Philadelphia Civic Opera Company
Encyclopedia
The Philadelphia Civic Opera Company (PCOC) was an American
opera
company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, that was actively performing between 1924 and 1930. Founded by Philadelphia socialite Mrs. Henry M. Tracy, the company was established partially through funds provided by the city of Philadelphia and its then-mayor, W. Freeland Kendrick
. The company was led by Artistic Director Alexander Smallens
. Tracy served as the company's President and ran the business side of the organization while Smallens served as the company's primary conductor and made all of the artistic decisions. W. Attmore Robinson was later brought in to help Smallens with some of the artistic direction. The company performed between 10 and 15 operas every year during an annual season until it went bankrupt a year after the Wall Street Crash of 1929
.
The PCOC performed all of their productions at Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House
(MOH) up through the spring of 1928. The company's first performance was of Giacomo Puccini
's La bohème
on November 6, 1924 with Anna Fitziu
as Mimì, Romeo Boscacci as Rodolfo, Alfredo Gondolfi as Marcello, Emily Stokes Hagar as Musetta, and Smallens conducting. Occasionally the company presented more rarely heard works, including the American premieres of Erich Wolfgang Korngold
's Der Ring des Polykrates
(February 10, 1927), Manuel de Falla
's El amor brujo
(March 17, 1927), Richard Strauss
's Feuersnot
(December 2, 1927), and Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos
(November 1, 1928). However, the company mainly presented works from the standard opera repertory.
In the autumn of 1928 the company began performing at the Academy of Music
instead of the MOH. Their first performance at the Academy was Giuseppe Verdi
's Aida
on October 18, 1928 with Emily Roosevelt in the title role, Paul Althouse
as Radamès, Julia Claussen
as Amneris, Reinhold Schmidt as the King of Egypt, Nelson Eddy
as Amonasro, and Smallens conducting. The PCOC continued to perform at the Academy up until financial problems forced the company to disband in 1930.
, the PCOC, like many other American arts organizations, began experiencing serious financial concerns. Although numerous efforts to assuage the company's problems were made, the company was forced to declare bankruptcy in April 1930. One last effort to revive the company was made the following Fall when the company gave its last performance, Ruggero Leoncavallo
's Pagliacci
, on October 30, 1930 with Aroldo Lindi
as Canio, Helen Jepson
as Nedda, and John Charles Thomas
as Tonio.
One reason for its collapse was noted:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, that was actively performing between 1924 and 1930. Founded by Philadelphia socialite Mrs. Henry M. Tracy, the company was established partially through funds provided by the city of Philadelphia and its then-mayor, W. Freeland Kendrick
W. Freeland Kendrick
W. Freeland Kendrick was the Republican Mayor of Philadelphia from 1924-1928. He served as a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Republican National Convention in 1920, and served as the President of the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1926.-Shriner:Kendrick was also an active...
. The company was led by Artistic Director Alexander Smallens
Alexander Smallens
Alexander Smallens was a Russian-born American conductor and music director.Smallens was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and emigrated to the United States as a child, becoming an American citizen in 1919...
. Tracy served as the company's President and ran the business side of the organization while Smallens served as the company's primary conductor and made all of the artistic decisions. W. Attmore Robinson was later brought in to help Smallens with some of the artistic direction. The company performed between 10 and 15 operas every year during an annual season until it went bankrupt a year after the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
.
Performance history
Metropolitan Opera House (Philadelphia)
The Metropolitan Opera House is a historic opera house located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 858 North Broad Street. Built over the course of just a few months in 1908, it was the ninth opera house built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I. It was initially the home of Hammerstein's Philadelphia...
(MOH) up through the spring of 1928. The company's first performance was of Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
on November 6, 1924 with Anna Fitziu
Anna Fitziu
Anna Fitziu was an American soprano who had a prolific international opera career during the early part of the 20th century. Her signature roles included Fiora in L'amore dei tre re, Mimi in La Boheme, Nedda in Pagliacci, and the title roles in Isabeau, Madama Butterfly, and Tosca...
as Mimì, Romeo Boscacci as Rodolfo, Alfredo Gondolfi as Marcello, Emily Stokes Hagar as Musetta, and Smallens conducting. Occasionally the company presented more rarely heard works, including the American premieres of Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
's Der Ring des Polykrates
Der Ring des Polykrates (opera)
Der Ring des Polykrates , Op. 7 is a one-act opera by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The libretto, written by Leo Feld and reworked by the composer's father Julius Korngold, is based on a drama by Heinrich Teweles....
(February 10, 1927), Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
's El amor brujo
El amor brujo
El amor brujo is a piece of music originally composed by Manuel de Falla for a chamber group, then re-scored as a symphonic suite, and eventually as a ballet...
(March 17, 1927), Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Feuersnot
Feuersnot
Feuersnot , Op. 50, is a Singgedicht or opera in one act by Richard Strauss. The German libretto was written by Ernst von Wolzogen, based on J. Ketel's report "Das erloschene Feuer zu Audenaerde" in the Oudenaarde Gazette, Leipzig, 1843...
(December 2, 1927), and Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
(November 1, 1928). However, the company mainly presented works from the standard opera repertory.
