FULL THE CRUCIBLE (Ward) New York 2016 Purchase College
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: The Crucible
- Composer: Ward Robert
- Libretto: Bernard Stambler, based on the play by Arthur Miller Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Recital Hall of the Purchase College Performing Arts Center, New York
- Recorded: March 2016
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Bryan Murray, Rachel Weishoff, Sylvia D'Eramo, Soraya Karkari, Iris Rogers, Christopher Jones, Joshua Benevento, Ryan Capozzo, Colin Whiteman, Cara Collins
- Conductor: Hugh Murphy
- Orchestra: Purchase Symphony Orchestra
- Chorus: Purchase Symphony Chorus
- Stage Director: Jacque Trussel
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Purchase College
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
The Crucible is a 1961 English language opera written by Robert Ward based on the 1953 play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It won both the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Music and the New York Music Critics Circle Citation. The libretto was lightly adapted from Miller’s text by Bernard Stambler.
Ward received a commission from the New York City Opera to write the opera. Arthur Miller was involved in selecting Ward. It is one of the most performed operas by an American composer.
Story
The play takes place during the 1692 Salem witch trials. The Arthur Miller play on which it was based was written as an allegory for McCarthyism and the Red Scare, which occurred in the United States in the 1950s. Miller was himself questioned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956.
Several women and men in the town are accused of witchcraft by a group of young girls led by Abigail Williams. Her jealousy of John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, leads Abigail to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft. John himself is eventually accused and hangs rather than recant, saying he can’t dirty his name and stands up for what he believes.
Quoted from Wikipedia