The Scarlet Letter (Damrosch opera)
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The Scarlet Letter is an opera by Walter Damrosch, based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel of the same name. The libretto was by George Parsons Lathrop, son-in-law of the author. The work is Wagnerian in style, Damrosch being a great enthusiast and champion of the composer. Excerpts from the opera first premiered at Carnegie Hall on January 4 and 5, 1895; the first fully staged performance was February 10, 1896, in Boston.[1] Among those present at the premiere were Charles Eliot Norton, Prince Serge Wolkonsky, Julia Ward Howe, and Nellie Melba.[2]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Concert premiere cast, January 4–5, 1895 (the composer conducting)[3] |
Full premiere cast, February 10, 1896 (the composer conducting)[2][4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hester Prynne, a young Puritan woman | soprano | Lillian Nordica | Johanna Gadski |
| Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, an eloquent young minister | tenor | William H. Rieger | Barron Berthold |
| Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband | baritone | Giuseppe Campanari | Wilhelm Mertens |
| Rev. John Wilson, an elderly and revered minister | baritone | Ericsson F. Bushnell | Gerhard Stehmann |
| Governor Bellingham, governor of Boston | bass | Conrad Behrens | Conrad Behrens |
| Brackett, a jailer | bass | James F. Thomson | Julius von Putlitz |
| A Shipmaster | baritone | presumably Ericsson F. Bushnell | Gerhard Stehmann |
| Chorus: Puritans | |||
Differences from the novel
- Pearl, Hester's daughter, is absent.
- Instead of living a solitary life after Dimmesdale dies at the end, Hester takes poison and dies with him.[1]
References
- ^ a b Kirk, Elise Kuhl (2001). American opera. University of Illinois Press. pp. 133–136. ISBN 9780252026232.
- ^ a b Whiting, Lilian (1902). Boston days: the city of beautiful ideals; Concord, and its famous authors; the golden age of genius; dawn of the twentieth century. Little, Brown & Company. pp. 403–410.
- ^ "Music in America". The Musical Times. 36: 116. February 1, 1895.
- ^ Upton, George Putnam (1911). The standard operas: their plots, their music, and their composers. A. C. McClurg. p. 62.