At seventy-four, the composer Carlisle Floyd ought to be enjoying the
pleasures associated with eminence and old age. His music-drama
Susannah (1955) is said to be the most frequently performed opera
written by an American. Of Mice and Men (1970), his treatment of
Steinbeck’s novel, earned favor in Europe. Even his failures—
for
example, a poorly received Wuthering Heights (1958, later revised)—have
been noble. In sum, Floyd has produced a body of work both distinctive
and frequently appreciated. Some of the credit for that success must go
to the Houston Grand Opera, which for the past quarter-century has been
aiding the composer in his efforts. In 1976, after Floyd had moved from
Florida to Houston, the company produced Bilby’s Doll. In 1981,
Willie Stark was presented under its auspices and, in 1991, The
Passion of Jonathan Wade.
In addition, the HGO has mounted revivals of
Susannah and Of Mice and Men on several occasions. So it was with
justified local pride and no small amount of flutter that the company
offered the premiere of yet another Floyd opera, Cold Sassy Tree, on
April 14. Yet, though this was the debut of a new work by one of
America’s best-known opera composers, a lack of excitement, even indifference,
characterized the expectations of the visiting press corps. None of the
buzz that surrounded the premieres of recent operas by André Previn,
William Bolcom, or John Harbison could be detected in the thick Texas
air. Indeed,
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This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 18 Number 10, on page 57
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