Lurline (complete opera)

"Dandy, womaniser, spendthrift, traveller and a man of many parts, there was probably as much fiction as there is fact surrounding the life of the Irish-born William Vincent Wallace. It maybe true that he left debt behind him as he made his home in various parts of the world including Australia, Chile, Mexico, United States, Germany, and England, his days ending in France. And there were women as well, including at least two marriages. Coulourful and gifted, his musical reputation is now slim and resides in the opera, Maritana, though during his lifetime Lurline was held in the highest esteem, and was among the operas that helped rescue London's ailing opera house at Covent Garden from financial ruin. It was the frequently used plot of the Rhine maiden, Lorelei, whose songs had lured sailors to their death on the rocks. But that was to change when she falls in love with a mortal. He is already loved, and those affections are mutual. So the story unfolds with the unhappy ending that audiences of the time had come to expect. Stylistically a German opera much indebted to Weber and Mendelssohn, with a passing knowledge of Wagner. That is then diluted to make it a pleasingly melodic opera and forerunner of the Gilbert and Sullivan era. At the helm of this world premiere recording is the Australian-born conductor, Richard Bonynge, a musician who has an affection for neglected operas. His cast are familiar names on the British opera scene, the finely spun voice of Sally Silver making a suitably seductive Lurline and a perfect foil to the formidable Ghiva of Fiona Janes. As the third party in the love triangle, Keith Lewis sounds an aging Count Rupert, the person who has captivated Lurline, while the stalwart of comedy roles, Donald Maxwell, is the father who gets most things wrong. The booklet gives no background to the young sounding Victorian Opera Chorus or to the orchestra, but one guesses they were a 'special' group formed for a recording made in northern England last June."
(David's Review Corner)

The Lorelei Rock in the Rhine River on which the siren Lurline played her enchanting harp to lure fishermen to a watery grave is the setting for Lurline, heard here in a new performing edition by Richard Bonynge. Victorian theatre critics declared it an outright success and the opera played for a substantial number of performances, making it a landmark production. Wallace's melodious score is even richer than that of his earlier opera, Maritana.