''The Scarlet Letter'' is an opera by

Walter Damrosch Walter Johannes Damrosch (January 30, 1862December 22, 1950) was a German-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Ge ...

, based on

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

's 1850 novel of the same name. The libretto was by

George Parsons Lathrop George Parsons Lathrop (August 25, 1851 – April 19, 1898) was an American poet, novelist, and newspaper editor. Lathrop was known for pioneering copyright laws in the United States and the first international copyright law Biography Earl ...

, son-in-law of the author. The work is

Wagnerian Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

in style, Damrosch being a great enthusiast and champion of the composer. Excerpts from the opera first premiered at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

on January 4 and 5, 1895; the first fully staged performance was , in Boston. Among those present at the premiere were

Charles Eliot Norton Charles Eliot Norton (November 16, 1827 – October 21, 1908) was an American author, social critic, and Harvard professor of art based in New England. He was a progressive social reformer and a liberal activist whom many of his contemporaries c ...

, Prince

Serge Wolkonsky Prince Serge Wolkonsky (also referred to as Sergei Mikhailovitch Volkonsky; russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Волко́нский) (4 May 1860 – 25 October 1937) was an influential Russian theatrical worker, one of the first R ...

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

, and

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, ...

Roles

Differences from the novel

*Pearl, Hester's daughter, is absent. *Instead of living a solitary life after Dimmesdale dies at the end, Hester takes poison and dies with him.

References

External links

Libretto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarlet Letter, The 1896 operas Operas by Walter Damrosch Operas set in the United States English-language operas Operas based on novels Operas Works based on The Scarlet Letter Adultery in theatre