The first company to be known as the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company (PGOC) was founded in 1916. Its first production, Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, opened on December 18 of that year at the Academy of Music with Regina Vicarino in the title role, Forrest Lamont as Edgardo, and Ettore Martini conducting. Short lived, the company produced one more opera in December 1916, Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore, before disbanding.[1]
Salmaggi's Philadelphia Grand Opera Companies:1920-1921
The second company to be known as the PGOC was actually a company based out of New York City that was active in both NYC and Philadelphia. The company was founded by impresarioAlfred Salmaggi (later founder of the Salmaggi Opera Company) in the spring of 1920 under the name the Italian Lyric Federation. The company's first performance at the Academy of Music was Verdi's Otello on June 30, 1920, with Nicola Zerola in the title role. The company changed its name to the PGOC in November 1920 after the financial backers fired Salmaggi. From this point on the company worked out of Philadelphia, although Salmaggi countered his firing by continuing to perform works with different singers under the name of the Italian Lyric Federation in NYC. Like the first PGOC, this company was also short lived, with its last production, Rigoletto, being held on Halloween of 1921.[1]
The Hammer's Philadelphia Grand Opera Companies:1926-1932
The third PGOC was founded in 1926 by Helen Redington Carter, socialite wife of well known Philadelphia neurologist Joseph Leidy, William Carl Hammer, an importer and trumpeter, and his wife, Kathryn O'Gorman Hammer.[2][3] Both of the Hammers ran the business side of the company, with William running the Box Office and Kathryn hiring artists, putting together sets and costumes, and sometimes directing productions. Kathryn was a bandmaster and trombonist and she was notably the world's only female opera director at that time. Mrs. Leidy served as the opera board's president and provided a considerable amount of financial backing to get the company started. She also was able to get the opera house filled, being influential among Philadelphia's high society of the day.[4]
In 1929 a major windfall came to the PGOC when Mary Louise Curtis Bok offered to support the company in exchange for using the company as an outlet for opera talent in the Curtis Institute of Music. The PGOC accepted the offer and a partnership was formed with Curtis students appearing mostly in minor roles with the company.[4] Plans were initially made to build a new $7,000,000 opera house for the company and the Philadelphia Orchestra[6] but, like many projects of the day, these plans were ultimately abandoned as a result of the financial crisis of the Great Depression. Bok's support, however, did manage to keep the company afloat longer than it probably would have, producing three more seasons of opera at the Academy of Music. Indeed, the company's two major rivals, the Pennsylvania Grand Opera Company and the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company, both closed their doors not long after the Wall Street Crash of 1929.[7]
During its remaining years the quality of PGOC's productions increased, particularly in regards to the sets and costumes. The quality of the singers remained high.[4] A highlight of these years was the United States premiere of Alban Berg's Wozzeck on March 19, 1931, with Ivan Ivantzoff in the title role, Anne Roselle as Marie, Gabriel Leonoff as the Drum Major, Sergei Radamsky as Andres, Bruno Korell as the Captain, Ivan Steschenko[uk] as the Doctor, and Leopold Stokowski conducting. Stokowski also conducted the world premiere of Carlos Chávez and Diego Rivera's ballet H. P. for the PGOC on March 31, 1932. The company was also notably the first American company to perform Richard Strauss's Elektra in the original German on October 29, 1931, with Roselle in the title role and Charlotte Boerner as Chrysothemis.[1]
The PGOC's final performance was a production of Aida on April 14, 1932, with Roselle in the title role, Aroldo Lindi as Radames, Cyrena van Gordon as Amneris, and Leo de Hierapolis as the King of Egypt. The company closed due to financial reasons in 1932. At the time they canceled the end of the 1931–1932 season and announced the intention of commencing another season for 1933–1934.[8] That never happened, possibly because Mrs. Liedy and her husband both died in 1932.[9] The Curtis Institute of Music was also experiencing financial difficulties at that time and rumors of its imminent closing, which never occurred, were circulating in 1932.[10]
The last Philadelphia Grand Opera Companies:1954-1974
The last company to be called the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was formed in November 1954 when the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera and the Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company merged. Anthony Terracciano served as the company's first General Director in its first season but was then succeeded by General Manager Humbert A. Pelosi who was appointed that position at the end of the 1955–1956 season.[11] Terracciano remained with the company as an artistic director through the Spring of 1972. Pelosi left in March 1956 after a feud with Terracciano. He was replaced by conductor Giuseppe Bamboschek who had been working for the company since it began.[12] Bamboschek remained the company's director until 1961 when Terracciano was again made General Manager by longtime friend and musical colleague, Max M. Leon, who was then the opera company's president. This time Terracciano stayed on until 1972.[13]
In the companies last three years the opera board's long-term president, Max Leon, served as the company's manager after the departure of Terracciano. Experiencing some financial difficulties, the company began talks with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company about a possible merger in 1974. An agreement was reached and the two companies merged to form the Opera Company of Philadelphia in 1975 with Leon serving as General Director.[15]
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