FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Betsy Aldredge Media Relations Specialist 914-251-6959
[email protected] PURCHASE OPERA AND ALBANY RECORDS RELEASE “THE CRUCIBLE” THE FIRST RECORDING IN MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF THIS WORK Based on Arthur Miller’s Play with Music by Robert Ward Purchase, NY, January 13, 2017: Purchase Opera and Albany Records have partnered to release the first new recording in more than fifty years oF The Crucible, an opera by composer Robert Ward and librettist Bernard Stambler based on Arthur Miller’s play about the Salem witch trials. Originally commissioned by the New York City Opera, The Crucible premiered on October 26, 1961, just eight years after Miller’s play was first perFormed. The opera won a Pulitzer Prize among other accolades. The last recording oF the opera, also released by Albany Records, was From the early 1960s, and Featured the original New York City Opera cast, minus bass-baritone Norman Treigle. The production, directed by Jacque Trussel, was presented in March 2016 at Purchase College’s PerForming Arts Center and was later recorded in the Conservatory oF Music’s Recital Hall. This new recording of The Crucible (TROY 1656/57) features students and alumni oF the Conservatory of Music’s Department oF Opera PerFormance and Vocal Studies—a highly selective program that has won 13 top awards From the National Opera Association For its acclaimed productions, including one For this production. The recording also features Purchase Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hugh Murphy. Maestro Murphy is a recent recipient oF the American Prize Competition’s Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music for his conducting of The Crucible.