Lillian Gärtner Palmedo Designed Costumes for Die Ägyptische Helena

Summary: Lillian Gärtner Palmedo designed costumes for Die Ägyptische Helena, Richard Strauss’s re-imagined Helen myth premiering in 1928 at Met Opera.

In addition to designing costumes for seven operas at the Metropolitan Opera, Lillian Gärtner Palmedo also designed murals; she also bred and showed boxers with her first husband, founding President of the American Boxer Club Harold Bolko Palmedo (Feb. 2, 1897-March 25, 1983), whom she married Jan. 18, 1930, and divorced in December 1942.
After marrying her second husband, Richard Christensen, she began a writing career as Lillian Langseth-Christensen; she was credited as a contributor to American chef, editor, food critic and writer Ruth Reichl's History in a Glass: Sixty Years of Wine Writing from Gourmet (2007) and in six issues of Gourmet: The Magazine of Good Living; she wrote 28 cookbooks and one memoir, A Design for Living: Vienna in the Twenties (1987).
image of Lillian examining fabric with large flower motif that she designed for the Samba Room in the SS Brazil (1938-1964), a refurbished US turbo-electric ocean liner originally named SS Virginia (1928-1938) ("Lillian Langseth-Christensen," American Artist magazine June 1949: Murals on the High Seas, via Facebook Oct. 4, 2021

Lillian Gärtner Palmedo designed costumes for Die Ägyptische Helena, a re-imagined Helen myth by German late Romantic and early modern composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949) that had its U.S. premiere Nov. 6, 1928, at the Metropolitan Opera.

Lillian Gärtner Palmedo’s costume designs for Die Ägyptische Helena’s U.S. premiere marked the American designer’s Metropolitan Opera debut. The Metropolitan Opera Archives Database entries for her debut and for all subsequent credits identify her as Lillian Gärtner Palmedo. On her design drawings for Die Ägyptische Helena (The Egyptian Helen), however, she prints her name as Lillian Gaertner Palmedo.

Viennese stage director Wilhelm von Wymetal Sr. (1862-Nov. 11, 1937) directed the U.S. premiere. The production’s set designer was Austrian American costume and scenic designer Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872-July 10, 1933).

Including Die Ägyptische Helena, Lillian Gärtner Palmedo created costumes for seven operas at the Metropolitan Opera. Including Die Ägyptische Helena, four of the operas opened as U.S. premieres at the Metropolitan Opera.

Die Ägyptische Helena was the third Strauss opera to have a U.S. premiere hosted by the Metropolitan Opera. Salome opened Jan. 22, 1907, as the Metropolitan Opera’s first U.S. premiered-Strauss opera. Der Rosenkavalier opened Dec. 9, 1913, as the second U.S. premiered-Strauss opera hosted by the Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera hosted the U.S. premiere of Jonny Spielt Auf by Ernst Krenek (Aug. 23, 1900-Dec. 22, 1991), an Austrian American composer and librettist of Czech origin. Wilhelm von Wymetal directed the production, with Joseph Urban as set designer, Lillian Gärtner Palmedo as costume designer and Czech ballet master and choreographer Augustin “August” Berger (Aug. 11, 1861-June 1, 1945) as choreographer.

The U.S. premiere of Schwanda, the Bagpiper by Austrian Romantic Era composer Franz von Suppé (April 18, 1819-May 21, 1895) took place Nov. 7, 1931, at the Metropolitan Opera. German theatre director Hanns Niedecken-Gebhard (Sept. 4, 1889-March 7, 1954) directed the production. His production team comprised Joseph Urban, set designer; Lillian Gärtner Palmedo, costume designer; and August Berger, choreographer.

The U.S. premiere of La Notte di Zoraima by Italian composer Italo Montemezzi (Aug. 4, 1875-May 15, 1952) happened Dec. 2, 1931, at the Metropolitan Opera. Russian opera and theatre director Alexander Sanine (April 15, 1869-May 8, 1956) directed the production, with Lillian Gärtner Palmedo as costume designer. Joseph Novak, the Metropolitan Opera’s chief scenic artist from 1910 to 1952, designed the production’s sets.

