George Whitefield Chadwick

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

Operas

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, lyric drama in 3 acts; libretto by W.C. Langdon, book by the composer after the apocryphal Book of 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.)

Operettas

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]

About George W. Chadwick

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.

Discography

(Search Amazon.com for music by George Whitfield Chadwick)

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

last update: 3 Dec. 2002