George Whitefield Chadwick Born: 13 Nov. 1854, Lowell, MA Died: 4 Apr. 1931

(U.S. Opera Home Page)

• Tabasco, burlesque opera in 2 acts; libretto by R. A. Burnet (amateur production 29 Jan. 1894, Boston; professional premiere by the Seabrooke Opera Co. 9 April 1894)
• Judith. (23 September 1901; Worcester Festival, Worcester, Mass.)
• The Padrone, opera in 2 acts; libretto by D. Stevens, book by the composer (29 Sep. 1995, Waterbury, CT; see OPERA NEWS September 1995, p. 10 or 20 Jan. 96 p. 41; composed 1912 for Met but rejected.)

• The Peer and the Pauper, comic operetta in 2 acts; libretto by R. Grant (composed 1884, never performed) [lost]
• A Quiet Lodging, operetta in 2 acts; libretto by A. Bates (1 Apr. 1892; Boston) [lost]
• Love's Sacrifice, pastoral opera in one act; libretto by D. Stevens (1 Feb. 1923; Chicago) [written for school performance]

One of the leaders of the Second New England School of American composers, Chadwick wrote a good deal of vocal music, including operas, operettas, songs, and large-scale choral works. His opera The Padrone, a verisimo opera dealing with the persecution of a group of Italian immigrants by a petty gangster, was rejected for performance at the Met because of its subject matter; it was one of the first American operas with a contemporary libretto.

"Allah," on Ernestine Schumann-Heink: The Victor Recordings, 1911-20 Ernestine Schumann-Heink, rel. 2001. Compact disc: Romophone 81030.

George W. Chadwick. Judith. Piano-vocal score. Da Capo 1972.