The Scarlet Letter is an opera by Walter Damrosch, based on Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...

's novel of the same name

The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an...

. The libretto was by George Parsons Lathrop

George Parsons Lathrop

George Parsons Lathrop was an American poet and novelist.-Life:George Parsons Lathrop was born August 25, 1851 in Honolulu, Hawaii....

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

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

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

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 on January 4 and 5, 1895; the first fully staged performance was February 10, 1896 in Boston. Among those present at the premiere were Charles Eliot Norton

Charles Eliot Norton

Charles Eliot Norton, was a leading American author, social critic, and professor of art. He was a militant idealist, a progressive social reformer, and a liberal activist whom many of his contemporaries considered the most cultivated man in the United States.-Biography:Norton was born at...

, Prince Serge Wolkonsky

Serge Wolkonsky

Prince Serge Wolkonsky was an influential Russian theatrical worker, one of the first Russian proponents of eurhythmics, pupil and friend of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, and creator of an original system of actor's training that included both expressive gesture and expressive...

, Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe was a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and poet, most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".-Biography:...

, and Nellie Melba

Nellie Melba

Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...	Concert premiere cast, January 4-5, 1895 (the composer conducting)	Full premiere cast, February 10, 1896 1896 in music - Events :*February 1 - Giacomo Puccini's La bohème debuts in Turin * March - Leo Stern plays in the premiere of Dvořák's second cello concerto in London*Engelbert Humperdinck is created a professor of music by the Kaiser.... (the composer conducting)
Hester Prynne Hester Prynne Hester Prynne, the young protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, is a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors. The character has been called "among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature."... , a young Puritan woman	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Lillian Nordica Lillian Nordica Lillian Nordica was an American opera singer who had a major stage career in Europe and her native country....	Johanna Gadski Johanna Gadski Johanna Gadski was a German soprano blessed with a secure, powerful, ringing voice, fine musicianship and an excellent technique. These attributes enabled her to enjoy a top-flight career in New York City and London, performing heavy dramatic roles in the German and Italian repertoires.-Life &...
Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, an eloquent young minister	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	William H. Rieger	Barron Berthold
Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Giuseppe Campanari Giuseppe Campanari Giuseppe Campanari Cooke gives his date of birth as 17 November 1858 but this is unlikely given the d.o.b. of his brother Leandro. was an Italian-born operatic baritone and cellist...	Wilhelm Mertens
Rev. John Wilson, an elderly and revered minister	baritone	Ericsson F. Bushnell	Gerhard Stehmann
Governor Bellingham, governor of Boston Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...	bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...	Conrad Behrens	Conrad Behrens
Brackett, a jailer	bass	James F. Thomson	Julius von Putlitz
A Shipmaster	baritone	presumably Ericsson F. Bushnell	Gerhard Stehmann
Chorus: Puritans

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.

External links

• Libretto