The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

1950 American comic opera in one act by Lukas Foss

The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

Opera by Lukas Foss

Mark Twain in 1867

Librettist| Jean Karsavina
Language| English
Based on| "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain (1865)
Premiere|

18 May 1950 (1950-05-18)

East Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is an English language American comic opera in one act and two scenes. It was composed by Lukas Foss with a libretto by Jean Karsavina, based Mark Twain's 1865 short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". The opera was commissioned for television by Roger Englander.[1] It was first staged by Indiana University Opera Theatre at Indiana University's East Hall in Bloomington on May 18, 1950.[2][3]

The short opera—around forty-five minutes running time–quickly gained notice: it was work-shopped fifteen times in its first three years and received at least eighteen productions in the six years after its premiere.[4][5] It is a popular production for small opera companies and student productions.[6][7]

## Plot

[edit]

Setting: Calaveras County, California, during the Gold Rush, 1850s. The first scene is inside Uncle Henry's saloon, the second out in the town square.[8]

Smiley brags of the talents of his jumping frog, Dan'l Webster, to Uncle Henry and his niece Lulu. The Stranger enters and hears Smiley's boasting. When the Stranger doubts Daniel's abilities, Smiley bets $40 that Dan'l can best any other frog in Calaveras County. The Stranger says he does not have a frog to compete so Smiley leaves to find one. Uncle Henry leaves to tell the townspeople of the wager. The Stranger flirts with Lulu, who invites him to dinner. After she leaves, The Stranger takes down a shotgun off the wall and empties it of its buckshot. The Stranger feeds the buckshot to the frog, singing of how he goes from town to town as a confidence man.

The action moves to the town square. A guitar player strums "Sweet Betsy from Pike" while two men shoot craps. Uncle Henry tells them of the wager on Dan'l Webster. The men disapprove of Lulu's interest in the Stranger. She enters with the Stranger and tells him she hopes he will return to her town. Smiley returns with a frog for the competition. When it begins, the Stranger's frog jumps but Dan'l Webster does not move. The Stranger takes his winnings and leaves. Smiley picks up Dan'l Webster, who vomits the buckshot. Realizing the Stranger's deception, the men leave to find the Stranger. When they haul him back to the square, they rough him up, take his money, and order him to leave town forever.

## Performances

[edit]

Ernst Hoffman conducted the premiere at Bloomington and Hans Busch directed it.[9] The first run had three performances—May 18, 19, and 20—all on a double bill with another world premiere opera, The Veil by Bernard Rogers.[10][11] The original cast included Alton E. Wilder, Lou Herbert, and Charles Campbell in the leads.[11]

The New York City premiere followed three weeks later when the After Dinner Opera Company performed it on June 7, 1950, at the Master Theatre, Riverside Drive at 103rd Street.[12] The company's four performances were on a triple bill with Johann Sebastian Bach's Coffee Cantata staged as an opera called Grounds for Divorce and Marc Blitzstein's 1928 opera Triple-Sec.[13] Richard Flusser, founder of the company, drected.[14] After Dinner did not use an orchestra; Foss was at the piano.[13][15][16] Cecil Smith said of the performance "its tone essentially seems to be that of early Kurt Weill and the other Central European composers who became fascinated with American popular idiom. While Foss writes more like an American than Weill, a dry cynicism often creeps into the score and removes it in mood from the ambling colloquialism of Mark Twain's story."[13]

Foss conducted a performance at the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood on July 30, 1950; the director was Sarah Caldwell.[17] The Chautauqua Opera performed it in 1952.[18]

Several performances were given overseas. The Venice Festival of Contemporary Music performed the work in 1953.[19] Opera, reviewing the Venice production, complimented Foss for his "skilled and sympathetic touch" in creating "a pungent and expressive folk opera of no small distinction".[20] The opera was given in Cologne, West Germany, in 1956.[21]

A performance was given in 1959 at the Royal Court Theatre in London.[22]

Caldwell's Opera New England performed the opera in 1974, 1978, 1986, and 1989.[23]

The score was published by Carl Fischer Music in 1951.[24] Fischer published a revised edition in 1968.[25]

## Recordings

[edit]

The After Dinner Opera Company in 1951 released a recording on Lyrichord Discs without an orchestra and only a piano accompaniment by Frederic Kurzweil.[26] A review stated "the music is functional rather than memorable and there are a few opportunities for the singers to use their legato style. Not all the diction is easy to follow, for things happen fast, and the demands on the listeners attention are considerable. In short, here is modern American opera serving comedy, as Weill's Down in the Valley served tragedy."[27] Arthur Berger's review in the Saturday Review called the opera "a forceful work as outrightly American in feeling as anything any American composer has written" but faulted the recording for sounding like a rehearsal take.[28] Donald Richie in the American Record Guide was the inverse, praising the recording for its "fine diction" and good sound but faulting the opera itself as "an empty, labored and pretentious work", whose "inept libretto" did not connect with the music.[29] The New Records said the piano accompaniment drowned out the singers and the lack of a libretto with the recording made it difficult to understand the singers.[30]

