AustLit

Guglielmo Lardelli, who "occupied a prominent position in Sydney for many years" prior to the premiere of Katherine, first premiered his musical score for the opera at a private performance in the salon of the Continental Hotel, Wynyard Square. Among the forty or fifty people attending were Henri Kowalski and W. J. Wilson. At the conclusion of the evening the composer announced that it was his intention to place the opera before a London audience some time later that year. The Sydney Morning Herald critic writes of the evening: 'Signor Lardelli, who, in addition to his gifts as a pianist and singer, has the power of droll expression, took his audience through the two act opera with surprising vivacity (11 May 1895, p.7).

Mr Bruce Smith, in his address to guests following this private performance is quoted as saying that 'he was authorised to say the book was the work of a lady resident in the colony' (Browne was then living in Drummoyne) and that 'her libretto was so sparkling that he could only hope that such a female "Gilbert" might long collaborate in unbroken amity with the "Australian Sullivan"' (p.6).

Reviews of the Town Hall premiere indicate that the production suffered from the 'necessarily incomplete nature of the performance' having been 'brought forward, as all new pieces are at London matinees, more or less "in the rough" [and that it had yet] to undergo the process of remodelling bestowed upon every musical comedy during rehearsal at the theatre.' The Herald's critic was nevertheless impressed with the work of the librettist and composer, writing: 'There are heaps of good things in the work. Mrs Margery Brown's lyrics are excellent.. and Signor Lardelli's music shows a true melodic gift, all the romantic numbers are taking, and the second part of the opera is musically strong" (17 May 1895, p.3).

Songs and musical numbers known to have made up the score are: "The Katherine Waltz;" "Now Rides the Night" (sung by Katherine); "Semper Fidelis" (Wizard); "Night is Coming" (duet between Katherine and Archibald); and "Eldorado" (Archibald). The libretto, written by Mrs Margery Brown, later to write the libretto for Alfred Hill's comic opera Lady Dolly, is said to have in no way detracted from the composer's "very genuine success" in scoring a work described in the paper as "tuneful, animated and always to the point" (Sydney Morning Herald 22 March 1895, p.6).