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On stagePelléas and Mélisande On discThe Burgomaster of Stilemonde On filmThe Only Way |
The Burgomaster of Stilemonde by Maurice Maeterlinck
was first performed at Lyceum Theatre, London, on 4th October 1918. Martin Harvey played the part of the Burgomaster, Cyrille van Belle; his wife (under her stage name of Miss N. da Silva) that of Isabelle. In 1933, for BBC programme entitled "The Stars in their Courses" he and his wife recorded their interpretation on a single 12" disc. It was recorded on 1st March 1933 and broadcast on 27th May 1933. It is of a section of Act III, shortly before the Burgomaster is executed. Two other recordings of Martin-Harvey were recorded for the same programme and are held by the British Library National Sound Archive: The Only Way - extract of last act recorded 20/04/33 - from the programme On 20th August 1940, the BBC broadcast the entire play with Sir John and his wife in the cast. A complete recording is preserved in the BBC Sound Archive. The actor Henry Donald was a member of the Martin-Harvey Company for some years and recorded his memories of Sir John for the BBC. These include a few attempts by Donald to mimic Sir John's acting.
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| © Chris Goddard, 2002 | Last revised: 31 May 2006 |