THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE - DOUGLAS MOORE
OCT 9 AND 11, 2009
American composer, Douglas Moore, based
this opera on real-life Colorado characters in the 1880s.
The rise and fall of  silver magnate Horace Tabor and his
lover “Baby” Doe premiered in 1956 at Central
City, Colorado. The Ballad of Baby Doe was premiered
by the New York City Opera later that same year and has become
one of the most popular American operas.
Act I
In Leadville, Colorado, silver magnate and lieutenant governor Horace Tabor talks with some of his cronies outside the opera house he has built, at his wife Augusta's urging. She is angry that he refuses to give up his rough pioneer habits. As they are going back in after intermission, Horace meets "Baby" Doe, a young woman who has left her husband in Central City and come to Leadville. After the concert, they meet again, and Horace declares his love for her. Some time later, Augusta finds out about their affair; after warning Horace that he should stop speculating his fortune in silver mines, she determines to drive Baby out of town. Baby is about to leave because of the guilt she feels about loving Horace, but he convinces her to stay; Augusta learns that Horace is planning to divorce her and decides to cause a scandal. In Washington some months later, Horace, now a senator, marries Baby; their wedding is attended by the President, Chester A. Arthur, but Tabor's social standing is threatened by the scandal of Baby's divorce and his fortune is threatened by bimetallism.
Act II
At a party some years later, Augusta comes to warn Baby of the coming silver crash; she says that Tabor must sell the Matchless Mine, his most profitable mine, or he will be ruined. Baby, at first swayed by her argument, decides to trust Tabor and wait for silver to rise again. Tabor throws his lot in with William Jennings Bryan and is ruined in the elections of 1896. Baby's mother goes to Augusta to ask her to help the now-destitute Tabor, but she refuses; on the stage of his opera house, Tabor, sick and delirious, remembers his past life and thinks about his future. Baby enters, and as Tabor dies, Baby begins a long vigil for him at the Matchless Mine which ruined him.
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Heather
Buck, soprano, Baby Doe
Praised as “the kind of performer who
makes it all look easy,” Heather Buck has established
herself internationally as a consummate singing actress.
She joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera last
season and has sung most recently with Florentine Opera
of Milwaukee, Opera Boston, English National Opera
of London, Opera Birmingham (Alabama), Arizona Opera,
Connecticut Opera and Indianapolis Opera. Among her
best known roles are the Queen of the Night in The
Magic Flute, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Valencienne
in The Merry Widow. She made her New York
City Opera debut creating the title role in Charles
Wuorinen's Haroun and the Sea of Stories,
for which New York City Opera presented her with the
2005 Kolozsvar Award, recognizing artists who excel
at new and unusual repertory. Her international experience
include singing at London’s Almeida Theatre and
at the Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk, England, at Opéra-Théâtre
de Metz in France, appearing as Olympia in Les
Contes d'Hoffmann, with De Vlaamse Opera in Belgium
and with Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu as
both Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos and First Niece
in Peter Grimes. She is making her debut in
the role of Baby Doe with the Intermountain Opera Association this year.
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Robert
Orth, baritone, Horace Tabor
Robert Orth is a leading baritone with major opera companies
including those in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago,
Toronto, Washington, D.C., Houston, Seattle, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, Miami, Portland, Indianapolis, Cleveland,
and Denver. He was named “Artist of the Year” by
both New York City Opera and Seattle Opera. New York
City Opera also gave him the Christopher Keene Award
for new and unusual repertoire. He has appeared as soloist
with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee,
Seattle, Denver, Indianapolis, and Washington, D.C.,
in repertoire ranging from Brahms’ Requiem to
Broadway pops to his most repeated symphonic piece, Carmina
Burana. He sang Horace Tabor in the 50th anniversary
production of The Ballad of Baby Doe at the
Central City Opera House in 2006. |
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Joyce
Castle, mezzo-soprano, Augusta Tabor
Joyce Castle has made the role of Augusta Tabor her own,
having performed it perhaps more than any other mezzo.
She has been acclaimed from coast to coast for her portrayal
of this complex character and performed the role again
at the 50th anniversary celebration at the Central City
Opera House in 2006. Her achievements in American opera
are noteworthy. She performed Madame d’Urfe in
the heralded New York premiere of Dominick Argento’s Casanova,
the Old Lady in Candide (performed at the New
York City Opera and recorded on a Grammy Award winning
disc for the New World label), Mrs. Lovett in Hal Prince’s
critically acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney
Todd (in both Houston and New York), and Alla Nazimova
in Dominick Argento’s newest opera The Dream
of Valentino at the Washington National Opera. The Seattle
Times reported “Castle’s Augusta in Baby
Doe is superb... the definitive show-stopper of
this production. Castle has every nuance of the role
clasped in a fist of iron, and she knows how to command
your sympathy for this character of missed opportunities.
