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 The Maid of Artois had its book written by Alfred Bunn, manager of the Theatre Royal. Balfe had much faith in Bunn as a stage lyricist, but analysis of his books shows that he was not particularly gifted: he often provided Michael William Balfe with lyrics of unbalanced syllabic length to set. This clearly would have hampered Balfe during composition, yet he seems to have coped pretty well. The story is principally a 'Manon Lescaut' plot where 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.  The list of numbers in the opera can be found here. The libretto is available from Cheshire Opera Enterprises.

We find Balfe's music to be tuneful and melodic with good orchestral texture. Training in composition was provided in Italy and whilst there for a few years he was exposed to the Italianate operatic style of Bellini and Donizetti.

 As a gifted baritone, Balfe sang at La Scala before moving to Paris where he met Rossini and was engaged to sing in operas by Auber at the Paris Opéra. French influences from these composers can be recognised in The Maid of Artois and the opera that preceded it. This was The Siege of Rochelle which took London by storm in 1835 and brought him overnight fame.

The success of The Maid of Artois (1836) was helped by excellent first night reviews. Arias were encored as was amazingly the overture. Much of the attraction to attend performances in the opening run came from the engagement of Mme Maria Malibran, the Callas of her day. Despite high fees, she enjoyed an attentive following all over Europe and ensured box office success wherever she appeared. The original and current casts can be found here.

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Malibran had been a friend of Balfe since their appearance together at the Paris Opera. Balfe wrote The Maid of Artois partly as a vehicle for her when aged 27, shortly before her untimely death in Manchester following a riding accident later in the year.  It is reported that Malibran's singing compass was remarkably wide and judging from the characters she played she would have been classed as an alto with soprano reach as she managed three octaves. Where alternative phrases of coloratura are shown in the score it is likely she sung the lower version. She had died before the score was printed, and so Balfe decided to set brighter higher versions of coloratura without fear of upsetting her. This would allow the music to be more in keeping with the youthful character of Isoline.

Despite two sets of band parts surviving there was much work involved in reconciling the two sets where certain numbers were found to be written in different keys and others starting with the same recitative run into different aria settings sometimes with the same words, at others with completely fresh lyrics. Unravelling the complexities has been most interesting and much preliminary effort was necessary to reprint the vocal score for production and computer set a fresh full score. The results are most rewarding as the work contains some excellent melodies and fitting orchestration in the Italian vein. A fuller description of the work that went into the recording can be found here.