To mark the bi-centenary of the Irish composer William Vincent Wallace a new biography has been published by Dr Andrew Lamb entitled William Vincent Wallace (Fullers Wood Press, 2012).

Wallace, the son of a military bandmaster, showed his entrepreneurial flair at a young age and without formal musical education mastered harmony and compositional skills becoming a lead violinist in Dublin and London theatre orchestras. He emigrated to Australia, travelled the Americas and ended up an American citizen before ending his days in France. The biography reveals fascinating facts about this colourful composer that have been overlooked or distorted by earlier biographers. A much clearer picture is presented of the genesis of  Wallace's operas and why one was deliberately shelved for production a decade later.

Victorian Opera Northwest's recording of Macfarren's Robin Hood has been released on Naxos 8.660306-07. John France in a MusicWeb International review wrote "This is a CD that all opera fans ought to have. Some people will ignore it simply because it was written by an Englishman during Queen Victoria’s reign. They would be utterly misguided to do so. This is a great work; possibly the composer’s masterpiece and is a light opera (not operetta) that can hold its best up against anything offered by the Italians and the French and the Germans from the same period."   Further details on the recording may be found here.