Balfe's original Bohemian rhapsody
It's a fact seldom enough acknowledged that one of the most influential and important composers in 19th century Britain was an Irishman, right up there with Arthur Sullivan, who wrote the music for William Schwenck Gilbert's lyrics. That there are Balfe Streets in both Dublin and London suggest a considerable reputation.
Indeed, the author of a soon-to-be-published biography maintains that our man, Michael Balfe, was to music in Victorian Britain what Charles Dickens was to literature. The two men, it transpires, were friends.
Michael Balfe was born in Dublin in 1808, and gifted with such musical talent that he wasn't even out of his teens by the time he was making an impact in Europe. He was a performer as well as a composer, and so impressed Rossini that he hired the young Irishman to sing Figaro, the eponymous Barber of Seville, in a production in Paris. Balfe was Rossini's baritone of choice for almost a decade.
He also reached a significant Mozartian milestone, playing Papageno in the first English language version of Mozart's Magic Flute when it was staged in London in 1838.
Composition was proceeding apace; in all Balfe was responsible for 28 operas. The most highly-regarded and enduring of these was The Bohemian Girl, the story of Arline of the title, the daughter of nobility who went missing as a child and was brought up by a family of gypsies. In keeping with what was by all accounts the positive personality of the composer, there is a happy ending.
Despite being a crowd-pleaser for half a century, The Bohemian Girl slipped into the background until Sir Thomas Beecham revived it for the Festival of Britain in 1951. It also featured in that year's season at Covent Garden. Still, it's best remembered now for Arline's aria -- I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls.
It was a Joan Sutherland staple down the years, but has now crossed the musical boundaries to be put down on disc by a broad coterie of artists.
Another Balfe favourite that still gets the odd outing is his setting of the Tennyson poem, Come into the Garden, Maud.
That new biography, due out in October from Irish Academic Press in association with the Arts Council, will be the forerunner of a lot you'll be hearing about Balfe, given that his bicentenary falls next year. Michael W. Balfe -- A Unique Victorian Composer is the product of seven years' extensive research by the Irish-born Florida resident Basil Walsh.
Michael Balfe never lost a certain ironic humour. When asked about how original his work might be, he replied: "There are two composers I've never scrupled to borrow from -- one's Beethoven, the other's myself!,George Hamilton presents "The Hamilton Scores" from 10.30 each Saturday morning on RTÉ Lyric Fm
- GEORGE HAMILTON
