Hat Trunk

for Soprano or Mezzo and Chamber Ensemble

also available for Singer with Piano Accompaniment

From Hopper's Wife
Libretto by Michael Korie
World premiere June 1997, Long Beach Opera
Directed by Christopher Alden
Conducted Michael Barrett
Commissioned by Long Beach Opera
and the 92nd Street Y with support from

Meet the Composer

Performed in concert at the Walker Art Center and the New York Festival of Song May 1991

20 minutes

Hopper's Wife imagines a marriage between American scene painter Edward Hopper and Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.

Mrs. Hopper is a composite of Hedda and Josephine Hopper. And Hopper is the depraved, difficult man that lurks beneath the pristine, tightly controlled surface of his paintings.

Hat Trunk is the second scene from the opera and tells the story of the relationship between Hopper and Mrs. Hopper through five songs inspired by Hopper paintings, each featuring a different hat. The fifth song was not included in the final version of the opera.