True New Orleans Culture: Opera Celebrates 75th Anniversary

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NEW ORLEANS —
Love, hate and hot sauce are themes of a 19th-century comic opera being produced this week as a kickoff to New Orleans' 300th anniversary. It's also the 150th anniversary for Tabasco sauce and the New Orleans Opera's 75th.

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Composer George Whitefield Chadwick was well-known in his day, Mauffray said, and if Tabasco had its due, "it would be the founding cornerstone of our American history in the opera. It was not just some little show that was done here once. It was the most popular American opera from the pre-20th century."

Opera has been a big part of New Orleans' social and musical scene going back to the late 1700s. Mauffray was trying to learn more of its history when he found the program in a box in 2009.

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