Peter Tranchell’s Twice a Kiss (1955) is not a work many of us will know. Composed for a performance during Cambridge University’s annual May Week celebrations – where Tranchell served as Precentor of Gonville and Caius College and Lecturer in Music – this work has remained untouched since its one revival in Cambridge in 1982 (featuring none other than a young Chris Purves in the role of Mr Honeywood). It is, therefore, an immense privilege for me and the cast to breathe new life into this little gem.
Peter Tranchell © peter-tranchell.uk
Set in Restoration London, Sir Robert Asymptote (a would-be playwright in debt) plans to marry his wealthy ward, Sarah, to Sir Peter Parallel to solve his financial problems and, debt-free, enable him to stage his play at Mr Honeywood’s theatre. Meanwhile, an anonymous love letter, found by the maid Susan, causes confusion, flirtation, and suspicion among the household. Misunderstandings abound as this farce races towards a conclusion in which order is finally restored.
Peter Tranchell’s Twice a Kiss music score © peter-tranchell.uk
Tranchell (1922-1993) was a direct contemporary of Benjamin Britten. Whilst there are certain similarities (the servant Knipp is a Puck-like figure, and the rehearsal of Sir Robert’s play seems a direct reference to the mechanicals from A Midsummer Night’s Dream), there is a playful irreverence in the way Tranchell’s musical language tells the story. Always rooted in the tonal realm, Tranchell relies on his idiosyncratic use of harmony – gnarly, scrunchy, often unexpected – and applies it to an incredibly well-paced and classically structured operetta form. There are showstopping arias and ensembles (after which we would welcome applause!), and together with Maurice Holt’s whimsical libretto, the work firmly sits in the land of Gilbert and Sullivan (albeit with Tranchell’s distinctive and unmistakable signature). At times twee, there is nevertheless great sophistication with which Tranchell interacts with the operetta form (comic interchanges between the keyboard instruments and the singers, playful metres, traditional harmony subversively corrupted). It is both a traditional operetta and a playful, ironic commentary on the genre.
One could hardly imagine a better cast than we have assembled for this performance. Chris Purves returns to the role of Mr Honeywood that he sang as a student and is joined by Sophie Bevan (Susan), Hilary Summers (Sarah), Jennifer France (Lady Asymptote), Henry Waddington (Sir Robert Asymptote), James Gilchrist (Sir Peter Parallel) and Daniel Gilchrist (Knipp). Part of the charm of this piece is that it was written for piano and electric organ; this is not a combination many of us will be used to hearing, but in the hands of Dave Doidge (piano) and Tom Winpenny (organ), audiences can expect fireworks. Twice a Kiss forms the second part of a concert of Tranchell’s works, in which the winning work of the 2025 Peter Tranchell Foundation Composition Prize will also be performed by our stellar piano-organ duo.
Clockwise from top-left: Sophie Bevan (© Sussie Ahlburg), Michael Papadopoulos, Jennifer France (© Nick Cutts), James Gilchrist (© Patrick Allen), Piers Lane (by Benjamin Ealovega), Henry Waddington (by Gerard Collett), Hilary Summers (by Claire Newman-Williams),
Christopher Purves (by Chris Gloag)
As a Kapellmeister at Vienna’s Volksoper, I am no stranger to operetta. We are, however, not in the land of Johann Strauss’ waltzes, nor of Franz Lehár’s opulent and cinematic romanticism. We are instead in a world epitomised by that distinctive mid-20th century British humour and wit – a piece that will tickle and charm without ever taking itself too seriously; more Carry On than Karajan. We look forward to seeing you on 18th April at London’s St Paul’s Knightbridge for this long-overdue revival of Peter Tranchell’s Twice a Kiss.
Twice A Kiss – a comic opera in one act, and other entertainments – Peter Tranchell Foundation
Michael Papadopoulos
British-Cypriot conductor Michael Papadopoulos is an alumnus of the Royal Ballet and Opera’s prestigious Jette Parker Young Artist Programme and a former BBC Music Magazine Rising Star.
Currently Kapellmeister at Vienna’s Volksoper, he has recently conducted performances of West Side Story and Orpheus in der Unterwelt, as well as the Austrian premiere of Follies. This season he conducts performances of Die Zauberflöte, West Side Story, Eine Nacht in Venedig, Kaiser Requiem, Le nozze di Figaro, La clemenza di Tito, Hänsel und Gretel, and Aschenbrödel.
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