The Young Kabbarli
Chamber opera by Margaret Sutherland
LibrettistMaie Casey
LanguageEnglish
Premiere
August 1965 (1965-08)
Theatre Royal in Hobart

The Young Kabbarli is a one-act chamber opera written in 1964 by the Australian composer Margaret Sutherland; it is her only work in the operatic genre. The libretto was by Maie Casey, based on poetry by Judith Wright and Shaw Neilson.[1]

The plot is based on an episode in the life of the Irish-Australian welfare worker and anthropologist Daisy Bates. Bates was given the affectionate name 'Kabbarli', meaning 'grandmotherly person'.[2]

The Young Kabbarli has four singing roles (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass) and three non-singing roles.

It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, bassoon, horn, percussion (castanets, wood block, sticks, flints, wooden shaker), piano, viola, and double bass.[3]

The Young Kabbarli was premiered in August 1965 at the Festival of Contemporary Opera and Music, at the Theatre Royal in Hobart,[4] as a companion piece to Larry Sitsky's The Fall of the House of Usher. Sitsky's piece was well-received, Sutherland's less so.[5][6]

It received performances by the State Opera of South Australia in Adelaide and in Melbourne in 1972.[4]

The Young Kabbarli was recorded in 1973 at Flinders University, Adelaide. It was the first Australian opera recorded in Australia,[7] and it was the first quadraphonic disc made in Australia.[8] The singers were Genty Stevens, mezzo-soprano, Daisy Bates/Kabbarli; Dean Patterson, baritone, Goondowell; Carol Kohler, soprano, Goondowell's wife Yoolbian;[9] John McKenzie, bass-baritone, Trappist Brother; David Gulpilil (as David Gumpilil), Aboriginal singer; New Opera of South Australia, conducted by Patrick Thomas.[10][11][12]

References

  1. ↑ "Sutherland, Margaret Ada - Woman - The Australian Women's Register". womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Bates, Daisy May - Woman - The Australian Women's Register". womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Score: The young Kabbarli : a chamber opera in one act / libretto, Maie Casey ; [music] Margaret Sutherland. [1964] : Product : Australian Music Centre". australianmusiccentre.com.au. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Margaret Sutherland : Represented Artist Profile : Australian Music Centre". australianmusiccentre.com.au. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Margaret Sutherland". australiancomposers.com.au. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Harwood, Gwen (2001). A Steady Storm of Correspondence. ISBN 9780702232572. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Sutherland, Margaret Ada - Woman - The Australian Women's Register". womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  8. ↑ jstor
  9. ↑ "ABC Classic FM Music Details: Monday 6 December 1999". abc.net.au. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  10. ↑ Australian Music Centre
  11. ↑ "Australian music in Trove". musicaustralia.org. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "ABC Classic FM Music Details: Sunday 16 November 1997". abc.net.au. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
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