Geraldine Farrar: Opera's Charismatic Innovator

195 Pages·2012·4.531 MB·English

by  Elizabeth Nash

GERALDINE FARRAR
Second Edition

G F
ERALDINE ARRAR
Opera’s Charismatic Innovator
Second Edition
Elizabeth Nash
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
Frontispiece: Geraldine Farrar as Madama Butterfly,1916.
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Nash, Elizabeth, 1934–
Geraldine Farrar : opera’s charismatic innovator /
Elizabeth Nash — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-7067-9
softcover : acid free paper
1. Farrar, Geraldine, 1882–1967. 2. Sopranos (Singers)—
United States—Biography. I. Title.
ML420.F27N43 2012
782.1092
[B] 2012028614
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2012 Elizabeth Nash. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: Geraldine Farrar portrays Joan of Arc as woman
and soldier in Joan the Woman(1917), Cecil B. DeMille’s first
historical film.
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Je›erson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
With love and gratitude
to my mother and father,
Renee H. and Allan B. Nash,
for their unfailing support,
faith and encouragement
Acknowledgments
I am deeply grateful to the late Professor Emerita Camilla Williams of
the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, for sharing her knowledge
of Miss Farrar, which revealed fascinating aspects of her life unknown to me
at the time of this book’s first publication in 1981. Professor Williams became
a good friend and wise counselor to me as Miss Farrar was to her. On January
29, 2012, she passed away at her home in Bloomington, Indiana.
For their generous assistance, I am much indebted to the late Dr. Oscar
G. Brockett, University of Texas, Austin; to the late Edward N. Waters, Music
Division chief of the Library of Congress; to Dr. James Norwood for his
meticulous reading of the manuscript, suggestions and encouragement; to
Reed Munson for his computer expertise; and to John Bishop for his photo-
graphic ingenuity.
My grateful thanks is extended to Curtis Licensing for permission to
reprint copyright material from “Coming Back and Looking Back” story ©
SEPS licensed by Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved.
vi
Contents
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CHAPTER ONE
The Early Years, 1882–1906 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
CHAPTER TWO
At the Metropolitan Opera, 1906–1908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
CHAPTER THREE
At the Metropolitan Opera, 1908–1915. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
CHAPTER FOUR
Hollywood, 1915–1920. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
CHAPTER FIVE
At the Metropolitan Opera, 1916–1922. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
CHAPTER SIX
The Transition Years, 1922–1935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
CHAPTER SEVEN
Retirement, 1935–1967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Appendix 1: Theory and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Appendix 2: “The Art of Acting in the Movies Requires a Technique
Unlike That of the Operatic Stage,” by Geraldine Farrar . . . . . . . . . 143
Appendix 3: Conversations on Geraldine Farrar with Camilla Williams,
1995–2011. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
vii
viii Contents
Appendix 4: Operatic Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Appendix 5: Silent Films. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Appendix 6: Select Discography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Appendix 7: Select Radio Broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Select Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Preface
“They may come and they may go but there is only one Geraldine Farrar
to remain in the heart of the world.”1Thus the theatrical director and producer
David Belasco spoke of the American prima donna who was the Metropolitan
Opera’s most popular and glamorous diva from 1906 until 1922.
Her operatic impersonations united the arts of the singer and of the
actress. Convinced that music must always serve the drama, this magnetic
sing ing actress often sacrificed tonal beauty to dramatic effect. Nevertheless
Farrar was a superb singer, possessing a beautiful lyric soprano voice, as
evidenced in her numerous phonograph recordings.
During her sixteen-year reign at the Metropolitan, she performed 493
times in twenty- nine roles, the most popular of which were Giacomo Puc-
cini’s Madama Butterfly and Tosca, Engelbert Humperdinck’s Goose Girl,
Georges Bizet’s Carmen and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Zazà. Her acting was
noted for its intensity and realism. In 1906 she worked with the Japanese
actress Fu- ji-K o on Madama Butterfly which she created at the Metropolitan.
In 1909 she studied Tosca with Sarah Bernhardt for whom the role was writ-
ten. In 1920 she was directed by David Belasco as Zazà.
The renowned tenor Enrico Caruso was her frequent partner, guaran-
teeing sold- out houses. They were the most dynamic duo in the annals of
the Metropolitan Opera. Aside from her popularity with the general operatic
public, Miss Farrar developed a large following of devoted young women
known as the Gerryflappers who attended all of her performances. Her fare -
well appearance at the Metropolitan aroused a frenzy of excitement conclud-
ing with a parade up Broadway to her home with cheering fans marching
behind her fl ower-b edecked open touring car. Never before or since has there
been such adoration for an American opera star. She was and remains Amer-
ica’s first lady of opera.
Aside from her opera performances and concert tours, Geraldine Farrar
was a star of the silent screen. From 1915 to 1920, she made fourteen films
1