Bilby's Doll
Music by Carlisle Floyd · at Houston Grand Opera
Bilby's Doll is an opera in three acts composed by Carlisle Floyd. The libretto is based on the 1928 American novel A Mirror for Witches by Esther Forbes. Bilby's Doll was Floyd's eighth opera. It had its premiere on February 27, 1976, at the Houston Grand Opera in a production by David Pountney with sets by Ming Cho Lee. The original cast, conducted by Christopher Keene, included Catherine Malfitano, Joy Davidson, Thomas Paul, and Jack Trussel. Houston Grand's general director David Gockley commissioned the work in honor of the US Bicentennial.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Bilby", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Carlisle Sessions Floyd (June 11, 1926 – September 30, 2021) was an American composer primarily known for his operas. These stage works, for which he wrote not only the music but also the librettos, typically engage with themes from the American South, particularly the Post-civil war South, the Great Depression and rural life. His best known opera, Susannah, is based on a story from the Biblical Apocrypha, transferred to contemporary rural Tennessee, and written for a Southern dialect. It was premiered at Florida State University in 1955, with Phyllis Curtin in the title role. When it was staged at the New York City Opera the following year, the reception was initially mixed; some…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Carlisle Floyd", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Carlisle Floyd
- Flower and Hawk (1972)
- Cold Sassy Tree (1984)