Existing comment:
Edward Johnson (1878–1959) as Peter Ibbetson, 1930.
Deems Taylor's Peter Ibbetson
Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera, Peter Ibbetson, by American composer Deems Taylor (1885–1966), premiered in February 1931. It received thirty-six curtain calls on its opening night and ran for sixteen performances, making it the most successful American opera to be performed at the "Met" until Porgy and Bess was produced there in the 1980s, The story of two star-crossed lovers who find happiness together in dreams is based on the 1892 novel by George Du Maurier. Taylor's impressionistic score is notable for its emotive dream sequences. The New York Times review of the premiere observed, "These songs, and the scenes that they enhanced, were only heard by a majority of the audience through a blur of tears." Of tenor Edward Johnson's passionate portrayal of the title character, the same reviewer wrote, "Mr. Johnson created not only drama, but poetry." |