A fascinating talk by Michael Hurd (pictured above) about the immense success of the opera The Immortal Hour by Rutland Boughton has been published recently on YouTube.
The production ran for a staggering 500 performances – 219 of them consecutively – at the Regent Theatre (formerly The Euston Theatre of Varieties), Kings Cross. The Regent was often referred to with fondness as ‘Faeryland’ and was one of the most famous early 20th century entertainment venues in London.
Michael Hurd describes how this now almost forgotten opera became the talk of the town when The Immortal Hour captured the public imagination when it first came to the stage in October 1922. It also immediately placed Rutland Boughton in the limelight as a composer of opera and choral music. This was perhaps the first time that a truly English composer since Purcell had written a truly original and convincing opera. Even the likes of Elgar, Holst and Vaughan Williams were enthusiastic about the work.
The Immortal Hour is an adaptation of the play by Fiona Macleod (the pseudonym of William Sharp) and based on Celtic mythology. It was first performed in 1914 at the inaugural Glastonbury Festival which Boughton had established. After the successful run of the opera in London it was transferred to New York in 1926.
‘The Immortal Hour is a work of genius’ – Sir Edward Elgar, 1924
It is certainly worth listening to Michael Hurd’s account. He was a natural speaker who had that rare ability to speak to the whole audience with the effect that he was speaking to you, personally.