In the autumn of 1928 the company began performing at the Academy of Music
Academy of Music (Philadelphia)
The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at Broad and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1857 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose...
instead of the MOH. Their first performance at the Academy was Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
on October 18, 1928 with Emily Roosevelt in the title role, Paul Althouse
Paul Althouse
Paul Shearer Althouse was an American opera singer. He began his career as a lyric tenor with a robust Italianate sound, excelling in roles like Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, and Turiddu. He later branched out into the dramatic tenor repertoire, finding particular success in portraying Wagnerian heroes...
as Radamès, Julia Claussen
Julia Claussen
Julia Claussen was a Swedish mezzo-soprano.A native of Stockholm, Claussen was educated at the Royal Academy of Music in that city; she also studied at the Royal Academy in Berlin. She made her debut in La favorita in Stockholm on January 19, 1903, and remained with the Royal Swedish Opera for...
as Amneris, Reinhold Schmidt as the King of Egypt, Nelson Eddy
Nelson Eddy
Nelson Ackerman Eddy was an American singer and actor who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred...
as Amonasro, and Smallens conducting. The PCOC continued to perform at the Academy up until financial problems forced the company to disband in 1930.
Collapse of the company
With the onset of the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the PCOC, like many other American arts organizations, began experiencing serious financial concerns. Although numerous efforts to assuage the company's problems were made, the company was forced to declare bankruptcy in April 1930. One last effort to revive the company was made the following Fall when the company gave its last performance, Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.-Biography:...
's Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
, on October 30, 1930 with Aroldo Lindi
Aroldo Lindi
Aroldo Lindi, born Gustav Harald Lindau, was a Swedish operatic tenor who enjoyed an international career, appearing at La Scala and at Covent Garden from 1925...
as Canio, Helen Jepson
Helen Jepson
Helen Jepson was an American lyric soprano noted for being a "stunning blond beauty" as well as for her voice....
as Nedda, and John Charles Thomas
John Charles Thomas
John Charles Thomas was a popular American opera, operetta and concert baritone.-Birth, schooling and stage debut:...
as Tonio.
One reason for its collapse was noted:
- "Last spring when the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company disbanded [..] there was given an obituary luncheon at which Conductor Alexander Smallens, now assistant leader of the Philadelphia OrchestraPhiladelphia OrchestraThe Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
, called opera in Philadelphia a "bataille des dames" (battle of ladies). The time had come, he said, when every lady with a lot of money felt that she should have her own opera company. His reference was to three local troupes which had announced ambitious schedules at the beginning of the season: the Pennsylvania Grand Opera Company (president: Mrs. Houston Dunn) which succumbed with the stock-market crash in the fall; his own Philadelphia Civic Opera Company (president: Mrs. Henry M. Tracy) which had bravely survived six seasons; the Philadelphia Grand Opera CompanyPhiladelphia Grand Opera CompanyThe Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic...
(president: Mrs. Joseph Leidy)."
Notable singers
- Paul AlthousePaul AlthousePaul Shearer Althouse was an American opera singer. He began his career as a lyric tenor with a robust Italianate sound, excelling in roles like Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, and Turiddu. He later branched out into the dramatic tenor repertoire, finding particular success in portraying Wagnerian heroes...
- Georges BaklanoffGeorges BaklanoffGeorges Baklanoff was a Russian operatic baritone who had an active international career from 1903 until his death in 1938. Possessing a powerful and flexible voice, he sang roles from a wide variety of musical periods and in many languages...
- Julia ClaussenJulia ClaussenJulia Claussen was a Swedish mezzo-soprano.A native of Stockholm, Claussen was educated at the Royal Academy of Music in that city; she also studied at the Royal Academy in Berlin. She made her debut in La favorita in Stockholm on January 19, 1903, and remained with the Royal Swedish Opera for...
- Nelson EddyNelson EddyNelson Ackerman Eddy was an American singer and actor who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred...
- Anna FitziuAnna FitziuAnna Fitziu was an American soprano who had a prolific international opera career during the early part of the 20th century. Her signature roles included Fiora in L'amore dei tre re, Mimi in La Boheme, Nedda in Pagliacci, and the title roles in Isabeau, Madama Butterfly, and Tosca...
- Helen JepsonHelen JepsonHelen Jepson was an American lyric soprano noted for being a "stunning blond beauty" as well as for her voice....
- Aroldo LindiAroldo LindiAroldo Lindi, born Gustav Harald Lindau, was a Swedish operatic tenor who enjoyed an international career, appearing at La Scala and at Covent Garden from 1925...
- George RaselyGeorge RaselyGeorge Rasely was an American tenor who had an active career in operas, concerts, and musicals during the first half of the 20th century. He was also a frequent performer on American radio during 1920s through the 1940s. He won the National Music League singing competition in 1927 and the Walter W...
- Marie SundeliusMarie SundeliusMarie Sundelius was a Swedish-American classical soprano. She sang for many years with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and later embarked on a second career as a celebrated voice teacher in Boston....
- John Charles ThomasJohn Charles ThomasJohn Charles Thomas was a popular American opera, operetta and concert baritone.-Birth, schooling and stage debut:...