ABSTRACT
Michael William Balfe returned to London for the writing and production of a 'New Legendary Opera', Bianca, the Bravo's Bride, to a libretto by Palgrave Simpson, based on a popular novel of the time. The libretto of Bianca was based on a popular melodrama of the time, Rugantino, or the Bravo of Venice by Monk Lewis. The critical reaction to Bianca was welcoming, but that of the public less so. The Puritan's Daughter was the third opera produced under the agreement between Balfe and the Pyne-Harrison company, composed to a libretto by J. V. Bridgeman. The 'Grand Romantic Opera in Three Acts', The Armourer of Nantes, was the next in the series written for the Pyne-Harrison partnership. It is interesting to compare Blanche de Nevers with Balfe's other 'Spanish' opera, The Rose of Castille, in various aspects of its 'Spanishness'.
