{{Short description|Opera by Douglas Moore}} {{Infobox opera | name = Gallantry | composer = Douglas Moore | image = | image_upright = | caption = | librettist = Arnold Sundgaard | language = English | based_on = | premiere_date = {{start date|1958|03|19}} | premiere_location = Brander Matthews Theater, Colorado }} '''''Gallantry''''' is a one-act opera by composer Douglas Moore. The work is a parody of soap opera, complete with sung commercial interruptions. The work uses an English-language libretto by Arnold Sundgaard.
The opera premiered in a double bill with Dominick Argento's ''The Boor'' on March 19, 1958, in New York City at the former Brander Matthews Theater on 117th Street, located between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. It was produced by Columbia University School of Music with a student cast.<ref name="prem">{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0D11FF3B55127B93C2AB1788D85F4C8585F9&scp=1&sq=%22Gallantry%22+%22opera%22&st=p|title=Moore's Opera, 'Gallantry,' in Premiere|author=H. C. S.|date=March 20, 1958|work=The New York Times}}</ref> It has been staged over more than forty years by other university opera programs in the United States and Canada.
The first professional opera company to stage ''Gallantry'' was the Detroit Opera, which presented the work in a double bill with Gian Carlo Menotti's ''The Medium'' in January 1962.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/11/19/101486631.pdf|title=The World of Music|author=Ross Parmenter|author-link=Ross Parmenter|work=The New York Times|date=November 19, 1961}}</ref> ''Gallantry'' was adapted by Moore for television and was broadcast by CBS on August 30, 1962, in a program which also included a presentation of Wallingford Riegger's ballet ''Parallels''. The production was produced by Pamela Illott, directed by Martin Carr, hosted by Jan Peerce, and featured the CBS Symphony Orchestra. It starred Laurel Hurley as the Nurse, Ron Holgate as the Surgeon, Charles Anthony as the Patient, and Martha Wright as the Announcer.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/08/31/archives/tv-soapopera-satire-on-channel-2-martha-wright-excels-in-work-by.html?sq=%2522Gallantry%2522+%2522opera%2522+%2522Douglas+Moore%2522&scp=7&st=p|title=TV: Soap-Opera Satire on Channel 2; Martha Wright Excels in Work by Moore|author=John Patrick Shanley|author-link=John Patrick Shanley|work=The New York Times|date=August 31, 1962}}</ref> The opera was staged at the 1967 Florida International Music Festival in Daytona Beach with Metropolitan Opera performers Carol Courtman, Julian Patrick, and Enrico Di Giuseppe.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/07/15/archives/music-previn-conducts-leads-the-london-symphony-in-florida-through.html|title=Music: Previn Conducts|author=Allen Hughes|author-link=Allen Hughes|work=The New York Times|date=July 15, 1967}}</ref> The opera was subsequently staged by the Canadian Opera Company (1977)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mnBkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5X0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3109,4956957&dq=gallantry+douglas-moore&hl=en|title=Prop-maker's Design Wins .|work=The Calgary Herald|date=February 10, 1978}}</ref> and the Lake George Opera (1986).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OAwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UXIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3475,1206125&dq=gallantry+douglas-moore&hl=en|title=Music Nights Set Tuesdays At Lakehouse|work=Schenectady Gazette|date=July 5, 1986}}</ref> Since the late 20th century, the opera has been performed by several chamber opera ensembles, with productions being staged by the American Chamber Opera Company (1988),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/31/arts/opera-bernstein-s-trouble-in-tahiti.html|title=Opera: Bernstein's 'Trouble in Tahiti'|date=January 31, 1988|work=The New York Times|author=Bernard Holland|author-link=Bernard Holland}}</ref> A Small Company In America (1990),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/14/nyregion/theater-review-an-ambitious-troupe-with-talent-on-hand.html|title=THEATER REVIEW; An Ambitious Troupe With Talent on Hand|date=October 14, 1990|work=The New York Times|author=Leah D. Frank}}</ref> the New York Chamber Ensemble (1991),<ref>{{cite news|title=Review/Opera; 5 Ways With Music and Drama That Share the Bond of Brevity|work=The New York Times|author=Bernard Holland|date=May 13, 1991}}</ref> and Pocket Opera (2000).<ref>{{cite news|title=Pocket Opera to sing new tune|work=San Antonio Express|date=January 16, 2000}}</ref>
== Roles == {| class="wikitable" !Role !Voice type !Premiere Cast,<ref name="prem"/><br /> March 19, 1958<br />(Conductor: – Emerson Buckley) |- |Announcer |mezzo-soprano |Cecilia Ward |- |Lola Markham, a nurse |soprano |Bonnie Murray |- |Donald Hopewell, a patient |tenor |Joseph Sopher |- |Doctor Gregg |baritone |David Atkinson |- |}
==Discography== * New York Chamber Ensemble/Radcliffe Happy Endings: Comic Chamber Operas CD / Albany 173 (1995)
==Productions== The work has been staged for more than 40 years by numerous university opera theatre programs in the United States and Canada, including UCLA (1958,<ref>{{cite news|title=UCLA Gives Evening of Musical Americana|work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 21, 1958}}</ref> 1974,<ref>{{cite news|title=Music Review:UCLA Operatic Marathon|work=Los Angeles Times|author=Daniel Cariaga|date=May 28, 1974}}</ref> and 1994<ref>{{cite news|title=Classical Beat|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 2, 1994}}</ref>), Immaculate Heart College (1968),<ref>{{cite news|title=Music News|work=Los Angeles Times|date=April 28, 1968}}</ref> Goucher College (1969),<ref>{{cite news|title=Music Notes|work=The Baltimore Sun|date=May 23, 1969}}</ref> the University of Michigan (1978),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ewhKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pR4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2340,3940730&dq=gallantry+douglas-moore&hl=en|title=Happenings...|work=The Michigan Daily|date= April 12, 1978}}</ref> the University of Toronto (1988),<ref>{{cite news|title=A Major Move for Top Director |work=The Toronto Star|date= June 11, 1988}}</ref> San Diego State University (1989),<ref>{{cite news|title=San Diego's Operatic Voice Is Still Strong|work=Los Angeles Times|date= April 14, 1989}}</ref> Pepperdine University (1990),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ti9LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sSMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5483,5432573&dq=gallantry+douglas-moore&hl=en|title=Operatic Tragedy, Comedy Presented|work=Oxnard Press-Courier|date= March 31, 1990}}</ref> Wilfrid Laurier University (1992),<ref>{{cite news|title=Pocket-sized operas pleasingly polished in WLU production|work=Waterloo Region Record|date=February 29, 1992}}</ref> the University of Arizona (1995),<ref>{{cite news|work=The Arizona Daily Star|date=November 3, 1995|title=UA Opera Theatre}}</ref> George Washington University (1999),<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 18, 1999|title=GWU Performance Corrects Operatic Misconceptions}}</ref> the University of Wisconsin (2003) and Houghton College (2019) among others.<ref>{{cite news|work=Stevens Point Journal|date=April 7, 2003|title=UW-SP to hold one-act operas}}</ref> The University of Southern California toured the opera to the Netherlands in 1968.<ref>{{cite news|title=USC Acting Troupe to Play in Holland|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 14, 1968}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Douglas Moore}} {{Portal bar|Opera|Classical music|Music}}
Category:1958 operas Category:English-language operas Category:Operas Category:Operas by Douglas Moore Category:One-act operas