The Operatic Servant Girl at Langley Estate
About
A World Premiere Performance 165 Years in the Making!An excellent evening's entertainment by Charles Robert Thatcher (1831-1878)
Matilda Wilby (Soprano) – The Servant Girl
Peter Hunt (Baritone)
Peter Butler (Piano)
Directed by Merlyn Quaife AM
‘Confound that servant girl of mine! She’s opera mad. I allowed her to go out two evenings last week to see Trovatore and the Traviata and she’s been singing the music ever since instead of answering my questions on domestic affairs.’
Hidden away in the State Library of Victoria is the text of a little burlesque: a ‘Duologue’ titled ‘The Operatic Servant Gal’, dated August 1861 and written by Charles Robert Thatcher, a British entertainer who arrived at the Bendigo Goldfields in 1852. Described as a large, genial man, the ‘inimitable Thatcher’ established a reputation as an immensely popular entertainer and writer of topical ballads, a flautist and a singer.
With his wife, Madam Vitelli (Lydia Ann Day), and a pianist named Edward Salaman (who arrived in Bendigo with a Broadwood piano in 1854), Thatcher entertained local citizens and miners at Bendigo’s Shamrock Hotel and Lyceum Theatre. He usually set the humorous texts of his ballads to well-known tunes of the day. However, the music for ‘The Operatic Servant Girl’ is drawn largely from Verdi’s famous operas La Traviata and Il Trovatore.
This ‘Duologue’ tells the story of an opera-mad maid-servant Mary Trillett and her master, a music-teacher named Quaver, who finally succumbs to Mary’s pleas for him to teach her music and singing. Quaver decides not only to teach his servant, but also to take her as his wife!
The distinguished Elmore-born historian, Hugh Anderson AM, came across Thatcher’s little burlesque late in his life. Thatcher’s hand-written text was typed up, and the music of Verdi that had been chosen by Salaman became available as a type-set score. Hugh occasionally altered Thatcher’s text with repetitions and he added a third minor character.
No evidence that the work was performed in Bendigo has been found, although it was possibly heard in New Zealand when Thatcher and Madame Vitelli travelled there in December 1861.
Hugh Anderson’s 96-year-old widow, Dawn, entrusted his edition of The Operatic Servant Girl to musicologist Jan Stockigt, in the hope that a performance might eventuate. Research by Jan, and her colleague musicologist Kerry Murphy, of Thatcher’s original materials, as edited by Hugh Anderson for his final project, will be used by Merlyn Quaife AM who will fulfil Dawn’s wish to bring this long-forgotten entertainment to life.
For this world premiere performance, 165 years in the making, the roles will be played by goldfields identities Peter Hunt (Baritone) and the brilliant young singer Matilda Wilby as the servant girl. They will be accompanied by Peter Butler (Piano).
Don’t miss this ’excellent entertainment’ - 1860s-style! - in the historic 1873 Lauriston Chapel at Langley Estate: the perfect atmosphere for bringing an extraordinary piece of Australian cultural history alive 165 years later!
After the concert, you can meet the performers and enjoy the usual post-concert refreshments served in the Langley Hall mansion.
Bookings are essential to gain entry.
Doors open at 2.30 pm.
Date
Sunday 3 May 2026 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (UTC+11)Location
Lauriston Chapel at Langley Estate
484 Napier St, White Hills VIC 3550
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The Operatic Servant Girl at Langley Estate
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