Charles Dibdin (1745-1814) developed the idea of a ‘Table Entertainment’, a one-man show with piano, in 1787,creating a new kind of intimate musical-theatrical experience. Dibdin’s fourth work in the genre, The Wags of 1790, proved much the most successful, and one of the great triumphs of his extraordinary, 50-year career. Here he invites his audience to an imaginary ‘Camp of Pleasure’ where a collection of glorious British eccentrics sing such classic Dibdin songs as ‘The Soldier’s Adieu’, ‘Irish Italian Song’, ‘Sound Argument’ and ‘The Auctioneer’. Though long considered lost, most of The Wags exists in manuscript form in the British Library, so Retrospect Opera has been able to recreate and record it, with Simon Butteriss taking the vocal part and Stephen Higgins playing an 1801 Broadwood grand piano. Dibdin was the pre eminent singer-songwriter and musical showman of his age, and this recording vividly brings to life an important chapter in the history of popular song in Britain.
