Beecham Conducts Bizet’s The Fair Maid of Perth (1956) – Rare Vintage Recording

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BIZET The Fair Maid of Perth
(La jolie fille de Perth, sung in English)

Studio broadcast recording, 1956
Total duration: 2hr 14:39

Catherine Glover – Mattiwilda Dobbs
Henry Smith – Alexander Young
Le Duc de Rothsay – Kevin Miller
Ralph – David Ward
Mab – Anna Pollack
Simon Glover – Owen Brannigan

BBC Chorus
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham

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Georges Bizet’sopera, La Jolie Fille de Perth, premiered at the Théâtre-LyriqueImpérial du Châtelet in Paris in 1867. The opera is very loosely based on SirWalter Scott’s novel, The Fair Maid of Perth, but with many characterchanges to improve the dramatic tension for the stage. At first glance theopera is full of stock characters that pepper other operas, the lovesick HenrySmith (see L’Elisir d’Amore), the flighty Catherine who briefly losesher mind (see Lucia di Lammermoor), a rakish aristocrat set on sexualconquest (see Rigoletto or Le nozze di Figaro), and a meddlinggypsy (see Il Trovatore). While the opera loses some of Scott’s subtletyin favour of melodrama, with plenty of instances of mistaken identity andcharacters assuming the worst, it does at least have a happy ending for theprincipal couple. What shines through is Bizet’s lyricism and his ability towrite tuneful and engaging music for a wide audience.

Sir ThomasBeecham’s penchant for French opera is well known. During his wartime stint atthe Metropolitan Opera in New York he mainly conducted French works, including Carmen,Faust, Manon, Louise, Mignon and Les Contesd’Hoffmann. His affinity for this particular opera lasted for decades. Heconducted the British premiere in Manchester in 1917 to an enthusiasticreception from the Manchester Guardian: “The Fair Maid of Perth is astriking example of the modesty of genius… there is scarcely a bar of poormusic in the opera.” The Observer, reviewing a later London performance wasmore circumspect, suggesting that Beecham’s long love affair with French operawas the main reason for his championing a somewhat obscure opera.

After the warBeecham was operatically homeless, no longer in charge of designing the‘International Seasons’ that had been such a sensation at Covent Garden in the1930s. While Beecham continued an extensive concert career, the studios of BBCradio provided him with an opportunity to continue to conduct opera, and thistime to a nationwide audience. In the late 1940s Beecham conducted radioperformances of La  Damnation de Faust(1946 & 1949), Tristan und Isolde (1946), Die Walküre (1946),Les Troyens (1947), Elektra (1947), Les Deux Journées(1947), A Village Romeo and Juliet (1948), and The Fair Maid of Perth(1949 in English). In 1956 Beecham returned to conduct The Fair Maid ofPerth for the BBC, again in English but with an almost entirely differentcast from seven years previously.

American coloratura soprano Mattiwilda Dobbs singsCatherine Glover. Dobbsmade her name in Europe in the early 1950s. In addition to singing at CoventGarden, La Scala and the Vienna State Opera, she was the first black singer to gaina long-term contract with the Metropolitan Opera in 1956.

Alexander Young,singing Henry Smith, made his professional debut under Beecham at the EdinburghFestival in 1950 singing a minor role in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos.Young had a wide repertoire, from Mozart and Handel, through Gilbert andSullivan operettas to new operas such as Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress– an opera he recorded with the composer conducting in 1964.

The rest ofthe cast includes Scottish bass David Ward, singing Ralph, who would later goon to be a renowned Wotan in the Covent Garden Ring Cycles of the 1960s and1970s, and Owen Brannigan, the only survivor from the 1949 broadcast, as SimonGlover. Brannigan is perhaps known today for his roles in Britten operas suchSwallow in Peter Grimes, Noye in Noye’s Fludde, and Bottom in AMidsummer Night’s Dream. Several of these roles were specifically writtenby Britten for Brannigan to sing.

Beechamconducts with all the deftness and joy we expect from him, giving music heclearly thought was unjustly neglected, a fresh lease of life.

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BEECHAM Bizet: The Fair Maid of Perth

disc one (73:14)
1. Prelude  (6:02)
ACT ONE
2. Que notre enclume  (4:15)
3. Enfin, me voilà seul!  (5:23)
4. Vive l’hiver  (2:13)
5. Ces plaisirs là ne me vont pas  (1:29)
6. Deux mots, encor  (4:46)
7. Cest dans cette maison  (6:59)
8. Que fait ici cette inconnue?  (2:36)
9. Vous voudrez bien, je pense  (3:55)
ACT TWO
10. Bons citoyens  (2:48)
11. Carnaval!  (1:56)
12. Musiciens, danseurs  (1:47)
13. Tout boit, amis  (1:39)
14. Sans crainte approchez-vous  (0:45)
15. La la la  (2:39)
16. Je donne en mon palais  (1:48)
17. Les seigneurs de la cour  (2:51)
18. Tu seras mon bon ange  (2:41)
19. Partout des cris de joie  (6:08)
20. La la la … Quand la flamme de l’amour  (5:21)
21. Eh! Camarade…  (5:13)
disc two (61:25)
ACT THREE
1. Entr’acte et scène – Je fais cent pièces d’or!  (1:42)
2. Elle sortait de sa demeure  (3:12)
3. Et tenez… écoutez…  (1:59)
4. Nous voilà seuls  (4:58)
5. Ballet  (1:54)
6. C’est donc ici  (3:33)
7. Et bien, cette beauté  (12:49)
ACT FOUR
8. Smith, tu nous connais tous  (7:31)
9. Ils verront si je mens!  (6:07)
10. Maître là-bas on vous attend  (2:25)
11. Aux premiers rayons du matin  (3:36)
12. Catherine Glover?  (1:19)
13. Ah … Echo, viens sur l’air embaumé  (3:50)
14. Le jour de la Saint Valentin Henri Smith est mort!  (6:29)
CAST
Catherine Glover – Mattiwilda Dobbs
Henry Smith – Alexander Young
Le Duc de Rothsay – Kevin Miller
Ralph – David Ward
Mab – Anna Pollack
Simon Glover – Owen Brannigan
BBC Chorus (Chorus-Master, Leslie Woodgate)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Leader, Arthur Leavins)
conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham
Libretto by Saint-Georges and Adenis after the novel by Sir Walter Scott
English translation by Paul England
XR remastered by Andrew Rose
First broadcast on the BBC Third Programme, Friday, 5th October, 1956
Total duration: 2hr 14:39

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