Add MS 53027 B

'Blanche de Nevers', opera in four acts, with libretto probably by John Oxenford (for the music by M. W. Balfe). Licence sent 5 November 1863 for performance at Covent Garden. Name of W. Harrison, manager, noted in the script. "Opera in three acts" on title page. MS written in more than one hand. Numerous cuts and additional notes in second hand. Paste-ins, music cues and songs numbered. LCO Day Book Add. 52703 records date of licence as 31 October 1863. Attributed in Nicoll (under the title 'Blanche of Nevers, or, I am here') to W. S. Hyde, performed in Manchester on 6 April 1863, but W. A. Barrett, Balfe: his life and work (1882) attributes the libretto to Brougham and cites a first performance date of 21 November 1862, which date almost certainly refers to the performance of Brougham's original 'straight' version, for which see Add. 53018 AA. There is no entry for this opera in Loewenberg. Published in Lacy's, vol. 57, no. 852.

ff. 95.