This CD, from Australia, gives a glimpse of what London
opera audiences enjoyed in the earlier part of Queen Victoria’s reign.
At that time the dominant opera composers were from the continent –
Weber, Meyerbeer, Gounod, Rossini, Verdi etc – and it fell principally
to two Irishmen to keep up the British end.
Operas by Michael Balfe (1808-70) and William Vincent
Wallace (1812-65) [do not confuse him with the Scottish composer William
Wallace whose splendid "Creation" Symphony and tone poems
are recorded – or with "Braveheart"!] were frequently performed
in Britain and internationally and remained in the regular repertory
until the 1930s. This excellent collection of romantic arias from many
of their operas is most appealing. Deborah Riedel sings beautifully
with the right balance for the style of song and is sensitively accompanied
by Richard Bonynge and orchestra.
This listener found Wallace’s Maritana and Lurline
much to his taste. The aria “Scenes that
are brightest” from the former is dramatic and tuneful. Lurline uses
the Rusalka story, but with a happy ending, before Dvořák got to
it. Balfe’s Satanella (alternative name is “The Power of Love”, hence
the CD title) also stands out but the whole compilation of songs,
ballads really, is very attractive even though the subject makes for
little variety and indeed one feels that some passages are a bit similar
to others – déja entendu to coin a phrase! A surprising
omission is Balfe’s "The Bohemian Girl", perhaps because that
is said to be his best known work.
The CD also has arias from works written around the
end of that century by Arthur Sullivan and Michael Faraday [do not confuse
with the discoverer of electromagnetic induction]. The latter’s Amasis
is a musical comedy premiered in 1906.
The CD case has a nice picture of the celebrated Maria
Malibran who performed best when primed with a glass of Porter. The
sleeve booklet is well written, profusely illustrated and full of interesting
background to the composers and the musical scene at that period. Inter
alia we learn that in the course of a varied career Vincent Wallace
was nearly eaten by cannibals. Balfe started out as a singer and finished
as a farmer.
David Arundale
This review appears here courtesy of the British
Music Society
See also reviews by Raymond Walker
and Philip Scowcroft