English Eccentrics is a chamber opera in two acts by Malcolm Williamson to an English libretto by Geoffrey Dunn, based on Edith Sitwell's 1933 book, The English Eccentrics.The W. H. Auden Society – Newsletter No. 15, Notes and Queries, November 1996 It was commissioned by the English Opera Group.Covell, R. The English Eccentrics. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London & New York, 1997. The opera requires the cast to make many quick changes of roles between scenes, and contrives the confrontation of several of the characters, who did not meet in real life.
Performance history
The work, the second opera by the composer, was first performed in the Jubilee Hall at Aldeburgh in Suffolk, England on 11 June 1964 as part of the Aldeburgh Festival in a production by William Chappell.Jacobs, Arthur. Non-Opera and Noh-Opera. Opera, August 1964, Vol.15 No.8, p531. With the principals on stage, the 'quartet' of singers were in the pit with the orchestra, seven members of the English Chamber Orchestra, and it was broadcast on the BBC Third Programme. The original festival programme called English Eccentrics simply 'an entertainment'.
The critical reception of the premiere was mixed. Opera magazine commented that "Each of the two acts ends with a 'tragic' episode – the sad affair of Sarah Whitehead convinced that the Bank of England was defrauding her and the removal of Brummell to a mental asylum. This appears an odd forcing of the essentially comic nature of the material". The two more serious scenes were composed before the rest of the piece; Peter Pears had apparently told Williamson that what was wanted was an 'anti-opera'.Goodwin, Noël. Review of English Eccentrics. Trinity College of Music Opera Group. Opera, August 1990, Vol.41 No.8, p999-1000. A later critic wrote "There is little dramatic thread to the piece, though some poignant little plots do emerge... This score shows Williamson on a form he was later to lose – witty, affectionate and generally deftly written. ...Pastiche of styles is matched by a pastiche of structure, with many of the scenes observing the 18th-century convention of one character leaving the stage as another arrives". He also noted the magical ending, reflective, mournful and valedictory.Morley, Christopher. Review of English Eccentrics at Birmingham Conservatoire. Opera, May 2006, Vol.57 No.5, p590-591.
Revivals have tended to be by conservatoire opera groups and companies for young stage professionals, rather than established opera companies.
Roles
RoleThird Programme, 11 June 1964, Radio Times, No. 2117, 4 June 1964, p49.Voice typePremiere cast, 11 June 1964(Conductor: Meredith Davies)Lord PetershamtenorRaymond NilssonThomas ParrbassOwen BranniganThe Rev. Mr. JonestenorJohn FryattMiss BeswicksopranoApril CanteloLady Lewsonmezzo-sopranoAnna PollakMrs. DardssopranoApril CanteloMiss Tylney LongsopranoApril CanteloThe Countess of Desmondmezzo-sopranoAnna PollakDr. KatterfeltobaritoneMichael MaurelLord RokebybaritoneMichael MaurelJohn WardtenorRaymond NilssonMajor Peter LabellièrebassOwen BranniganRobert 'Romeo' CoatestenorJohn FryattMiss FitzHenrymezzo-sopranoAnna PollakThe PrompterbassOwen BranniganA Governor of the Bank of EnglandbassOwen BranniganYoung WhiteheadtenorRaymond NilssonSarah Whitehead (his sister)sopranoApril CanteloAlderman BirchbaritoneMichael MaurelMrs. Birchmezzo-sopranoAnna PollakRoberts the ForgerbassOwen BranniganBank clerktenorJohn FryattLord RothschildbaritoneMichael MaurelDr. DalmahoybassOwen BranniganLady Jerseymezzo-sopranoAnna PollakDr. GrahamtenorJohn FryattThe Duchess of DevonshiresopranoApril CanteloBeau BrummelltenorRaymond NilssonCaptain Philip ThicknessebassOwen BranniganMr. WorrallbaritoneMichael MaurelMrs. Worrallmezzo-sopranoAnna PollakThe Vicar of AlmondsburytenorJohn FryattPrincess CaraboosopranoApril CanteloMr. Clanronald MacdonaldtenorJohn FryattParish ConstablebassOwen BranniganDr. WilkinsontenorRaymond NilssonFirst NunsopranoApril CanteloSecond Nunmezzo-sopranoAnna PollakEtiennebaritoneMichael MaurelQuartet: Barbara Elsy, Pauline Stevens, Ian Partridge, Christopher Keyte (two sopranos, tenor, bass)
Synopsis
Act 1 Prelude – Goose-weather
Scene 1: An introduction to Eccentricity – features encounters with a variety of eccentrics: Lord Petersham, Miss Tylney Long (collectors of snuff boxes and hats), the ancient Thomas Parr and Countess of Desmond, the Reverend Jones, Dr Katterfelto and Miss Beswick, Lord Rokeby and Lady Lewson with their opposing views on baths, John Ward, Mrs Dards and Major Labelliere.
Scene 2: An Amateur of Fashion – a scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Scene 3: The God of this World – Young Whitehead spends all his money on his sister Sarah, resigns from the bank and turns to crime and is hanged; her inability to comprehend the situation makes her go mad.
Act 2 Scene 1: Quacks and a Beau – Drs Katterfelto, Dalmahoy and Graham offer cures for every ill; and an introduction to Brummell, arbiter of fashion, and his entourage.
Scene 2: An Ornamental Hermit – Captain Thicknesse's attempt to write his memoirs fails.
Scene 3: A Traveller – the story of the imposter Mary Baker.
Scene 4: The Beau again – the senile decline of Brummell and death in a Caen boarding-house.
References