10                              Lewis J. Hardee, Jr.

call the opera. The Ballad of Baby Doe. The title has a nice lilt and
seems better than just Baby Doe."

On July 7, 1956, The Ballad of Baby Doe received its premiere
performance in Colorado in a first rare production by the Central
 

The opening scene of Baby Doe in the Central City production, showing

Walter Cassel and iMartha Lipton in the roles of Horace Tabor and

his wife, Augusta. The set was designed by Donald Oenslaeger.

City Opera Association. Emerson Buckley conducted, Hanya
Holm directed; starring roles were cast from the New York
opera stage. Baby Doe was an operatic bonanza. The music world
buzzed with talk that out in Colorado an important new opera
had opened—some said the best American opera ever written. First
string reviewers flew out from New York to see for themselves;
their judgments, with few exceptions, were enthusiastic. The re¬
viewer for the Denver Post heaped upon the work his higest praise,
and for added laurels personally attended two rehearsals and three
performances. (Douglas wrote, "We composers do not ordinarly
get such careful treatment.")