The Maid of Artois
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The Maid of Artois is an opera by Michael Balfe, written in 1836 to a libretto by Alfred Bunn, manager of the Theatre Royal in London. The opera received good notices, and the overture was much admired. The opera opened on the 27th of May, starring the noted mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran as the title character, Isoline.
In the opera, a girl in love is poached by a rich Marquis. Fate decrees that the lovers end their days in the wastes of the desert, until an unexpected rescue comes. Balfe's music is tuneful and shows the influence of his earlier training in Italy, especially the influences of Bellini and Donizetti. It also shows the infuence of the French works that Balfe had sung (as a baritone) at the Paris Opéra, where he and Malibran had appeared together. Balfe wrote The Maid of Artois partly as a vehicle for her when she was 27, at the time of her riding accident in April 1836, which led to her untimely death later in 1836. Malibran was a mezzo-soprano with a three octave range. She had died before the score was printed, and so Balfe decided to set brighter, higher versions of the coloratura and other music in her role that are more in keeping with the youthful character of Isoline.
[edit] Reference
- Walker, Raymond, J. "Reviving Michael Balfe's The Maid of Artois". The Gaiety (Autumn 2005). (pp. 32-34)
[edit] External links
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