13:00 FRENCH CHAMBER Part 4
Prepared by Paul Cooke
With Ross Hayes

Farrenc, L. Trio no 2 (1844).    Alexandre Pascal, vn; Héloïse Luzzati, vc; Celia Oneto Bensaid, pf.
Palazzetto Bru Zane BZ 2006 [25:06]

Soulage, M. Sonata in F sharp minor, op 31 (1919).    Odile Bourin, vc; Geneviève Ibanez, pf.

Anima ANM/110300002 [21:59]

d’Indy, V. Clarinet trio, op 29 (1887).    Amici Ensemble.
Naxos 8.557347 [35:53]

14:30 SATURDAY MATINÉE
Operetta in the afternoon
Prepared by Elaine Siversen
Wi

Herbert, V. Orange blossoms, Act I    Orange blossoms. Operetta in three acts; ed. Michael Phillips in two acts. Libretto by Fred de Gressac and Buddy DeSylva. First performed New York, 1922
[26:00]

Herbert, V. Orange blossoms, Act II    Light Opera of New York cast & O/Evans Haile.
Albany records TROY 1535 [40:39]

   This is a hilarious culture clash between Americans and Parisians in Paris and later on the Riviera. Baron Roger Belmont will inherit his aunt’s fortune if he marries within a year of her death. However, according to the terms of the will, his bride can’t be the divorced wife of a Brazilian subject. Roger loves Mme. Helen de Vasquez who is the ex-wife of a Brazilian. Roger’s resourceful lawyer, Tillie Jones, arranges to have her goddaughter, Kitty Savary, marry Roger, but not to cohabit. The plan is that after Roger collects the money, he would divorce Kitty and marry Helen. Kitty has never forgotten that Roger once kissed her in a ‘heavenly manner’ and agrees to the marriage. Roger eventually discovers his true feelings for Kitty.

Solomon, E. Pickwick. Operetta in one act. Libretto by Francis Cowley Burnand. First performed London, 1889.    MR PICKWICK: Simon Butteriss, bar
MRS BARDELL: Gaynor Keeble, mezz
TOM BARDELL: Alessandro MacKinnon, treb
THE BAKER: Toby Stafford- Allen, bar
Stephen Higgins, pf & dir.
Retrospect Opera RO002 [55:08]

   Mr. Pickwick lodges with widowed Mrs. Bardell who fancies him as her next husband. Pickwick is preparing to set off on an excursion and has decided to engage a servant as a general factotum. He sends Mrs. Bardell’s son, Tom, with a note, offering employment to Sam Weller. Mrs. Bardell believes he has sent Tom away so that he can propose to her. The Baker, a keen suitor, arrives with marriage lines, ready for Mrs. Bardell to sign. Certain that Mr. Pickwick will soon propose, she sends The Baker away. Worried about the cost of a servant, Pickwick asks Mrs. Bardell if two can live as cheaply as one. She, thinking this is his round-about way of proposing, throws her arms around him, and declares she will ‘never quit him’. The Baker, seeing Mrs. Bardell in Pickwick’s arms, declares he’ll marry someone else. Tom returns and finds Pickwick’s friends waiting on the doorstep. They see Pickwick embracing Mrs. Bardell, who has fainted. Pickwick shouts an explanation to his friends, and assures them that he is ‘free’. Hearing this, Mrs. Bardell threatens Pickwick with prosecution, encouraging The Baker to make another proposal.

German, E. She had a letter from her love; Who shall say that love is cruel, from Merrie England (1902).    June Bronhill, sop; Michael Collins O.
EMI 3 89163 2 [06:28]

German, E. A foundling boy; By night and day, from Tom Jones (1907).    Marianne Hellgren Staykov, sop; Richard Morrison, bar; National Festival Ch & O/David Russell Hulme.
Naxos 8.660270-71 [07:02]