Three of the seven operas crediting Lillian Gärtner Palmedo as costume designer opened as Metropolitan Opera premieres. Joseph Urban collaborated on all three Metropolitan Opera premieres as set designer.

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Franz von Suppé’s Boccaccio took place Jan. 2, 1931. Wilhelm von Wymetal directed the production, with Joseph Urban as set designer and Lillian Gärtner Palmedo as costume designer.

Franz von Suppé’s Donna Juanita opened Jan. 2, 1932, as a Metropolitan Opera premiere. Hanns Niedecken-Gebhard directed. His production team comprised Joseph Urban, Lillian Gärtner Palmedo and August Berger.

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Richard Strauss’s Elektra took place Dec. 3, 1932. Alexander Sanine directed the production, with Joseph Urban as set designer and Lillian Gärtner Palmedo as costume designer. Elektra marks Lillian Gärtner Palmedo’s last active involvement in Met Opera costumes.

The last revival of Lillian Gärtner Palmedo’s costumes occurred during the 1961-1962 Met Opera season’s six performances of Strauss’s Elektra. The Metropolitan Opera Archives Database’s last crediting of Lillian Gärtner Palmedo as costume designer appears in the season’s sixth and last performance, March 16, 1962.

Lillian Gärtner Palmedo was considered as Joseph Urban’s protégé. Theater art consultant Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett notes on her theater blog, Drypigment.net, that Urban recognized Lillian’s artistic talent when she was 14 years old. He sent the young Manhattanite to Europe to study art with Austrian architect and designer Josef Hoffmann (Dec. 15, 1870-May 7, 1956) and Viennese designer, engraver and photographer Ferdinand Schmutzer (May 21, 1870-Oct. 26, 1928). In New York, Lillian studied with Joseph Urban and costume and set designer Emeline Clark Roche (1902-1995).

The takeaways for Lillian Gärtner Palmedo as costume designer for Richard Strauss’s Die Ägyptische Helena are that the Manhattan-born designer created costumes for four U.S. premieres (Die Ägyptische Helena; Jonny Spielt Auf; Schwanda, the Bagpiper; La Notte di Zoraima) and three Metropolitan Opera premieres (Boccaccio; Donna Juanita; Strauss’s Elektra) and that she collaborated with her mentor, Austrian American designer Joseph Urban, on six and with Joseph Novak on one (La Notte di Zoraima).

(left) Sicily-born American lyric soprano Santa Biondo (Dec. 3, 1892-Feb. 15, 1989) as Manuela and (right) American operatic dramatic soprano Rosa Ponselle (Jan. 22, 1897-May 25, 1981) in the title role of Zoraima in the U.S. premiere production of La Notte di Zoraima by Italian composer Italo Montemezzi (Aug. 4, 1875-May 15, 1952) at the Metropolitan Opera in December 1931; Lillian Gärtner Palmedo designed the premiere production's costumes for the fifth of seven operas in her Met Opera portfolio: Allan V. Lacki, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

In addition to designing costumes for seven operas at the Metropolitan Opera, Lillian Gärtner Palmedo also designed murals; she also bred and showed boxers with her first husband, founding President of the American Boxer Club Harold Bolko Palmedo (Feb. 2, 1897-March 25, 1983), whom she married Jan. 18, 1930, and divorced in December 1942.
After marrying her second husband, Richard Christensen, she began a writing career as Lillian Langseth-Christensen; she was credited as a contributor to American chef, editor, food critic and writer Ruth Reichl's History in a Glass: Sixty Years of Wine Writing from Gourmet (2007) and in six issues of Gourmet: The Magazine of Good Living; she wrote 28 cookbooks and one memoir, A Design for Living: Vienna in the Twenties (1987).
image of Lillian examining fabric with large flower motif that she designed for the Samba Room in the SS Brazil (1938-1964), a refurbished US turbo-electric ocean liner originally named SS Virginia (1928-1938) ("Lillian Langseth-Christensen," American Artist magazine June 1949: Murals on the High Seas, via Facebook Oct. 4, 2021, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4694452600587491&set=a.2186597691373007; via Facebook Oct. 4, 2021, @ https://www.facebook.com/MuralsontheHighSeas/photos/pb.100064321044377.-2207520000/4694452600587491/; via Facebook Oct. 4, 2021, @ https://www.facebook.com/MuralsontheHighSeas/posts/4694452600587491/;
"Harold Bolko Palmedo," From Prussia with Love @ https://fromprussiawithlove.org/getperson.php?personID=I234&tree=tree1;
"Lillian Langseth-Christensen (1908–1995)," LibraryThing > Author @ https://www.librarything.com/author/langsethchristensenl

