Bertha (Rorem)
Bertha is an opera in one act, with music by Ned Rorem to an English libretto by Kenneth Koch, an original work parodying Shakespeare’s histories. Rorem wrote the work originally at the request of the Metropolitan Opera (Met) Studio in the 1960s, intended as an opera for children. However, the Met studio rejected the work. The work was first performed at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on November 25, 1973 with Beverly Wolff in the title role.
Bertha is still sporadically performed. It received a performance by The Golden Fleece in New York City in 1981. In the UK, the New World Opera Company produced the work in London in February 2001.
Famous quotes containing the word bertha:
“Reputation is not of enough value to sacrifice character for it.”
—“Miss Clark,” U.S. charity worker. As quoted in Petticoat Surgeon, ch. 9, by Bertha Van Hoosen (1947)