Leader, Alfred Barker
Conductor, T. H. MORRISON
The scene -of Martha is laid in Richmond and an old-fashioned hiring fair is the central point of the story. A great lady, bored by her Court life, allows herself to be hired as servant to a young farmer, with whom she falls in love. Her affection is returned, and the apparent difference in their station leads to complications, but at the end it is discovered that the young farmer is really a nobleman, and the opera ends happily with their betrothal.
The opera is still occasionally performed, but it survives mainly in the Overture, a very popular item in concert programmes.