''The Hero'' is a two-act
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
by Italian-American composer
Gian Carlo Menotti commissioned by the
Opera Company of Philadelphia
Opera Philadelphia (prior to 2013 Opera Company of Philadelphia (OCP)) is an American opera company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the city's only company producing grand opera. The organization produces one festival in September (Festival O ...
, to celebrate the United States Bicentennial. The work premiered at the
Philadelphia Academy of Music on June 1, 1976. At this point of his career, Menotti's style of composition, which rejected the avant-garde, was out of favor with the classical music world. ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' stated in its review of the opera, "Most of Menotti's music is passable Puccini: melodic, easy to takeāand totally beside the point in 1976."
Roles
References
;Notes
1976 operas
English-language operas
Operas by Gian Carlo Menotti
Operas
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