John Gay - The Beggar's Opera CD

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John Gay (1685-1732), a genial poet and playwright with a talent for satire, got the idea for The Beggar's Opera from his friend, the satirist Jonathan Swift. It was staged by the actor-manager John Rich (who introduced pantomime to England) and succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. In general, ballad opera, set among London's criminal classes and full of satirical jibes about corruption in high places, suited English taste better than Handel's heroic operas by the 1720s.

Created specifically for television, this Beggar's Opera captures the quality and satiric edge of the Hogarth engravings which influenced Gay's original version. The characters of this highly-spirited comedy of London low-life thrived on thieving, lechery and deceit: Peachum, the receiver of stolen goods, shops his clients when it suits him; Lockit, the prison governor has corrupt links with Peachum; Macheath, the highwayman, has married Polly Peachum but is promised to Lucy Lockit; Jenny Diver betrays her old lover, Macheath; Lucy tries to poison her rival, Polly; Peacham and Lockit can both profit from Macheath's demise and so he is brought to the gallows through his lecherous exploits. Lust, greed and corruption abound in this exuberant piece of popular theatre.

The music for this production has been arranged from the eighteenth-century folksongs of the original by baroque specialists Jeremy Barlow and John Eliot Gardiner, who conducts The English Baroque soloists, performing on authentic period instruments.

Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who and star of films including Tommy, McVicar and Lisztomania, heads a distinguished cast as the villainous hero Macheath.