The Hero (opera)

{{Short description|Opera by Gian Carlo Menotti}}

{{Infobox opera

| name = The Hero

| composer = Gian Carlo Menotti

| image = Gcmenotti.jpg

| image_upright = 0.8

| caption = The composer in 1944

| description =

| librettist = Menotti

| language = English

| premiere_date = {{start date|1976|06|01}}

| premiere_location = Philadelphia Academy of Music

}}

The Hero is a two-act opera by Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti commissioned by the Opera Company of Philadelphia, to celebrate the United States Bicentennial. The work premiered at the Philadelphia Academy of Music on June 1, 1976. At this point of his career, Menotti's style of composition, which rejected the avant-garde, was out of favor with the classical music world. Time stated in its review of the opera, "Most of Menotti's music is passable Puccini: melodic, easy to take—and totally beside the point in 1976."{{cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,914228,00.html|author=Bender, William|title="Music: Souvenir Opera"|magazine=Time|date=14 June 1976}}