"did a remarkable job . . . evoking the musical world of the 18th century . . . the rest of the production is of similarly high quality." "Mr. Bruce conducted, from the harpsichord, members of the festival orchestra and a strong cast." (A complete live recording of the work can be found online at NPR's World of Opera.) Hansel and Gretel, an opera in two acts and nine scenes, based on a libretto adapted by the composer from the Brothers Grimm, was commissioned by Connecticut Opera and premiered by the company on March 20, 1998 in Hartford, Connecticut. The company toured a condensed version for children in 1997. In an enthusiastic review of the full premiere, Hartford Courant music critic Steve Metcalf commented on Bruce's creating a new operatic Hansel and Gretel: “temerity has never been a problem for Neely Bruce . . . by blending a careful fidelity to the original Grimm story with his own manic imagination, [the composer] has created a clever and deeply entertaining new operatic journey into the woods . . . in a dizzying range of musical styles . . . about as far away from Engelbert Humperdinck as it would be possible to get. . . . [Hansel and Gretel] danced, skipped, roller-skated, high- fived and also sang their way through their troubles with unfailing and non-cloying freshness." Americana, or, A New Tale of the Genii, an opera in four acts, is based on a libretto adapted by Tony Connor from an anonymous 18th century source, which recounted the colonies' secession as allegorical parody. It was premiered in 1985 in a concert version by the American Music/Theatre Group, conducted by James Sinclair, in Hartford and Stamford, Connecticut, and New York City. Commenting on the premiere at Symphony Space for the New York Times, Will Crutchfield wrote: Bruce's new score "evinced its own quirky appeal . . . Now Boyce and Arne, now Stravinskian “wrong-note” classicism, now modestly chaotic improvisation, then hymnody, bluegrass, blues . . . the concept [of the work] is one for which pastiche has meaning. . . . The piece is odd enough and lively enough to merit a fully professional production.” Circular 14: The Apotheosis of Aristides Bruce's two-hour oratorio Circular 14: The Apotheosis of Aristides, for eight soloists, two choruses and large orchestra, received its first full-scale production in Salt Lake City on January 27, 2018. An