![Portrait of Marvin David Levy LCCN2004663204](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Portrait_of_Marvin_David_Levy_LCCN2004663204.jpg)
Marvin David Levy (August 2, 1932 – February 9, 2015) was an American composer, best known for his opera ''
Mourning Becomes Electra
''Mourning Becomes Electra'' is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932, starring Lee Baker ...
''.
''Mourning Becomes Electra'' was given its world premiere at the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
in 1967. Although deemed a failure at the time, the work was revived in 1998 in a revised version by the composer to a triumphant success at the
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...
. The
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, du ...
and the
Seattle Opera
Seattle Opera is an opera company based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as its first general director until 1983. The company's season runs from August through late May, comprising five or six operas of ...
staged the work in 2003, and the
Florida Grand Opera
Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is an American opera company based in Miami, Florida. It is the oldest performing arts organization in Florida and the seventh oldest opera company in the United States. FGO was created in 1994 from the consolidation of ...
staged the opera in 2013.
A disc featuring ''Canto de los Marranos'' (''Song of the
Marranos'') and excerpts from ''Shir Shel Moshe'' (''Song of Moses'') was issued as part of the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music by Naxos in 2004.
The
Passaic, New Jersey-born Levy died in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida on February 9, 2015, aged 82.
Margalit Fox
Margalit Fox (born 1961) is an American writer. She began her career in publishing in the 1980s, before switching to journalism in the 1990s. She joined the obituary department of ''The New York Times'' in 2004, and authored over 1,400 obituarie ...
"Marvin David Levy, Composer Who Rose, Fell and Rose Again, Dies at 82"
''The New York Times'', February 15, 2015.
References
Further reading
Biography at the Milken Archiveby Neil W. Levin
October 13, 1987
1932 births
2015 deaths
American male classical composers
American classical composers
American opera composers
Male opera composers
Musicians from Passaic, New Jersey
20th-century classical composers
21st-century classical composers
21st-century American composers
Jewish American classical composers
20th-century American composers
Classical musicians from New Jersey
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American Jews
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