The Second Hurricane is an opera in two acts by Aaron Copland to a librettobyEdwin Denby. Specifically written for school performances, it lasts just under an hour and premiered on 21 April 1937 at the Henry Street Settlement playhouse in New York City. Set in the United States in the 1930s, the opera tells the story of a group of high school students who become trapped on an island while working to rescue the victims of a hurricane.
The Second Hurricane was Copland's first attempt at composing opera and was commissioned by the Henry Street Settlement in New York City where it premiered on 21 April 1937 at the settlement's playhouse performed by students at its music school. The premiere production was designed by Orson Welles and conducted by Lehman Engel. The young Joseph Cotten played the small speaking role of Mr. Maclenahan.
The work has only been sporadically performed since its premiere. In honor of Copland's 85th birthday, it was revived at the Henry Street Settlement in November 1985 in a production by Tazewell Thompson which restored an aria and a ballet which had been cut from the work at its premiere.[1] On the 100th anniversary of his birth, a new version was premiered at the 11th Chicago Humanities Festival. For the Chicago production the producer and musical director Michael Barrett and Jamie Bernstein Thomas (the daughter of Leonard Bernstein) wrote a new libretto updating the story from the 1930s to 2000 with the action taking place in a television studio where the protagonists describe their adventures for a cable-television show called Teen Heroes.[2]
