The Crucible (opera)

The Crucible is an English language opera written by Robert Ward based on the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It won both the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Music and the New York Music Critics Circle Citation. The libretto was lightly adapted from Miller's text by Bernard Stambler.

Ward received a commission from the New York City Opera to write the opera. Arthur Miller was involved in selecting Ward. It is one of the most performed operas by an American composer.

The Crucible premiered on 26 October 1961 at the New York City Opera (NYCO), with Chester Ludgin as John Proctor, and Norman Treigle as the Reverend John Hale. The production was staged by Allen Fletcher, used scenery designed by Paul Sylbert, and costumes designed by Ruth Morely. The work was next performed in student productions at the University of California, Los Angeles and The Hartt School in West Hartford, Connecticut in 1964. The opera was mounted by the San Francisco Opera for the first time on June 22, 1965 with much of the same cast as the NYCO production. In 1968 the NYCO revived the production, It has since been staged by the Lake George Opera (1966), the Seattle Opera (1968), the Pennsylvania Opera Theater (1989) and the Tulsa Opera (1995) and Glimmerglass Opera (2016).

The German premiere in 1963 at Staatstheater Wiesbaden was received with harsh criticism In 2015 the film director Hugh Hudson gave his premiere as an opera director with The Crucible at Staatstheater Braunschweig.

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