Rydall School in Colwyn Bay - so possibly the exaggerated accents weren't necessarily "inverted snobbery"?

The piece still gets done - a performance was given by the Luton Music Club (Patron one Petroc Trelawny ... )

[doversoul1]

Hipermestra by Francesco Cavalli
You’re unlikely to see this rarity better staged anywhere, though whether you need to see it at all is another matter.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/may/21/hipermestra-review-superbly-sung-uk-premiere-of-cavallis-uneven-tragedy

Leonado Vinci’s Artaserse at l'Opera de Nancy 2012 11 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCTiqj2lrTs

When it comes to Baroque operas, apart from a few by Handel, most works seem to be rarities.

[Dave2002]

Hipermestra by Francesco Cavalli
You’re unlikely to see this rarity better staged anywhere, though whether you need to see it at all is another matter.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/may/21/hipermestra-review-superbly-sung-uk-premiere-of-cavallis-uneven-tragedy

Leonado Vinci’s Artaserse at l'Opera de Nancy 2012 11 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCTiqj2lrTs

When it comes to Baroque operas, apart from a few by Handel, most works seem to be rarities.

For a few seconds I thought this was new news. We rather enjoyed Hipermestra a few years back - not much more crazy than many other operas. Will check out Artaserse.