Mary Carr Moore - Narcissa

Narcissa

While in Seattle, Moore began work on her second, and most ambitious, stage work. Titled Narcissa, or The Cost of Empire, the four-act grand opera told the story of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and the attack on their mission in Walla Walla in 1847. Sara Carr wrote the libretto. Several distinguished artists were imported from New York City to perform in the premiere, held in Seattle in 1912. No conductor was available; consequently, Moore herself took to the podium. The opera failed to gain a place in the repertory, and soon disappeared, although Moore conducted revivals in San Francisco in 1925 and Los Angeles in 1945.