Article

Transit through Fire: An Odyssey of 1942

Published Online February 7, 2006

Last Edited December 15, 2013

Transit through Fire: An Odyssey of 1942, B27. First opera commissioned by CBC radio. The music by Healey Willan, to a libretto by John Coulter, was orchestrated by Lucio Agostini. Norman Cherrie, Frances James, Charles Jordan, J.

Transit through Fire: An Odyssey of 1942

Transit through Fire: An Odyssey of 1942, B27. First opera commissioned by CBC radio. The music by Healey Willan, to a libretto by John Coulter, was orchestrated by Lucio Agostini. Norman Cherrie, Frances James, Charles Jordan, J. Campbell McInnes, William Morton, and Howard Scott sang in the premiere on CBC radio, 8 Mar 1942, with chorus and orchestra under Sir Ernest MacMillan. A recording of the hour-long work, which consists of a prologue and four scenes, is in the CBC Program Archives at Library and Archives Canada. Ettore Mazzoleni led the Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, chorus, and soloists in a concert performance 18 Feb 1943 at Convocation Hall, University of Toronto. The libretto, which was published (Toronto 1942), concerns a young man's reaction to war.