The opera was completed in 1929, first performed by the
Intimate Opera Company at the
Cambridge Arts Theatre, United Kingdom, on 12 May 1936 (conducted by
Cyril Rootham), and premiered in the United States on 21 April 1937 by the
Juilliard Opera Theatre at the Juilliard School's theatre on
Claremont Avenue. The cast included
Annamary Dickey as Angelica, Marvel Biddle as Tormentilla, Glenn Darwin as Gallanthus, Mary Frances Lehnerts as the Empress, David Otto as Dipsacus, Albert Gifford as Amaryllus, and Signe Gulbrandsen and Athena Pappas as the mediums. In 1968 a broadcast on Radio 3 replaced Sharp's dialogue with a linking narration by
Ursula Vaughan Williams; conducted by
Maurice Handford, showing "a real feeling for the score, keeping everything shapely, giving the tunes their head and allowing the many delightful touches in the orchestral core to make their full effect", the cast was led by Patricia Clark, Ann Hood, Ronald Dowd and John Heddle Nash. The
Bronx Opera staged the work in January 2012. ==Roles==