This disc is a rarity.
It first appeared in 2000 but has now
been re-mastered for SACD and a freshly
designed and newly typeset booklet provided.
It was originally available for less
than three years due to unprecedented
sales. A project inspired by Richard
Bonynge, we are fortunate in being introduced
to these forgotten composers and the
excellent material they wrote. To many,
the works on this disc will be totally
unknown and much the same can be said
of the composers except Sullivan. There
is a lot here to interest lovers of
romantic nineteenth century music.
The operas from which
these arias are drawn were played to
packed houses in London and the provincial
theatres and hearing the music one can
understand why. A British opera movement
grew up around them and great hopes
were laid in store for a continued promotion
of the genre. For too long these melodious
arias and their parent operas have been
neglected. Amongst them are real operatic
gems with catchy melodies as good as
any of those of the continental masters.
In their heyday, between the 1830s and
1890s, most of the operas were presented
at the Haymarket, Drury Lane, Covent
Garden - then known as the Royal Italian
Opera, or the English Opera House -
now the Palace Theatre. We have forgotten
that in 1951 Balfe’s "Rose of
Castille", represented here
opened the very first Wexford Festival.
The pieces on this
disc are well-chosen highlight arias
and provide the listener with music
in various styles. These styles have
some commonality with Rossini, Donizetti
and Auber.
Richard Bonynge needs
no introduction and conducts with his
usual panache. Australian-born Deborah
Riedel won singing awards at the New
South Wales Conservatorium of Music
before developing a wide repertoire
from Gounod to Wagner. With an international
reputation she has played in all the
major opera houses. Her versatility
makes her a good choice of singer to
handle the widely differing styles and
the range required in the Malibran favourite
The rapture dwelling. Her lyrical
singing has purity and wide compass
and is delivered with much ease and
feeling.
A maroon card case
is provided in place of the usual jewel
case. It features an integral booklet
and the whole is as elegant and as sumptuous
as a typical Opera Rara volume. The
booklet contains lyrics for the songs,
together with a fascinating archive
of colour pictures.
CD labels need to be
aware of an increasing national interest
in traditional British composers and
this forgotten genre, which Bonynge
has unearthed. Currently the only professional
recordings of the genre are: Balfe’s
Bohemian Girl (Decca/Argo 433
324-2), Wallace’s Maritana (Marco
Polo/Naxos 8.554080-1) and a semi-professional
recording of Sullivan’s Ivanhoe (Pearl
SHECDS 9615). A Balfe/Wallace/Benedict
highlights disc has been reissued (EMI
CFP 946 335 948-2). When you have heard
this disc you’ll wonder why so few recordings
exist.
I look forward to a
sequel to this disc amid an increasing
interest in lost Victorian operatic
works. It is to be hoped that Wexford
will once again select a Balfe or Wallace
opera to perform and this can then be
recorded.
Raymond J Walker
Reviews of the original
release Ray
Walker Philip
Scowcroft David
Arundale
for details
Deborah Riedel (soprano) 
MELBA
MR 301107 [69:51] 
