MAY HUXLEY
THE WIRELESS SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA '
Conducted by STANFORD ROBINSON
WEBER was uncommonly successful in catering for early nineteenth-century German tastes in Opera, which lay in the direction of folk-legends, tales of romantic and chivalrous deeds, and homely sentiment.
The Opera, The Marksman, is about mysterious deeds of black magic, the romantic love of a huntsman, and the machinations of his rival-a capital plot for those who like opera hot and strong, and don't trouble too much about its improbabilities. The Marksman went down at the first performance, so Weber wrote, with ' incredible enthusiasm ...' 'I was called before the curtain ... verses and wreaths came flying up. Soli Deo gloria.'
His Overture is built on melodies sung in the Opera.