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).
The opera house officially opened on November 17, 1908 with a production of
Georges Bizet's
Carmen
for the opening of the POC's first season. The cast included
Maria Labia in the title role,
Charles Dalmorès as Don José,
Andrés de Segurola as Escamillo,
Alice Zeppilli as Micaëla, and
Cleofonte Campanini conducting. At that time the Philadelphia Opera House was the largest theater of its kind in the world, seating more than 4,000 people. The POC continued to use the house for their productions through March of 1910. The company's last performance at the house was of
Giuseppe Verdi's
Rigoletto
of March 23, 1910 with
Giovanni Polese in the title role,
Lalla Miranda as Gilda,
Orville Harrold as the Duke of Mantua, and
Giuseppe Sturani conducting.
[1]
On April 26, 1910,
Arthur Hammerstein, with his father’s power of attorney, sold the Philadelphia Opera House to the
Metropolitan Opera. The theater was renamed the Metropolitan Opera House at this time. The Met, which had frequently toured to Philadelphia annually with performances at the
Academy of Music, had been the POC's biggest competition for opera audiences. In spite of two sold-out seasons of grand opera for the POC, Hammerstein ran into debt and had to sell his highly popular opera house to his competitor.
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.
[2] 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.
[3]
References
- Free Library of Philadelphia: ''Folder: Philadelphia Opera Company 1908-1910''
- Sylvan Levin, 93; Championed Music In Philadelphia
- Free Library of Philadelphia: ''Folder: Philadelphia Opera Company 1938-1944''