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 1951-1952 for a BBC commission, the BBC then rejected it as "too bawdy for family audiences".

Joe Mendoza (1921-, 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]

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 to proof of Gerard's 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.[4]

References
  1. Resonus Classics booklet essay by conductor John Andrews
  2. 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."
  3. Opera Today 06 March 2015 Double bill at Guildhall
  4. The Critic: Malcolm Arnold: The Dancing Master (Resonus) - The BBC thought Malcolm Arnold’s opera was not serious enough and a bit bawdy


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