SOMM Recordings

British Opera Overtures / Bonynge, Victorian Opera Orchestra

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Details

Composer
WALLACE LODER BALFE
Artist
Bonynge
Format
CD
Discs
1
Label
SOMM Recordings
Released
Jan 01, 2013
Catalog #
SOMMCD 0123
UPC
748871012325

About



BRITISH OPERA OVERTURES: English Opera in the Nineteenth Century • Richard Bonynge, cond; Victorian Opera O • SOMM 0123 (74:36)


BENEDICT The Lily of Killarny. BARNETT The Mountain Sylph. BALFE The Siege of Rochelle. Le Puits d’amour. LODER The Night Dancers. WALLACE Lurline. The Amber Witch. Love’s Triumph Prelude. MACFARREN She Stoops to Conquer. THOMAS The Golden Web


For the most part, these are pleasant, skillfully wrought pieces, though some may deride them as a mere parade of pleasant tunes. I imagine the annotator makes a valid point in blaming the librettos of the operas they precede for the music’s demise in popularity. If you’re really curious, a few of them have made their way to recordings. John Barnett’s opera The Mountain Sylph is based on the same story that resulted in the venerable ballet La Sylphide (1836), composed by Herman Løvenskiold with choreography by August Bournonville. Like Rossini, Duparc, and Sibelius, Barnett severely curtailed or stopped his composing, in his case, from 1841 until his death in 1890. During his long life, he met Beethoven and studied with Weber. On the other hand, Edward Loder’s The Night Dancers uses some of the same plot as another venerable ballet, Giselle (1841), and Puccini’s opera Le villi, but no unfaithful bridegrooms have to dance to their deaths—it all turns out to have been a bad dream. Unlike Barnett, Loder attempts a few spooky effects in his Overture. Probably the most successful of these Victorian composers was Michael William Balfe, who is represented by two overtures, those to The Siege of Rochelle and Le Puits d’amour (“The Well of Love”—it’s also a French pastry with a hollow center). The latter work, with a libretto by Scribe, was first presented in Paris. His first London success was The Siege of Rochelle , his fourth opera. He went on to compose 24 more, of which the most successful was The Bohemian Girl . Unlike most of these operas, William Wallace’s Lurline , based on the Lorelei legend, has actually been recorded. Both the Overture and that to his The Amber Witch seem more engaged by the story than some of the overtures I have mentioned. George Macfarren’s She Stoops to Conquer is, as expected, based on Oliver Goldsmith’s 1773 play. Some composers have continued to create even after they became deaf, or nearly so; Macfarren wrote She Stoops to Conquer after he had gone blind. It has not been recorded but there is a recording of another of his operas, Robin Hood . I am grateful to Richard Bonynge for his interest in obscure vocal and dance music which has resulted in some delightful recordings—in fact, I’m interested in almost anything he chooses to record. One can enrich the catalog without adding another Beethoven symphony cycle to it.


FANFARE: James Miller

Tracklist 10 tracks

  1. 1 The Lily of Killarney: Overture 08:43
    Track
    1
    Title
    The Lily of Killarney: Overture
    Duration
    08:43
    Composer
    Julius Benedict
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge
  2. 2 The Mountain Sylph: Overture 07:27
    Track
    2
    Title
    The Mountain Sylph: Overture
    Duration
    07:27
    Composer
    John Barnett
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge
  3. 3 The Siege of Rochelle: Overture 09:24
    Track
    3
    Title
    The Siege of Rochelle: Overture
    Duration
    09:24
    Composer
    Michael William Balfe
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge
  4. 4 Le puits d'amour: Overture 09:34
    Track
    4
    Title
    Le puits d'amour: Overture
    Duration
    09:34
    Composer
    Michael William Balfe
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge
  5. 5 The Night Dancers: Overture 06:49
    Track
    5
    Title
    The Night Dancers: Overture
    Duration
    06:49
    Composer
    Edward James Loder
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge
  6. 6 Lurline: Overture 08:22
    Track
    6
    Title
    Lurline: Overture
    Duration
    08:22
    Composer
    William Vincent Wallace
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge
  7. 7 The Amber Witch: Overture 05:59
    Track
    7
    Title
    The Amber Witch: Overture
    Duration
    05:59
    Composer
    William Vincent Wallace
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge
  8. 8 Love's Triumph: Overture 03:52
    Track
    8
    Title
    Love's Triumph: Overture
    Duration
    03:52
    Composer
    William Vincent Wallace
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge
  9. 9 She Stoops to Conquer: Overture 05:56
    Track
    9
    Title
    She Stoops to Conquer: Overture
    Duration
    05:56
    Composer
    George Macfarren
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge
  10. 10 The Golden Web: Overture 08:28
    Track
    10
    Title
    The Golden Web: Overture
    Duration
    08:28
    Composer
    Arthur Goring Thomas
    Ensemble
    Victorian Opera Orchestra
    Conductor
    Richard Bonynge