The inspiration for Maugham's story and his subsequent play came from a real-life event which took place in Kuala Lumpur in Malaya in April 1911.
Moravec called it “an opera noir, a music drama about ordinary people who make a few mistakes and suddenly find themselves swept into very deep emotional water.
[6] The premiere featured soprano Patricia Racette and baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore (who appeared in Santa Fe's 2008 Falstaff).
Scene 7: The Verdict A Singapore courtroom, the next day Geoff appears to Leslie as the jury foreman; he declares her to be guilty.
Critics generally found the opera entertaining, though some reviews questioned the emotional depth of the production and the technical intricacies of the score.
In Opera News Simon Williams wrote that The Letter "was intended to be an instantly accessible work with wide popular appeal.
He praised the score as "richly orchestrated...it amplifies emotions, emphasizes confrontation and crisis and drives the action forward.
"[10] In the Denver Post Kyle McMillan commented: "The piece, which runs an economical 100 minutes with no intermission, has virtually all the essential — and expected — ingredients, including style, humor and grit.
"[11] McMillan believed that the score's "unnatural leaps in pitch and non-intuitive phrasing" made it difficult for the audience to empathize with the opera's characters.
A highly positive review in the Santa Fe New Mexican by Craig Smith disagreed with criticism of the score while recognizing its technical challenges, calling the opera "exceptionally well-crafted and beautifully orchestrated, though far too thick for the singers' ease, especially in the brass.
"[12] Smith praised the performers and production staff but thought the opera might be somewhat too brief: "I think they [composer Moravec and librettist Teachout] have mistaken brevity for intrinsic value and left one of opera's most vital components unrealized: Truly expressive arias for all the main characters, in which introspection welds dramatic truth with music that reaches the heart, not just the mind."
The Washington Post ran a harshly critical review by Anne Midgette, who maintained that the opera lacked real content: "'The Letter' is all form and little content...But in adhering to the rules of opera -- we must have arias and ensembles -- Moravec and librettist Teachout repeatedly show a tin ear for the exigencies of drama.
"[13] In his blog librettist Teachout linked to this "scorched earth pan" with a wry concession: "I can't say I enjoyed reading it, but I believe I can stand the heat.