The Dancing Master (opera)
The Dancing Master, Op. 34, is a one-act 1952 English-language opera by Malcolm Arnold to a libretto by Joe Mendoza after William Wycherley's 1671 play The Gentleman Dancing Master.[1] Written in 1951-1952 for a BBC commission, it was rejected by the BBC as "too bawdy for family audiences".
Composition and performance
Joe Mendoza, formerly an assistant with the GPO/Crown Film Unit, had already prepared Wycherly's play as a potential film script for Margaret Lockwood when the commission for Arnold at the BBC came up and returned the libretto to Arnold quickly. Ten years after the BBC's rejection of the opera, a first concert performance was given by Arnold's friends at the Barnes music club at Kitson Hall, Barnes, 1 March 1962.[2] The first full semi-staged performance was at the 2012 Malcolm Arnold Festival at the Royal and Derngate in Arnold's birthplace Northampton given by the Ealing Symphony Orchestra under John Gibbons paired with Strauss' Die Fledermaus. The first fully staged performance was in 2015 at Guildhall School of Music & Drama conducted by Dominic Wheeler, and paired with Donizetti's I pazzi per progetto.[3] The opera was staged at Buxton Opera House in 2021, set as if performed for the microphone in a 1952 BBC radio studio, with rattled cutlery shown producing sound effects for a sword fight.[4]
Plot
The plot concerns Miranda, whose aunt, Mrs Caution, wishes her to marry her dandy son, who goes by the affected title 'Monsieur'. But Miranda prefers Gerard. Miranda's father, who affects being a Spaniard, 'Diego' rather than James, discovers Gerard having entered Miranda's bedroom by a ladder, but Gerard claims to be a dancing master preparing Miranda to dance with 'Monsieur'. Unimpressed, Mrs Caution demands that Gerard prove his dancing skills. Miranda's cunning maid Prue tries to seduce Monsieur. Miranda and Gerard conduct a secret marriage which her father, as a Spaniard, can only forgive and approve.
Cast
- soprano, Miranda
- mezzo-soprano, Prue, Miranda's scheming maid
- contralto, Mrs Caution, Miranda's aunt
- tenor, Gerard, Miranda's beloved
- tenor, 'Monsieur', Miranda's betrothed
- bass-baritone, 'Diego', Miranda's father
Recording
Malcolm Arnold: The Dancing Master Mark Wilde, Ed Lyon, Fiona Kimm, Graeme Broadbent, Catherine Carby, Eleanor Dennis. BBC Concert Orchestra, John Andrews released 25th Sep 2020 RES10269 Resonus Classics 75 minutes.[5]
References
- ^ Resonus Classics booklet essay by conductor John Andrews
- ^ Stewart R. Craggs Malcolm Arnold: A Bio-bibliography 1998 p9 "Six singers + 1.2.2.2/4.3.3. I/timpani percussion celesta harp/ strings Duration: 55 minutes First performance: Barnes (London), Music Club (Kitson Hall), 1 March 1962."
- ^ "Double bill at Guildhall - Donizetti's Il pazzi per progetto and Arnold's The Dancing Master". Opera Today. 6 March 2015.
- ^ Willson, Flora (14 July 2021). "The Dancing Master review – Arnold's 'bawdy' period piece no longer shocks or awes". The Guardian.
- ^ The Critic: Malcolm Arnold: The Dancing Master (Resonus) - The BBC thought Malcolm Arnold’s opera was not serious enough and a bit bawdy
