Gallantry (opera)


Gallantry is a one act opera by composer Douglas Moore. The work is a parody of soap opera, complete with sung commercial interruptions. The work uses an English language libretto by Arnold Sundgaard. The opera premiered in a double bill with Dominick Argento's The Boor on March 19, 1958, in New York City at the now-destroyed Brander Matthews Theater on 117th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. It was presented by the Columbia University School of Music with a student cast. It has subsequently been staged by several other university opera theatre programs in the United States and Canada, including UCLA, Immaculate Heart College, Goucher College, the University of Michigan, the University of Toronto, San Diego State University, Pepperdine University, Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Arizona, George Washington University, the University of Wisconsin and Houghton College among others. The University of Southern California toured the opera to the Netherlands in 1968.
The first professional opera company to stage Gallantry was the Detroit Opera, which presented the work in a double bill with Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium in January 1962. Gallantry was adapted by Moore for television and was broadcast by CBS on August 30, 1962, in a program which also included a presentation of Wallingford Riegger's ballet Parallels. The production was produced by Pamela Illott, directed by Martin Carr, hosted by Jan Peerce, and featured the CBS Symphony Orchestra. It starred Laurel Hurley as the Nurse, Ron Holgate as the Surgeon, Charles Anthony as the Patient, and Martha Wright as the Announcer. The opera was staged at the 1967 Florida International Music Festival in Daytona Beach with Metropolitan Opera performers Carol Courtman, Julian Patrick, and Enrico Di Giuseppe. The opera was subsequently staged by the Canadian Opera Company and the Lake George Opera. More recently the opera has been of interest to chamber opera ensembles, with productions being staged by the American Chamber Opera Company, A Small Company In America, the New York Chamber Ensemble, and Pocket Opera.

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