Pentatone To Release GOODBYE MR. CHIPS By Gordon Getty

The recording of “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” an opera by American composer Gordon Getty, will be released on the PENTATONE label in January 2025.

Based on the beloved 1934 novella “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” and other stories by James Hilton, the opera tells the heart-warming story of a teacher at Brookfield, an English boarding school for boys, to which “Chips” devotes most of his adult life. The opera chronicles Chips' story of love, loss and learning over his decades-long tenure at Brookfield. We are reminded of the influence a dedicated teacher can have as we witness Chips and his “children”—“thousands of them, and all boys”—enrich each other's lives.

“Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” a studio recording, features Nathan Granner, Melody Moore, Lester Lynch, and Kevin Short, as well as the San Francisco Boys Chorus (Ian Robertson, artistic director) and Barbary Coast Orchestra, conducted by Dennis Doubin.

As both composer and librettist, Getty has shaped Hilton's cherished story into a memory play in which the protagonist looks back on important episodes of his life. The opera uncovers the rich interior lives of the characters, rendering their personal journeys with great sensitivity. Just like Chips, Getty treats each personality with a profound understanding of—and regard for—the human spirit, with all its strengths and flaws. For Getty, after decades of fascination with the character and story of “Mr. Chips,” the completion of this opera is the realization of a long-held dream.

Gordon Getty is a PENTATONE artist with a vast discography. “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” is his fourth opera recording on the label, after “Plump Jack” (2012), “Usher House” (2013) and “The Canterville Ghost” (2015). Melody Moore, Nathan Granner, Lester Lynch and Kevin Short have been featured on many PENTATONE recordings. Conductor Dennis Doubin and the San Francisco Boys Chorus are making their label debut.

“I first encountered the story in a re-release of the 1939 film with Robert Donat and Greer Garson,” Getty recently reminisced, “and I knew I would write the opera sooner or later. After reading Hilton's novella many, many years later, I immediately read it twice more, I was so tremendously moved. I then read the short stories Hilton wrote on ‘Chips,' and I was off and running with the libretto. The story captured me immediately, as well as the character of Chips himself and the affirmation of what he stood for.”