Leader, Philip Whiteway
Conductor, Walton O'Donnell
Few musicians have had so adventurous a life as William Vincent Wallace, composer of Maritana. His father was a military bandmaster, and the young Wallace was born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1812. Much of his early manhood was spent in Australia, farming and fiddle-playing, and later in many parts of the world. In 1845, however, he was again in London, and someone seems to have suggested to him that he should compose an opera. Maritana was the result; it appeared near the end of 1845 and was an immediate and assured success. In 1860 his opera Lurline was produced at Covent Garden.