The Manhattan Chamber Orchestra in October 1996 recorded Jumping Frog at the Church of the Epiphany in New York City, released the next year on the Newport Classic label.[31] A review in the Deseret News praised conductor Richard Auldon Clark for "keep[ing] things hopping, his singers likewise leaping into their roles with polish and enthusiasm" and Foss's music, particularly the opera's overture, "with its Appalachian Spring-like flavor".[32]

Another review of the recording was exuberant in praise: "By the first scene, however, Foss has plunked himself down in the mining camp (at least as a tourist), and the interest–particularly the rhythmic interest–picks up. The music sparkles, every note tells. Foss's speech-setting, artificial as a Fruit Roll-Up, nevertheless comes across as vernacular. It inhabits a twilight of neo-classicism, folk song, and musical comedy. I feel as if I'm watching some gorgeous clockwork mechanism reeling off fiddle tunes, waltzes, even scat. This isn't the West as it was or even as Twain depicts it, but a loving homage to the West by a master musical jeweler."[33]

## Roles

[edit]

Roles, voice types, premiere cast Role  | Voice type | Indiana University premiere,
Bloomington, May 28, 1950
Conductor: Ernst Hoffmann | After Dinner Opera Company,
New York premiere, 1950[31] | Berkshire Music Festival, Tanglewood, 1950
Conductor: Lukas Foss[34] | Manhattan Chamber Orchestra recording, 1997
Conductor: Richard Auldon Clark[31]

|
|
|
|
|

Smiley  | tenor | Alton E. Wilder  | Burton Trimble  | Nino Luciano  | Frederick Urrey
Stranger  | bass | Charles Campbell  | Paul Ukena | Luis Pichardo  | Kevin Deas
Lulu  | mezzo-soprano | Lou Herber  | Ruth Biller  | Eunice Alberts | Julianne Baird
Uncle Henry  | baritone |  | Elvin Campbell  | Carmon Caplinger  | Peter Castaldi
First Crapshooter  | tenor  |  | Karl Brock  | Gene Cox  | Geoffrey Friedley
Second Crapshooter  | bass  |  | Ahti Tuuri  | Albert Basso  | Mark Moliterno
Guitar Player  | baritone  |  | Ralph Cavalucci  | Mac Morgan | Christopher Arneson

