‘… My first reaction, on seeing Independent Opera’s double bill of operas by Elizabeth Maconchy was ‘why have I not seen these operas before’, and my second was ‘when can I see them again,’ wrote Music and Vision.

English composer Elizabeth Maconchy’s one-act operas The Sofa and The Departure were first performed by Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells in 2007. No-one predicted that this double-bill of unknown operas would cause such a stir, but they proved a highlight in the London performance scene. Geoffrey Norris of the Daily Telegraph commented, ‘These two productions showed the bold Independent Opera at its best, with conductor Dominic Wheeler and a compact instrumental group wholly at one with the cast and with the contrasting moods that the operas evoke…’ These wonderfully surreal and yet contrasting works were composed between 1956 and 1961 and premiered at Sadler's Wells. The Departure here receives its premiere recording, and The Sofa makes a welcome return to disc.

Elizabeth Maconchy was born in Hertfordshire in 1907 but grew up in rural Ireland. She studied under Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music in London, but eschewed English pastoralism for the sophisticated modernism of Central Europe embodied by Bartók and Janácek. After completing her studies in Prague she returned to England, and in the post-war era was much in demand with the leading orchestras, ensembles and soloists of the day. In 1987 she was appointed Dame of the British Empire in recognition of her services to music. She died in 1994. The Sofa is a light-headed work, adapted by Ursula Vaughan Williams and involving a dissolute young rake who is punished by his aristocratic grandmother for his fast living and predatory womanizing by being turned into a sofa. The only hope of being turned back into man, she declares, is when a couple makes love on top of him. Matters come to a head when his current girlfriend is successfully seduced by another man on the sofa! The Departure by contrast is a tragic and unsettling piece, a psychological exploration of bereavement.

More reviews from the 2007 production:

‘… The outstanding performance came from Louise Poole in The Departure: this is a voice you’d be glad to hear in a bigger theatre…’ Andrew Clark, The Financial Times

‘If Independent Opera, the vigorous young company that staged this, carries on in this vein – inventive staging, outstanding musical performance, good-looking ensemble cast – it’s in serious danger of giving opera a fashionable name…’ Fiona Maddocks, Evening Standard

Artists

Nicholas Sharratt (tenor), Sarah Tynan (soprano), George von Bergen (baritone), Josephine Thorpe (mezzo-soprano), Alinka Kozari (soprano), Anna Leese (soprano), Patricia Orr (mezzo-soprano) & Patrick Ashcroft (tenor), Louise Poole (mezzo-soprano) & Håkon Vramsmo (baritone)

Independent Opera Ensemble, Independent Opera, Dominic Wheeler