[5] Raymond and Agnes was the third major opera by Edward Loder, following his early Nourjahad (1834) and the more mature The Night Dancers (1846), and it was musically much the most ambitious.
[6] The first hint of what may have been Raymond and Agnes can be found in a statement in London's theatrical weekly The Era of 18 August 1850 that, "A new opera by Mr Edward Loder ... is about to be produced in the principal theatre at Brunswick."
Nothing became of that, and around the same time a change of policy at London's Princess's Theatre forced Loder to move from his position as musical director there, where he had conducted many operas including The Night Dancers during the 1840s.
Local critics reported an enthusiastic audience reception, though the Manchester correspondent of The Musical World (25 August 1855) expressed a somewhat modified opinion, being particularly hard on the libretto: "Loder's new opera is not as happy an inspiration as his Night Dancers.
There are some very striking and dramatic scenes in the opera, in spite of its gloomy and incoherent plot, which Loder has used to great advantage.
For instance, The Daily News (13 June 1859) opined that, "Raymond and Agnes is not by any means equal to The Night Dancers, and its inferiority is owing to the weakness of the subject and its dramatic treatment....
In this new opera the plot and incidents are so stale, flat, and insipid, as to paralyse the most active imagination, and we are only surprised that the music of Raymond and Agnes is as good as it is."
Fortunately the London production ensured publication of the opera in vocal score form, and over a hundred years later, in 1963, Nicholas Temperley, an assistant lecturer in music and fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, acquired a copy.
Critics shared his enthusiasm for the music, Peter Heyworth (The Observer, 9 May 1966) observing that "the score develops a sustained dramatic attack that is all too rare in the annals of British opera", Andrew Porter (The Financial Times, 19 May 1966) declaring the score "a mine of richly inventive music", and Stanley Sadie (Opera, July 1966) reporting that, "Loder's melodies have been echoing through my mind since the performance."
Apart from a couple of BBC broadcasts of excerpts from the 1966 version in 1966 and 1995, matters again rested for almost a further fifty years until a project to mark the bicentenary of Loder's birth and the sesquicentenary of his death led to the discovery of the original published libretto and the creation by Valerie Langfield of a new performing edition from the autograph full score.
Theodore gets into conversation with Francesco, who reveals himself as valet to that very same Baron of Lindenberg who shortly intends to marry Agnes.
Now, at dead of night on All Hallows' Eve, the ghostly Spectre-Nun wanders through the castle dressed in white, with dagger in hand.
When Francesco and Madelina draw back the black curtains over the altar they reveal a portrait strangely like Agnes, causing the Baron to reflect on a lady he snatched in Madrid when he stabbed her husband to death.
A door in the gallery opens, and Agnes enters in white flowing veil, a lamp in one hand and a dagger in the other, scaring the company away.
On a stormy night in a forest near the castle, Antoni reflects on how he will soon reveal to the Baron a secret concerning the dumb woman Ravella.
Antoni enters and confides to his sons that the stranger they attacked the previous evening was the Baron of Lindenberg and none other than Inigo, their old bandit chief in Andalusia.
In the ensuing confusion Ravella discovers a dropped miniature, which she shows to Antoni, who realises that Raymond is Fernando's son and orders his release.
Inside the castle, Antoni, now disguised as a monk begging charity, vows revenge on the Baron for renouncing him years before.
Brought in by guards, Raymond envisages his own doom, while the Baron exultantly announces that he will take Agnes to the chapel within the hour.
The Baron will place the gold by a statue in the chapel, and Antoni will shoot the man leaving the castle with a lady on his arm.
The cast includes Majella Cullagh as Agnes, Mark Milhofer as Raymond, Andrew Greenan as the Baron, Carolyn Dobbin as Madelina, Alessandro Fisher as Theodore and Quentin Hayes as Antoni.