Maritana was one of the most popular of mid-nineteenth-century British operas. Its 1848 première was a triumph and was soon followed by performances in opera houses from Vienna to Philadelphia. The absurd plot, which contrasts life at the Spanish court with that of the Gypsy street-singer of the title, is subsidiary to the appeal of a string of infectious and much loved arias such as There is a flower that bloometh and Yes! Let me like a soldier fall. Wallace’s opera Lurline is available on Naxos 8660293-94, on which the American Record Guide commented: ‘The opera and the performance are both a delight.’