Vocally persuasive, emotionally compelling, this is a
portrayal for the books —one in which every note
and every gesture is so right that you want to salute
her.” |
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Edith
Dowd, contralto, Mama McCourt
Edith Dowd is a native of Tennessee who received her
Master of Music degree at the Curtis Institute of Music
in Philadelphia. She was heard most recently as Maddalena
in the Chattanooga Opera production Rigoletto,
Third Lady in the Magic Flute with Mexico’s
Xalapa Symphony, and in a Messiah performance
with the Louisiana Philharmonic. Previous seasons
saw her return to New York City Opera in Donizetti’s Lucia
di Lammermoor, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte,
Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado, Mozart’s Le
nozze di Figaro and Rossini’s Ermione,
as well as productions of Daphne, La Traviata, Lysistrata and Haroun. She
also sang in Sousa’s The Glass Blowers,
Douglas Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe,
Verdi’s La Traviata, Puccini’s Gianni
Schicchi, Il Tabarro and Suor
Angelica, Wagner’s Der Fliegende Hollander as
well as Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse
in Patria. In July 2003, she made her debut in Germany
performing at the acclaimed Opera Gala of the Kammeroper
Schloss Rheinsberg Festival with Azucena’s aria
from Verdi’s Il Trovatore, excerpts from
Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess and as the
Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel. She
was a Santa Fe Opera apprentice in 1999 and 2000. |
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Christopher
Johnson, baritone, William Jennings Bryan
As an MSU freshman, Christopher Johnson sang in the chorus
for the IOA’s Aida (2003). He subsequently
joined us as Samuel in Pirates of Penzance,
several small roles in Magic Flute and Morales
in Carmen. He has performed with Indianapolis
Opera, Rimrock Opera, Bay View Music Festival and Indiana
University Opera Theater. His roles have included Figaro
(The Barber of Seville) Billy Bigelow (Carousel),
Belcore (L’Elisir d’Amore) and Bob
(The Old Maid and the Thief). At Indiana
University’s Jacobs School of Music, he appeared
in William Bolcom’s A Wedding, Richard
Strauss’ Arabella and in scenes from the
opera Lorenzo de Medici by I.U. faculty member
P.Q. Phan. He has performed with Billings Messiah Festival,
Yellowstone Chamber Players, Christ Church Cathedral
of Indianapolis and Encore Vocal Arts and participated
in Lieder Alive in San Francisco, where he coached
the works of Gustav Mahler with legendary baritone Thomas
Hampson. A native of Billings, he received his B.A. in
Music From Montana State University and recently completed
his M.M. in Vocal Performance from the Jacobs School.
Upcoming engagements include joining the Indianapolis
Opera for their 2010 season where he will perform in
condensed versions of Die Fledermaus and the Mikado,
as well as covering the role of Marcello in La Bohème. |
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Alan
Fischer, Director, returns to Intermountain Opera
after 20 years, this time as director. He sang Beppe
in our 1988 Pagliacci, and El Remendado in Carmen in
1989. A character tenor with over 50 roles in repertoire,
he has performed with San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas,
Philadelphia, Washington, New Jersey State, Fort
Worth, Hawaii, Columbus, Toledo, New York Grand,
Palm Beach, Mississippi and Virginia operas,
Opera Illinois, the Spoleto Festival U.S.A., Spoleto
Festival Italy, and the Rasigueres Festival in France.
A New York City native, he began his professional singing
career at age six as a soloist with the Metropolitan
and New York City Opera Children’s Choruses. He
has taught and directed at the Master Opera Institute
and was artistic director of Jefferson Village Opera
from 1983 to 1987. Since 1994 he has been chair of
vocal music at the Governor’s School of the Arts,
a performing arts high school in Norfolk, Virginia,
specializing in teaching talented high school students
to sing opera. Graduates are currently singing
with the Metropolitan, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington
operas. |
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Julian
Dawson, Conductor, is Musical Director of
the Intermountain Opera Association. Il Trovatore will
be his eighth production with Intermountain Opera having conducted Pirates
of Penzance, The Mikado, The Magic Flute, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, La
Bohème and The Ballad of Baby Doe.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Dawson was associate conductor
of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera.
While still in the United Kingdom he was also coach and
associate conductor at Glyndebourn Opera in England. He
moved to the US in 1975 and was Director of Orchestras
and Opera at Illinois State University for 26 years and
opera conductor for nine seasons at the Brevard Music Center
as well as being principal coach of the Chicago Opera Theatre.
He recently spent five summers as conductor for the Oberlin
in Italy opera program in Urbania, Italy and is currently
an adjunct member of the music faculty at Northwestern
University. He has also enjoyed a career as a pianist and
has appeared frequently in recitals and concerts in Europe
and the U.S. |
Links:
Baby
Doe Website
National
Initiatives Ballad of Baby Doe Website
Baby
Doe Tabor |
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