Tale for a Deaf Ear is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in one act with music and lyrics by Mark Bucci

Mark Bucci

Mark Bucci was an American composer, lyricist, and dramatist. Influenced by Giacomo Puccini, his work is composed in a contemporary yet lyrical style which frequently employs marked rhythms and memorable harmonies and melodies.-Career:Bucci studied music composition with Tibor Serly in New York...

, sung in three languages and based on a story by Elizabeth Enright

Elizabeth Enright

Elizabeth Enright was an American children's author and illustrator. She was born in Oak Park, Illinois.-Life:Her father, Walter J...

 that appeared in the April 1951 edition of Harper's Magazine

Harper's Magazine

Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...

. The work was commissioned by Samuel Wechsler for performance at the 1957 Tanglewood Music Festival

Tanglewood Music Festival

The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts....

. The work received an enthusiastic response from an overflow audience of 1,300 when it premiered at Tanglewood on August 5, 1957. The cast was of student artists, of which Billings and Kraft went on to have successful opera careers and Purrington became a nationally known opera director and administor. The production was directed by the great impressario Boris Goldovsky

Boris Goldovsky

Boris Goldovsky was a Russian conductor and broadcast commentator, active in the United States. He has been called an important "popularizer" of opera in America...

. The opera received its first professional production at the New York City Opera

New York City Opera

The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...

 on April 6, 1958 in a double billing with Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

's Trouble in Tahiti

Trouble in Tahiti

Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera in seven scenes composed by Leonard Bernstein with an English libretto by the composer. The opera received its first performance on 12 June 1952 at Berstein's Festival of the Creative Arts on the campus of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts to an...

. The production was staged at New York City Center

New York City Center

New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...

 by director Michael Pollock

Michael Pollock (tenor)

Michael Pollock was an American operatic tenor, opera director, and voice teacher. He notably worked as both a performer and director at the New York City Opera during the 1940s and 1950s.-Biography:...

 and using costumes and sets designed by Paul Sylbert

Paul Sylbert

Paul Sylbert is an American Academy Award-winning production designer, art director, and set designer who directed on occasion....

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, August 5, 1957 (Conductor: - James Billings James Billings James Billings is an American operatic baritone, librettist, and opera director. He began his career in the late 1950s in Boston and later became a member of the New York City Opera where he performed regularly from the early 1970s through the 1990s... )	New York City Opera Cast, April 6, 1958 (Conductor: - Arnold Gamson Arnold Gamson Arnold U. Gamson is an American conductor who is particularly known for his work within the field of opera. He notably co-founded and served as the Music Director and principal conductor of the American Opera Society from 1950-1960... )
Laura Gates	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...	Jean Kraft Jean Kraft Jean Kraft is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. She began her career singing with the New York City Opera during the early 1960s, after which she embarked on a long and fruitful partnership with the Santa Fe Opera that lasted from 1965 through 1987. In 1970 she joined the roster of singers at...	Patricia Neway Patricia Neway Patricia Neway is an American operatic soprano and musical theatre actress who had an active international career during the mid-1940s through the 1970s. She is particularly remembered for creating roles in the world premieres of several contemporary American operas, most notably Magda Sorel in...
Tracy Gates	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	John Hornor	William Chapman William Chapman (baritone) William Chapman is an American operatic baritone and stage actor. He appeared in several Broadway productions and was notably a leading performer at the New York City Opera from 1957 through 1979.-Early career:...
The Woman	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Donna Jeffrey	Beverly Bower Beverly Bower Beverly Bower was an American operatic soprano who had an active international opera career from the mid 1950s through the early 1970s. She began her opera career at the New York City Opera where she sang between 1956-1963...
The Girl	soprano	Elaine Quint	Lee Venora Lee Venora Lee Venora is an American operatic soprano and stage actress. She was highly active with the New York City Opera between 1957 and 1967 and was also a regular performer at the San Francisco Opera between 1961 and 1966. She also appeared in a few Broadway musicals, Lincoln Center Revivals, and...
The Soldier	tenor	John King	Richard Cassilly Richard Cassilly Richard Cassilly was an American operatic tenor who had a major international opera career between 1954 and 1990...
The Doctor	baritone	Edward Purrington Edward Purrington Edward Purrington is an American opera director and artistic administrator. He began his career at the Santa Fe Opera in 1959 working in various positions through 1971, including stage manager, stage director, instructor in the Apprentice Program, business manager, and director of development and...	Arthur Newman Arthur Newman Arthur Newman was an American operatic baritone and actor. He began his career as a stage actor in St. Louis in the early 1930s and in 1939 began an opera career...

Synopsis

The opera opens with Tracey and Laura Gates in their suburban home arguing about his drinking. As they are about to fall to blows, he dies of a heart attack, and she prays for his revival. Following scene shifts for re-enactment of three miracles—one each in historical Italy, Scotland, and Germany, all sung in their local languages with explanatory commentary in English by a chorus in the pit—the scene returns to the Gateses' home, where Tracy revives with no awareness of what has happened. Despite Laura's efforts to abandon her former ways, the two resume their squabble, and Tracy again, with finality, drops dead. The Doctor enters to administer an injection to Laura as the chorus intones the moral, "The only death in life is the death of love."