Philadelphia Opera Company

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The Philadelphia Opera Company was the name of two different American opera companies active during the twentieth century in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first company was founded by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I in 1908. That company disbanded only two years later as a result of financial problems. The second company was founded by conductor Sylvan Levin in 1938 and was active for six years before it too closed due to financial reasons in 1944.

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Hammerstein's Philadelphia Opera Company: 1908-1910

In 1907 Oscar Hammerstein I hired architect William H. McElfatrick of the firm J.B. McElfatrick & Son to design a new opera house for the city of Philadelphia. The plans were approved and in 1908 the Philadelphia Opera House was built over the course of just a few months at 858 North Broad Street. The structure was built specifically for Hammerstein's latest artistic venture, his new opera company, the Philadelphia Opera Company (POC).

Notable singers to have performed with the POC during its short history include Lina Cavalieri, Armand Crabbé, Giuseppe de Grazia, David Devriès, Hector Dufranne, Minnie Egener, Mary Garden, Alice Gentle, Jeanne Gerville-Réache, Charles Gilibert, Gustave Huberdeau, John McCormack, Carmen Melis, Maurice Renaud, Mario Sammarco, Marguerite Sylva, Emma Trentini, Emilio Venturini, Giovanni Zenatello, and Nicola Zerola.

Levin's Philadelphia Opera Company: 1938-1944

In 1938, Sylvan Levin founded the second Philadelphia Opera Company, serving as its artistic director and principal conductor for the next six years. [1] The company mounted almost all of its productions at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia until its last season when it staged it productions at the Erlanger Theatre. The POC's first performance was of Giacomo Puccini's La bohème on January 19, 1939, with Barbara Thorne as Mimì, Fritz Krueger as Rodolfo, Frank Cappelli as Marcello, Frances Greer as Musetta, and Levin conducting. The company's last performance was of Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus on February 18, 1944, with Robert Stuart as Alfred, Jayne Cozzens as Adele, Helena Bliss as Rosalinde, and Joseph Laderoute as Gabriel von Eisenstein. [2] Highlights in the POC's performance history were the first staged production of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief in February 1941, [3] and the world premiere of Deems Taylor's Ramuntcho on February 10, 1942. [4]

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Annamary Dickey, also known as Annamary Dickey Laue, was an American soprano and actress in operas, operettas, musicals, night clubs, and concerts who had an active performance career from the 1930s through the 1960s. She began her career as a regular performer with the Chautauqua Opera and the St. Louis Municipal Opera in the mid to late 1930s. In 1939 she won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air which earned her a contract with the Metropolitan Opera (Met). She was a soprano in mainly secondary roles at the Met from 1939 to 1944; appearing in productions of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Massenet's Manon, Delibes' Lakmé, Charpentier's Louise, Bizet's Carmen, Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and Smetana's The Bartered Bride. Her most significant role at the Met was as Musetta in Puccini's La bohème. A strikingly beautiful woman with a passion for fashionable clothes, she gained the moniker the "Glamour Girl of the 'Met'" and headlined a fashion campaign for Saks Fifth Avenue in 1945.

Nancy McCord was an American soprano and actress who had an active career in opera, musical theatre, and vaudeville during the 1920s, 1930s and early 1940s. She appeared in operettas and musicals on Broadway and in operas with several American companies, including the St. Louis Municipal Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. Her repertoire consisted mainly of roles from light opera and operettas. She is best remembered for creating the roles of Marie-Baroness von Schlewitz in the original production of Oscar Hammerstein II and Sigmund Romberg's May Wine (1935); and Mary Stone in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's The Devil and Daniel Webster (1939). She also performed leading roles in the United States premieres of two operettas: Franz Lehár's The Land of Smiles and Robert Stolz's Venus in Seide.

References

  1. "Sylvan Levin, 93; Championed Music In Philadelphia". The New York Times . August 16, 1996. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
  2. Free Library of Philadelphia: Folder: Philadelphia Opera Company 1938-1944
  3. "Two Operatic Novelties: Philadelphia Company Is Heard by a Large Audience". The New York Times . February 12, 1941.
  4. Eddy (February 11, 1942). "Concerts-Opera: PHILA. BOW FOR TAYLOR OPERA". Variety . Vol. 145, no. 10. p. 33.