| The Man Without a Country | |
| Composer: | Walter Damrosch |
| Librettist: | Arthur Guiterman |
| Based On: | "The Man Without a Country" by Edward Everett Hale (1863) |
| Language: | English |
| Premiere Location: | Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera House, New York City |
The Man Without a Country is an English-language American opera in two acts and five scenes. The composer was Walter Damrosch with a libretto by poet Arthur Guiterman. The opera was based on Edward Everett Hale's 1863 short story of the same name. The work premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on May 12, 1937, in a performance conducted by Damrosch.[1]
The opera is set in the early nineteenth century and opens on Blennerhassett Island in the Ohio River.[2] The main character is Lt. Philip Nolan, an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Harman Blennerhassett is throwing a party and awaiting the arrival of the guest of honor, former Vice President Aaron Burr. Nolan sings to his love, Mary Rutledge, about how Burr's conspiracy will make him rich, but she tells him she cares only for him. When he arrives, Burr sings of his plot to seize the Southwest Territory from the United States. After Burr leaves, Nolan is arrested for his part in the conspiracy.
The second scene is in a courtroom at the Marine Corps barracks at Charleston, South Carolina, where Nolan is on trial before Colonel Morgan on the charge of treason. Nolan damns the name of the United States and tells the judge he never wishes to hear it spoken again. Upon conviction, Colonel Morgan sentences Nolan to be held prisoner at sea aboard Navy ships, never to set foot on land, and forbids anyone to speak of the United States to him. Mary vows to secure a pardon for Nolan.
The second act opens aboard the warship Guerriere, in port at Gibraltar. Nolan is wistful about the United States and his fate. He has become a patriot during his exile.[3] In the next scene, Mary arrives and tells Nolan she is hopeful he will soon be pardoned. Stephen Decatur comes aboard and tells Nolan and Mary that the ship will be sailing to attack the Barbary pirates on the North African coast. At Mary's urging, Nolan is given command of a deck gun.
In the final scene, the Guerriere has been boarded off the coast of Tripoli. In close combat, Nolan kills the enemy commander but is himself shot. As he lies dying he dreams of being reunited with Mary. Decatur takes off his sword and places it in Nolan's dead hands.
There were four performances during the 1936–37 season and one during the following season on February 17, 1938.[4] The production was directed by Desire Defrere. A performance conducted by Wilfried Pelletier was broadcast on the radio on May 22, 1937.[5] The soprano Helen Traubel made her Met debut in the role of Mary Rutledge, Nolan's love, a character not in the original story.[6]
The score and the libretto were both published in 1937. Copyright on the opera was registered on January 25, 1937.[7]
Paul Jackson wrote "Damrosch seems unable to solve the problem of fusing melodic outpourings with continuity of orchestral texture–the latter is merely supportive and does little musically to augment the expression of the text."
| Lieutenant Philip Nolan | tenor | |
| Mary Rutledge | soprano | Helen Traubel |
| Harman Blennerhassett | tenor | George Rasely |
| Aaron Burr | baritone | Joseph Royer |
| Colonel Morgan | bass | John Gurney |
| Stephen Decatur | speaking role | Louis D'Angelo |
| Parke | tenor | Nicholas Massue |
| Fairfax | tenor | Lodovico Oliviero |
| Lieutenant Pinckney | baritone | Wilfred Engelman |
| Lieutenant Reeve | baritone | George Cehanovsky |
| Negro Boatman | baritone | Donald Dickson |