(left) Sicily-born American lyric soprano Santa Biondo (Dec. 3, 1892-Feb. 15, 1989) as Manuela and (right) American operatic dramatic soprano Rosa Ponselle (Jan. 22, 1897-May 25, 1981) in the title role of Zoraima in the U.S. premiere production of La Notte di Zoraima by Italian composer Italo Montemezzi (Aug. 4, 1875-May 15, 1952) at the Metropolitan Opera in December 1931; Lillian Gärtner Palmedo designed the premiere production's costumes for the fifth of seven operas in her Met Opera portfolio: Allan V. Lacki, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_biondo_and_rosa_ponselle.jpg

For further information:

“Debut: Jane Carroll, Lillian Gärtner Palmedo.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 100100 United States Premiere Die Ägyptische Helena {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/6/1928.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=100100

Gonzalez, Juan-Pablo. “The Archivist’s Nook: Embodiment -- Becoming the Spectacle of the Opera.” The Catholic University of America > University Libraries > News & Events. Oct. 19, 2017.
Available @ https://www.lib.cua.edu/wordpress/newsevents/tag/joseph-novak/

"Harold Bolko Palmedo," From Prussia with Love: Family History of the Bloedel, Palmedo, Prentice and Weatherbee Families.
Available @ https://fromprussiawithlove.org/getperson.php?personID=I234&tree=tree1

Langseth-Christensen, Lillian (Gärtner Palmedo). A Design for Living: Vienna in the Twenties. New York NY: Viking Penguin Inc., 1987.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/designforliving00lang/

"Lillian Langseth-Christensen (1908–1995) Author of Gourmet's Old Vienna Cookbook: A Viennese Memoir," LibraryThing > Author.
Available @ https://www.librarything.com/author/langsethchristensenl

Marriner, Derdriu. “Joseph Urban Designed Sets for 10 Metropolitan Opera Premieres.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 13, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-10.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Joseph Urban Designed Sets for 14 U.S. Premieres at Met Opera.” Earth and Space News. Monday, July 23, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-14-us.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Joseph Urban Designed Sets for 29 New Productions at Met Opera.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-29-new.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Joseph Urban Designed Sets for Two World Premieres at Met Opera.” Earth and Space News. Monday, July 16, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-two.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Mar-a-Lago Architect Joseph Urban Also Designed Sets at Met Opera.” Earth and Space News. Monday, July 9, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/mar-lago-architect-joseph-urban-also.html

“Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Boccaccio.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 106900 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Boccaccio {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/2/1931.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=106900

“Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Donna Juanita.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 109790 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Donna Juanita {1} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 01/2/1932.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=109790

“Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Elektra.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 112150 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Elektra {1} Matinee Broadcast ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 12/3/1932.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=112150

“United States Premiere: Der Rosenkavalier.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 55260 United States Premiere Der Rosenkavalier {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/9/1913.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=55260

“United States Premiere: Jonny Spielt Auf.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 101110 United States Premiere Jonny Spielt Auf {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/19/1929.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=101110

“United States Premiere: La Notte di Zoraima.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 109390 United States Premiere (La Notte di Zoraima) La Notte di Zoraima {1} Pagliacci {301} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/2/1931.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=109390

“United States Premiere: Salome.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 38600 United States Premiere Special Performance Salome {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/22/1907.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=38600

“United States Premiere: Schwanda, the Bagpiper.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 109060 United States Premiere Schwanda, the Bagpiper {1} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 11/7/1931.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=109060

Waszut-Barrett, Wendy, PhD (waszut_barrett@me.com). “Historical Excerpt -- ‘Women in Scenic Art,’ Lillian Gaestner.” Drypigment.net > Archives > February 2017. Feb. 6, 2017.
Available @ http://drypigment.net/2017/02/06/historical-excerpt-women-in-scenic-art-part-2/