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North American Works Directory Listing
| Composer: |
Carlisle Floyd
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| Composer Bio: |
Composer, librettist, pianist, and teacher Carlisle Floyd has written operas for many of America’s cherished stories, basing much of his subject matter on Southern themes. Born in the Southern Bible Belt of Latta, South Carolina, he grew up in the thick of traveling preachers, revival meetings, and a close knit religious community, though at a young age was aware of that world’s controversial and hypocritical nature. Floyd’s primary teacher was pianist Ernst Bacon whom he followed from South Carolina to Syracuse University in New York where he earned a Bachelor and a Master of Music. He immediately joined the piano faculty of Florida State University where he began exploring an interest in composition, writing both the libretti and the music for operas with a distinctly American voice. He achieved national recognition with Susanna, which premiered at Florida State University in 1955.
Today Carlisle Floyd’s operas are performed throughout America and Europe and Susanna and Of Mice and Men have become standard repertoire. Floyd was one of eight recipients of the National Medal of Arts in 2004. He is also the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Citation of Merit from the National Association of American Conductors and Composers and the National Opera Institute’s Award for Service to American Opera. In 2008, Floyd was the only composer to be included in the inaugural National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors.
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| Librettist: |
Carlisle Floyd
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| Other Artistic Personnel: |
Lynn Orr (Stage Director)
Karl Kuersteiner (Conductor)
Franklin Adams (Set Designer)
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| Original Cast: |
Phyllis Curtin (Susannah)
Mack Harrell (Blitch)
Walter James (Sam)
Eb Thomas (Little Bat)
Harrison Fisher (Elder McLean)
Dayton Smith (Elder Hayes)
Lee Liming (Elder Ott)
Kenneth Nelson (Elder Gleaton)
Martha Kay Willis (Mrs. McLean)
Joan Nichly (Mrs. Hayes)
Bette Jo Armstrong (Mrs. Ott)
Catherine Murphey (Mrs. Gleaton)
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| Premiere Date: |
February 24, 1956
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| Producing Company: |
The Theatre Guild
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| Description: |
In New Hope Valley, Tennessee, Susannah – a pretty and well-mannered young woman of humble origins – is faced with hostility from her church community. The opera opens at a square dance given by her church; a group of wives, jealous of Susannah’s beauty and the attention it brings from their husbands, are gossiping about her. Mrs. McLean, one of the wives, states that you can’t expect more from someone who was raised by her drunken brother. Finally, the Reverend Olin Blitch, newly arrived to lead the congregation, enters and asks Susannah to dance despite the gossip. Later that evening, Susannah tells her admirer Little Bat – son of Mrs. McLean and her husband, an elder of the church – about the dance; Little Bat leaves abruptly once her brother Sam returns from hunting.
The next morning Susannah is innocently bathing naked in the creek near her home; she is discovered by the elders, who are searching for a baptismal stream. They conceal their lust with outrage and tell the community of her wickedness. Susannah arrives at a church dinner that evening and is sent away, much to her confusion. Later, as she is pondering why she has been shunned, Little Bat tells her that the elders have denounced her for bathing in the nude, and admits that he was coerced into saying she seduced him.
Sam informs Susannah that she must make a public confession in order to be absolved. Though she claims she has nothing to confess, she goes to the service where Olin Blitch is preaching. When she is singled out to come forward, she runs away. Once the service has ended, Reverend Blitch goes to Susannah’s house and offers to pray for her soul; upon discovering that her brother is away, Blitch rapes her.
The next day Blitch, having discovered that Susannah was a virgin, comes to her and begs for forgiveness. He throws herself at Susannah’s mercy, but she refuses to forgive him. When Susannah tells Sam the story he threatens to kill Blitch; he leaves for the baptismal service, carrying his shotgun. Convinced that Susannah led her brother to murder, the community heads to her house to drive her out of the valley. However, Little Bat has warned her in advance, and when the vigilantes arrive she is waiting with a shotgun. They retreat, but she has effectively severed her ties with the community and her world.
Courtesy of Boosey & Hawkes
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| Character List (Major): |
Susannah Polk (s)
Sam Polk, her brother (t)
Olin Blitch, an evangelist (b-bar)
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| Character List (Minor): |
Little Bat McLean (t)
Elder McLean (bar)
Elder Gleaton (t)
Elder Hayes (t)
Elder Ott (bar)
Mrs. McLean (mz)
Mrs. Gleaton (s)
Mrs. Hayes (s)
Mrs. Ott (contralto)
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| Reviews: |
The Washington Post, Philip Kennicott, 11/8/1999; The Austin Chronicle, Michael Kellerman, 4/25/2008; BachTrack, 5/1/2009;
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| Chorus: |
People of New Hope Valley (Singers & Dancers)
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| Orchestration: |
2 fl(II=picc), 2 ob(II=corA), 2 cl(II=bcl), 2 bsn(II=dbn) - 4 hrn, 2 tpt, 3 tbn, 1 tba - timp.perc:SD/cyms/ gong/xyl - cel - harp - strings
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| Contact: |
Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
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| Address: |
229 W 28th Street, Floor 11
New York, NY 10001
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| Phone: |
212-358-5300
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Schedule of Performances Listings
Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, March 16, 2012 - Florentine Opera Company
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, July 03, 2010 - Des Moines Metro Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Thursday, April 19, 2007 - Arizona Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, November 10, 2006 - Virginia Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, April 08, 2005 - Fargo-Moorhead Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, February 11, 2005 - Hawaii Opera Theatre
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, February 04, 2005 - Opera Columbus
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, July 23, 2004 - Chautauqua Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, February 20, 2004 - Opera Southwest
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, October 11, 2003 - Opera Philadelphia
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Sunday, July 06, 2003 - Opera Saratoga
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Monday, September 30, 2002 - Lyric Opera of Chicago
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, March 08, 2002 - Eugene Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, March 01, 2002 - Palm Beach Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, January 26, 2002 - Shreveport Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, April 28, 2001 - Toledo Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Thursday, April 19, 2001 - Opera Carolina
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, January 27, 2001 - Calgary Opera Association
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Thursday, November 02, 2000 - Fort Worth Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, March 10, 2000 - Indianapolis Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, February 05, 2000 - Kentucky Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, January 21, 2000 - Nashville Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, November 20, 1999 - Opera Ontario, Inc.
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, July 24, 1999 - Ash Lawn Opera Festival
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Thursday, April 22, 1999 - Opéra de Montréal
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Wednesday, March 31, 1999 - Metropolitan Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Wednesday, April 22, 1998 - Augusta Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Friday, March 27, 1998 - Springfield Regional Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, March 21, 1998 - Chattanooga Symphony
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, July 12, 1997 - Central City Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, February 01, 1997 - Vancouver New Music
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Wednesday, May 15, 1996 - Opera Theater of Pittsburgh
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Thursday, May 02, 1996 - Houston Grand Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, March 11, 1995 - Dayton Opera
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Thursday, February 10, 1994 - University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, October 09, 1993 - Lyric Opera of Chicago
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Susannah
( Floyd)
Saturday, September 28, 1991 - Lyric Opera of Kansas City
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What is OPERAAmerica.org?
Spring 2013 Magazine Issue
- Letter from the President/CEO
- Of One: The Quest for Asian Fusion in the Opera House
- Vancouver: Where Nature Nurtures Art
- Inheriting the Wind
- My First Time
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