Christopher Sly
Music by Dominick Argento · premiered 1963
Christopher Sly is an opera in one act and two scenes and an interlude by composer Dominick Argento. The work uses an English language libretto by John Gay Manlove that is based on William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Commissioned by the Mu Phi Epsilon fraternity, the opera was given its world premiere at the Scott Hall Theater at the University of Minnesota on 31 May 1963 under the baton of William Johnson. The premiere cast included tenor Vern Sutton as the Lord. The Center for Contemporary Opera presented the first professional production of the work in January 1987 at the Harry De Jur Playhouse in New York City. Conductor Richard Marshall led the performance whose cast included Shawn Roy as Christopher Sly, Robert Trentham as the Lord, and Kathryn Fields as Marion Hackett.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Christopher Sly (opera)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Dominick Argento (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) was an American composer best known for his operatic and choral music. His compositions include the operas Postcard from Morocco, Miss Havisham's Fire, The Masque of Angels, and The Aspern Papers. His song cycle From the Diary of Virginia Woolf won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1975. Argento spent most of his time in Minnesota, where he taught at the University of Minnesota. Critics have described his style as blending tonal and atonal elements, sometimes incorporating twelve-tone technique. During the 1950s, Argento spent extended periods in both the United States and Italy, often working in Florence, where he spent some time each…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Dominick Argento", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Dominick Argento
- Casanova's Homecoming (1985)