Massachusetts Archive

ROBERT WARD: The Crucible – Purchase Opera/Jacques Trussel, artistic dir./Purchase Sym./Hugh Murphy – Albany (2 CDs)

by Audiophile Audition | Feb 27, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

An important American masterwork given a very fine performance. ROBERT WARD: The Crucible – Purchase Opera/Jacques Trussel, artistic dir./Purchase Sym./Hugh Murphy – Albany  TROY 1656/1657, 2 CDs: 113:54, (1/01/17) ***1/2: Robert Ward (1917-2013) was Eastman and Juilliard-trained and even studied with Aaron Copland for a bit. His opera, The Crucible, after the play by Arthur Miller won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize. It is a fine work, indeed, and for a variety of reasons became Ward’s ‘signature’ work; the one by which he is most remembered. I remember hearing the original cast recording on vinyl many years ago. If I had a copy of the CRI release, I sure cannot find it, unfortunately! So kudos to Albany for releasing this recording of Ward’s The Crucible with a libretto by Bernard Stambler. Miller’s play, upon which Stambler’s libretto is based, was directly relevant to the Sen. Joe McCarthy anti-Communist ‘witch-hunt’ indictments and trials of the 1950s. In fact, Miller, himself, was summoned to appear before the House “Un-American Activities Committee” and he was cited for contempt of Congress when he refused to ‘finger’ potential ‘Communists’ in the arts in the United States. This really is, still, a very fine work that pays […]