ELIZABETH MACONCHY

The English composer Elizabeth Maconchy’s one-act operas The Sofa and The Departure were performed by Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells in 2007. No one predicted that this double-bill of unknown operas would cause such a stir, but they proved a highlight on the London performance scene. Geoffrey Norris of The Daily Telegraph commented, ‘These two productions showed the bold Independent Opera at its best, with conductor Dominic Wheeler and a compact instrumental group wholly at one with the cast and with the contrasting moods that the operas evoke’. These wonderfully surreal and yet contrasting works were composed between 1956 and 1961 and premiered at Sadler’s Wells. The Departure here receives its premiere recording, and The Sofa makes a welcome return to disc.

Winner of the 2001 International Early Music Network Young Artists’ Competition, Apollo & Pan is a dynamic young group which explores the numerous hitherto neglected works for violin, bassoon and keyboard from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, using both Renaissance and baroque instruments.

Tassilo Erhardt and Sally Holman met and formed Apollo & Pan while studying at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague. In England they were joined by the keyboard player Steven Devine who was the winner of the inaugural Broadwood Harpsichord Competition in 1993.

"...Both operas receive performances that any composer would die for. The casts are first-rate, and the orchestra is excellent. Dominic Wheeler’s direction is flexible and deeply compelling."

Arlo McKinnon

More reviews from the 2007 production:

The outstanding performance came from Louise Poole in The Departure: this is a voice you’d be glad to hear in a bigger theatre…
If Independent Opera, the vigorous young company that staged this, carries on in this vein – inventive staging, outstanding musical performance, good-looking ensemble cast – it’s in serious danger of giving opera a fashionable name…
My first reaction, on seeing Independent Opera’s double bill of operas by Elizabeth Maconchy, was “why have I not seen these operas before”, and my second was “when can I see them again”

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