Horace and Baby Doe's wedding party is set in Washington DC. Her friends tell Augusta, now living in Denver, that Horace plans to divorce her. They sing of their love.Ī year later, Horace has left Augusta and is living with Baby Doe. After Augusta leaves, Baby decides against leaving when Horace arrives. She agrees, but pleads that she and Horace have done nothing they should be ashamed of ("I Knew It Was Wrong"). Augusta comes in and tells Baby to leave. She sings of her love for Horace in a letter to her mother (the "Letter Aria"). They go to find Horace so he can head her off. She asks the hotel workers to find out when the next train leaves for Denver. Horace comes in, they fight, and Horace says he never meant to hurt her.īaby Doe, at the hotel, realizes she must end her relationship with Horace. She thinks they are for her until she realizes that they are for Baby Doe. Several months later, Augusta goes through Horace's study and finds gloves and a love letter. Augusta's comments from upstairs stop the scene. He sings "Warm as the Autumn Light" to her. She is surprised as she did not know he was listening. Horace hears Baby singing "The Willow Song" and applauds her. He overhears two women speaking about the woman he helped and learns that her name is Baby Doe, and that she has a husband in Central City. He obliges her, and returns to the opera with Augusta.Īugusta retires for the evening, while Horace steps outside to smoke a cigar. Near the end of intermission, a woman arrives, introduces herself to Horace, and asks if he could direct her to her hotel. Horace pleads with her not to insult the common people, equating the prostitutes' and bar girls' work to the work her committee did in helping build the opera house.
During intermission at a performance at the opera house, Augusta chides Horace for not acting according to his upper-class station in life. Horace sings "It's a Bang Up Job" to the townspeople, praising his new opera house, and sharing his disenchantment with his wife Augusta. The story begins by commenting on the riches of the Matchless Mine and Horace Tabor's ownership and control over the whole town of Leadville, Colorado.
"Always Through the Changing" is a postscript ending foretelling Baby's death. Further revisions were being considered, but these were abandoned upon the sudden death of Latouche.īased on the lives of historical figures Horace Tabor, a wealthy mine owner his wife Augusta Tabor, and Elizabeth "Baby" Doe Tabor, the opera explores their lives from Horace and Baby Doe's meeting to the death of Horace. This revised version added the gambling scene in Act 2 and an additional aria for Baby Doe. The opera's New York premiere, directed by Vladimir Rosing, was presented at the New York City Opera in 1958. Hanya Holm and Edwin Levy directed the production, and sopranos Dolores Wilson and Leyna Gabriele alternated in the title role. The opera's premiere took place at the Central City Opera in Colorado in 1956. Distinguished sopranos who have portrayed Baby Doe include Beverly Sills (Moore's favorite interpreter of the role), Ruth Welting, Karan Armstrong, Faith Esham, and Elizabeth Futral. Especially famous are the title heroine's five arias: "Letter Aria," "Willow Song," "I Knew it Was Wrong", "Gold is a Fine Thing", and "Always Through the Changing." Horace Tabor's "Warm as the Autumn Light" is also frequently heard. It is Moore's most famous opera and one of the few American operas to be in the standard repertory. The Ballad of Baby Doe is an opera by the American composer Douglas Moore that uses an English-language libretto by John Latouche.