(From Birmingham)
THE BIRMINGHAM STUDIO
AUGMENTED ORCHESTRA
(Leader,
FRANK CANTELL )
Conducted by JOSEPH LEWIS
DELIBES, like more than one other French composer, wrote both church and theatre music; at one part of his life, he held appointments in church and theatre at the same time. Successful in his own lifetime, and distinguished by many of the highest honours which France can offer her citizens, he cherished the ambition of composing serious opera, but it was as a composer of light opera and ballet music that he was most popular, and that he is now remembered.
The opera Le Roi l'a Dit is based upon an old-world French subject, and was produced at the Opera Comique in 1873. Though the opera itself was not a great success in Paris, the Overture still holds its place in concert repertoires.