The Stoned Guest

P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742)? was not only the last of the great Johann Sebastian Bach?s 20-odd children, he was also the least and the oddest. Any account of his life that fails to mention the fact that one of his ears was slightly pointed would have to be considered seriously deficient. We have evidence of at least three attacks on the genre of opera by this midget among composers: 1) an opera in one unnatural act entitled Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice; 2) a large work called The Civilian Barber, only parts of which have been found; 3) the half-act opera The Stoned Guest. The Stoned Guest was first performed at the Howdyvolksteater in Wein-am-Rhein, the town in which P.D.Q. Bach spent the longest period of his creative life, the Soused Period. The initial reception was mixed, with tomatoes and eggs predominating. One of the most notable aspects of the opera is its large canine part (known in the 18th Century as a barcarolle), which exceeds in virtuosity even the famous ?Woofenpoof Songs? from Fido and Aeneas. Tradition has it that P.D.Q. himself played the title role, which, if true, proves that type-casting was as common then as it is now. The work is recorded on Vanguard album (VSD6536) in a performance that can only be described as definitive.