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Greissle, Felix (September 1949). "Publisher vs. Composer: Can They Agree?". Musical America. Vol. 69, no. 11\. p. 25. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
2. ^ Griffel, Margaret Ross (2013). Operas in English: A Dictionary. Vol. 1\. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 253\. ISBN 9780810883253. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
3. ^ Tobias, Marianne Williams; Calder, George (2010). Opera for All Seasons: 60 Years of Indiana University Opera Theater. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 327\. ISBN 9780253353405.
4. ^ Parmenter, Ross (March 22, 1953). "The World of Music: Norma and Pelleas Revivals and Return of Rake and Boris Likely for Met". The New York Times. p. X7. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
5. ^ Eaton, Quaintance (1961). Opera Production: A Handbook. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 193\. ISBN 9780306706356. LCCN 61-16843. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
6. ^ Wlaschin, Ken (2024). Encyclopedia of American Opera. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 185\. ISBN 9781476612386. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
7. ^ Meyers, Eric (April 2004). "Opera at Land's Edge". Opera. Vol. 55, no. 4\. London. pp. 396–399.396-399&rft.date=2004-04&rft.aulast=Meyers&rft.aufirst=Eric&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Jumping+Frog+of+Calaveras+County" class="Z3988">
8. ^ Machlis, Joseph (1963). American Composers of the Time. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. pp. 196–199\. LCCN 63-009204. Retrieved January 19, 2025.196-199&rft.pub=Thomas+Y.+Crowell&rft.date=1963&rft_id=info:lccn/63-009204&rft.aulast=Machlis&rft.aufirst=Joseph&rft_id=https://archive.org/details/americancomposer017692&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Jumping+Frog+of+Calaveras+County" class="Z3988">
9. ^ Nettl, Paul (June 1950). "Indiana University Presents New Foss and Rogers Works". Musical America. Vol. 70, no. 7\. p. 11. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
10. ^ Tobias & Calder 2010, p. 327.
11. ^ a b Nettl 1950, p. 11.
12. ^ Smith, Cecil (June 1950). "Jumping Frog Shares Bill with Bach and Blitzstein". Musical America. Vol. 70, no. 7\. p. 11. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
13. ^ a b c Smith 1950, p. 11.
14. ^ "Richard Flusser, 75, Founder of a Chamber-Opera Company". The New York Times. July 3, 2002. p. C12. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
15. ^ "Music: Jumpin' Opera". Time. Vol. 55, no. 28\. June 19, 1950. p. 51. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
16. ^ Johnson, H. Earle (1964). Operas on American Subjects. New York: Coleman-Ross. p. 52\. LCCN 64-017352. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
17. ^ Boston Symphony Orchestra (1950). Tanglewood Music Center Yearbook. Lenox, Massachusetts: Berkshire Music Center. p. 250. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
18. ^ "Music Festivals' Far-flung Way" (PDF). International Musician. Vol. 1, no. 12\. Newark, New Jersey: American Federation of Musicians. June 1952. pp. 14–15. Retrieved January 19, 2025.14-15&rft.date=1952-06&rft_id=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/International-Musician/50s/International-Musician-1952-06.pdf&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Jumping+Frog+of+Calaveras+County" class="Z3988">
19. ^ Winesaker, Michael (March–April 1960). "American Comic Opera–Yesterday and Today". American Music Teacher. Vol. 9, no. 4\. pp. 8, 23–27. Retrieved January 19, 2025.23-27&rft.date=1960-03/1960-04&rft.aulast=Winesaker&rft.aufirst=Michael&rft_id=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-music-teacher_march-april-1960_9_4/page/27/&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Jumping+Frog+of+Calaveras+County" class="Z3988">
20. ^ Jolly, Cynthia (November 1953). "Venice". Opera. Vol. 4, no. 11\. London. pp. 683–685.683-685&rft.date=1953-11&rft.aulast=Jolly&rft.aufirst=Cynthia&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Jumping+Frog+of+Calaveras+County" class="Z3988">
21. ^ Marshall, William (August 1956). "Cologne". Opera. Vol. 7, no. 8\. London. pp. 494–495.494-495&rft.date=1956-08&rft.aulast=Marshall&rft.aufirst=William&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Jumping+Frog+of+Calaveras+County" class="Z3988">
22. ^ Cairns, David (June 26, 1959). "Borderline Cases". The Spectator. Vol. 203, no. 6835\. London: The Spectator (1828) Limited. pp. 911–912. Retrieved January 19, 2025.911-912&rft.date=1959-06-26&rft.aulast=Cairns&rft.aufirst=David&rft_id=https://archive.org/details/sim_spectator-uk_1959-06-26_202_6835/page/911/&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Jumping+Frog+of+Calaveras+County" class="Z3988">
23. ^ Kessler, Daniel (2008). Sarah Caldwell: The First Woman of Opera. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. pp. 265, 273, 284, 287. ISBN 9780810859470. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
24. ^ Foss, Lukas; Karsavina, Jean (1951). The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County: An Opera. New York: Carl Fischer Music. LCCN 52-043535.
25. ^ Foss, Lukas; Karsavina, Jean (1968). The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County: An Opera (revised ed.). New York: Carl Fischer Music. LCCN 76-209236.
26. ^ National Music Council, Committee on Recordings of American Music (1956). American Music on Records: A Catalogue of Recorded American Music Currently Available. New York: American Music Center. p. 13.
27. ^ Miller, Philip L. (1955). The Guide to Long-playing Records: Vocal Music. Vol. 2\. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 89\. LCCN 55-5609.
28. ^ Berger, Arthur (May 26, 1951). "Spotlight on the Moderns". Saturday Review. Vol. 36\. New York. pp. 62–63.62-63&rft.date=1951-05-26&rft.aulast=Berger&rft.aufirst=Arthur&rft_id=https://www.unz.com/print/SaturdayRev-1951may26/&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Jumping+Frog+of+Calaveras+County" class="Z3988">
29. ^ Richie, Donald (July 1951). "Foss, The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". American Record Guide. Vol. 17, no. 11\. Pelham, New York: Peter Hugh Reed. p. 357.
30. ^ "Foss: The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". The New Records. Vol. 19, no. 5\. Philadelphia: H. Royer Smith Co. July 1951. p. 10.
31. ^ a b c Wlaschin 2024, p. 185.
32. ^ Goodfellow, William S. (August 24, 1997). "2 albums set poetry and prose of Americans to varied pieces of music". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
33. ^ Schwartz, Steven (2000). "CD Review: Lukas Foss, The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". ClassicalNet.
34. ^ Boston Symphony Orchestra 1950, p. 250.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Perone, Karen L. (1991). Lukas Foss: A Bio-bibliography. New York: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313268113.

## External links

[edit]

* "After Dinner Opera Company recording of The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"

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