Moby-Dick

Moby-Dick is an American opera in two acts, with music by Jake Heggie and libretto by Gene Scheer, adapted from Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. The opera received its premiere at Dallas Opera in Dallas, Texas, on 30 April 2010. Heggie dedicated the opera to Stephen Sondheim. Composition history In 2005, Dallas Opera commissioned an opera from Heggie, intended for the company's inaugural season in the Winspear Opera House in 2010. In consultation with Terrence McNally, Heggie suggested Moby-Dick as the subject. Subsequently, Dallas Opera shared this commission jointly with San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, State Opera of South Australia and Calgary Opera. McNally subsequently withdrew from work on the opera because of health issues. Heggie continued work on the opera in collaboration with Scheer and stage director Leonard Foglia. Scheer estimated that approximately 50% of his libretto used Melville's words directly. Heggie specifically wrote the role of Ahab with Ben Heppner in mind. Performance history The Dallas Opera performances occurred from late April to mid-May 2010. The premiere production, directed by Foglia, featured lighting design by Donald Holder, set design by Robert Brill, costume design by Jane Greenwood and projection design by Elaine J. McCarthy. As noted, the cast was headed by Ben Heppner as Ahab, with Morgan Smith as Starbuck, Stephen Costello as Greenhorn and Jonathan Lemalu as Queequeg. The conductor was Patrick Summers. Duncan Osborne, the great-great-grandson of Herman Melville, was in attendance. The production at the State Opera of South Australia in Adelaide followed in August–September 2011, with Jay Hunter Morris as Ahab.