Walter Meyer wrote:

>Interestingly, the two hanged in the opera were denounced by different
>parties for unrelated reasons.  John Proctor was denounced by Abigail
>Williams, w/ whom he had had an affair, after he sought to expose her
>earlier denunciation of his wife as a scheme to enable her to marry him
>herself.  Rebecca Nurse, on the other hand, was denounced by Thomas Putnam
>who lusted after her land, which would be forfeited if she were to be
>hanged.  Whether or not the denunciation of the other hanged victims were
>based upon similarly corrupt motives, is not disclosed in the opera.

It's treated more in the play, as I recall, though it's been a long time
since I saw it.  From what I recall, the play was partly Miller's response
to the McCarthy hearings: anyone who's seen it or heard the opera will
find that obvious.  Though I live near enough to Danvers and Salem and have
visited both, I'm no scholar on the subject, but it seems to me that Thomas
Putnam was one of many witch hunters seeking to profit from land grabbing.
According to many historians, this was one of the primary motives behind
the trials--religious zeal certainly played a role--though I think some
have disputed that.

Most (maybe all) of the characters in the play/opera, really existed, as
far as I know.  Another interesting aside, if I recall correctly, is that
much of this action occurred in what is now Danvers (though I think it was
part of Salem at the time, or something like that).

Finally, all this is from memory.  By all means, check it out.  It's a
fascinating and tragic episode of American history.

By the way, the movie is not bad at all, and the essentials of the play
are there.  Admittedly, no one looks like he/she is actually from that time.
Wynona Ryder never looks anything less than fresh from the makeup table,
but this is Hollywood, after all.

>As for the music otherwise, it seemed unobtrusively appropriate, like well
>written film music.  Except for Tituba's song (sung by Annette Daniels),
>and a hymn in the first act, all of the words could have been spoken as
>well as sung as far as I was concerned.  The work simply did not seem
>musical to me.

I had the pleasure of playing in the orchestra for this opera, and I
enjoyed the experience very much.  I also enjoyed it the one time I saw it
from the audience.  For me this opera works very well on stage.  Indeed, I
was told that Miller once said the play was better than his opera.  There
is one recording I know of from New York's City Center.  It use to be on
CRI LPs, I think.  Now it's on Albany.  Musically, I like it better than
Walter did, but it really is an opera that should be seen.

Roger Hecht