The Young Kabbarli

{{Short description|Australian opera}}

{{Infobox opera

| name = The Young Kabbarli

| type = Chamber opera

| composer = Margaret Sutherland

| image =

| caption =

| librettist = Maie Casey

| language = English

| premiere_date = {{Start date|1965|08|df=y}}

| premiere_location = Theatre Royal in Hobart

}}

The Young Kabbarli is a one-act chamber opera written in 1964 by the Australian composer Margaret Sutherland; it is her only work in the operatic genre. The libretto was by Maie Casey, based on poetry by Judith Wright and Shaw Neilson.{{cite web|url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0236b.htm|title=Sutherland, Margaret Ada - Woman - The Australian Women's Register|work=womenaustralia.info|accessdate=30 January 2015}}

The plot is based on an episode in the life of the Irish-Australian welfare worker and anthropologist Daisy Bates. Bates was given the affectionate name 'Kabbarli', meaning 'grandmotherly person'.{{cite web|url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0050b.htm|title=Bates, Daisy May - Woman - The Australian Women's Register|work=womenaustralia.info|accessdate=30 January 2015}}

The Young Kabbarli has four singing roles (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass) and three non-singing roles.

It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, bassoon, horn, percussion (castanets, wood block, sticks, flints, wooden shaker), piano, viola, and double bass.{{cite web|url=http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/product/the-young-kabbarli-a-chamber-opera-in-one-act|title=Score: The young Kabbarli : a chamber opera in one act / libretto, Maie Casey; [music] Margaret Sutherland. [1964] : Product : Australian Music Centre|work=australianmusiccentre.com.au|accessdate=30 January 2015}}

The Young Kabbarli was premiered in August 1965 at the Festival of Contemporary Opera and Music, at the Theatre Royal in Hobart, as a companion piece to Larry Sitsky's The Fall of the House of Usher. Sitsky's piece was well-received, Sutherland's less so.{{cite web|url=http://www.australiancomposers.com.au/composers/margaretsutherland.html|title=Margaret Sutherland|work=australiancomposers.com.au|accessdate=30 January 2015}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7MeID8ogGOEC&q=young+kabbarli&pg=PA154|title=A Steady Storm of Correspondence|isbn=9780702232572|accessdate=30 January 2015|last1=Harwood|first1=Gwen|year=2001}}

It received performances by the State Opera of South Australia in Adelaide and in Melbourne in 1972.{{cite web|url=http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/artist/sutherland-margaret|title=Margaret Sutherland : Represented Artist Profile : Australian Music Centre|work=australianmusiccentre.com.au|accessdate=30 January 2015}}

The Young Kabbarli was recorded in 1973 at Flinders University, Adelaide. It was the first Australian opera recorded in Australia, and it was the first quadraphonic disc made in Australia.[https://www.jstor.org/pss/955597 jstor] The singers were Genty Stevens, mezzo-soprano, Daisy Bates/Kabbarli; Dean Patterson, baritone, Goondowell; Carol Kohler, soprano, Goondowell's wife Yoolbian;{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/classic/daily/stories/s631264.htm|title=ABC Classic FM Music Details: Monday 6 December 1999|work=abc.net.au|accessdate=30 January 2015}} John McKenzie, bass-baritone, Trappist Brother; David Gulpilil (as David Gumpilil), Aboriginal singer; New Opera of South Australia, conducted by Patrick Thomas.[https://web.archive.org/web/20111203214947/http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/product/the-young-kabbarli-a-chamber-opera-in-one-act-1 Australian Music Centre]{{cite web|url=http://www.musicaustralia.org/apps/MA?function=showDetail¤tBibRecord=000009056585&itemSeq=8&total=8&returnFunction=searchResults&scope=scope&simpleTerm=Patterson++Dean.&sessionId=reuseSearchA52F555EF07B8B71319981D78D8E31D01282975184986|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314075527/http://www.musicaustralia.org/apps/MA?function=showDetail¤tBibRecord=000009056585&itemSeq=8&total=8&returnFunction=searchResults&scope=scope&simpleTerm=Patterson++Dean.&sessionId=reuseSearchA52F555EF07B8B71319981D78D8E31D01282975184986|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 14, 2012|title=Australian music in Trove|work=musicaustralia.org|accessdate=30 January 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/classic/daily/stories/s630504.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030702105832/http://www.abc.net.au/classic/daily/stories/s630504.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 2, 2003|title=ABC Classic FM Music Details: Sunday 16 November 1997|work=abc.net.au|accessdate=30 January 2015}}