Kathleen Howard Sang Boris Godunov With Adamo Didur and Fyodor Chaliapin

Summary: American mezzo-soprano Kathleen Howard sang in Boris Godunov with Adamo Didur and Fyodor Chaliapin, the opera house's first two Boris Godunovs.

Portrait of Fyodor Chaliapin in the Role of Boris Godunov, 1912 oil on canvas by Alexander Golovine depicts Chaliapin in costume designed for 1908 Paris premiere; Met Opera purchased the Paris production's costumes and sets for the opera house's United States premiere of Boris Godunov in 1913; Level 1, Room 41, The State Russian Museum, Mikhailovsky Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia: RgF2CTCpHmv-Lw at Google Cultural Institute, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

American mezzo-soprano Kathleen Howard sang in Boris Godunov with Adamo Didur and Fyodor Chaliapin, Met Opera's first two Boris Godunovs, who influenced the title role's earliest portrayal, for 17 seasons, with their exclusive appearances in nine and eight seasons, respectively, and overlap in one season.

Kathleen Howard (July 27, 1884-April 15, 1956) made her Metropolitan Opera debut Tuesday, Nov. 14, 1916, as the Nurse in the opera house's 27th performance of Boris Godunov by Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (March 21, 1839-March 28, 1881). Her debut took place at New York City's Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).

The opera's United States premiere had taken place Wednesday, March 19, 1913, with Adamo Didur (Dec. 24, 1874-Jan. 7, 1946) as the title role's creator at Metropolitan Opera. The Polish operatic bass had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Nov. 14, 1908, as Méphistophélès in the opera house's 256th performance of Faust by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

Kathleen Howard's Met Opera debut marked Adamo Didur's 27th appearance in the title role. He sang the title role in the opera's first 48 performances, which were distributed over nine successive seasons, from the premiere's 1912-1913 season to the 1920-1921 season.

Fyodor Chaliapin (Feb. 13, 1873-April 12, 1938) succeeded Adamo Didur as Met Opera's second Boris Godunov in the 1921-1922 season. The Russian operatic bass had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Nov. 20, 1907, in the title role in the opera house's 15th performance of Mefistofele by Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito (Feb. 24, 1842-June 10, 1918).

Chaliapin sang the title role for the opera house's next 21 performances. The historical opera's 49th to 69th Met Opera performances were distributed over four successive seasons, from the 1921-1922 season to the 1924-1925 season.

Met Opera's 1924-1925 season offered six performances of Boris Godunov. Fyodor Chaliapin sang in the season's first three performances (#67 Thursday, Nov. 6, 1924; #68 Wednesday, Nov. 19; #69 Saturday, Nov. 29) as his 19th through 21st appearances in the title role.

Adamo Didur reprised the title role in the season's fourth performance (#70 Saturday, Feb. 21, 1925). His reprisal tallied as his 49th and last appearance as Boris Godunov at the Metropolitan Opera.

Adamo Didur's last Met Opera performance occurred almost seven years later, on Thursday, Feb. 11, 1932, as Coppélius in the opera house's 47th performance of Les Contes d'Hoffmann by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach (June 20, 1819-Oct. 5, 1880). He had created the role for the opera's Metropolitan Opera premiere, Saturday, Jan. 11, 1913, only two months before his Wednesday, March 19, creation of Met Opera's Boris Godunov.

Fyodor Chaliapin returned in the title role for the season's fifth and sixth performances (Wednesday, April 15; Thursday, May 7). The season's last two performances numbered as the opera house's 71st and 72nd performances of Boris Godunov.

Chaliapin then continued as Met Opera's second Boris Godunov for the opera house's next 15 performances of Mussorgsky's historical opera. Met Opera's 73rd through 87th performances of Boris Godunov were distributed over the next four seasons, from the 1925-1926 season to the 1928-1929 season.

The 1928-1929 season numbered as Chaliapin's eighth and last season in the title role. The opera's 17th successive season at Met Opera featured three performances (Monday, March 4, 1929; Tuesday, March 12; Thursday, March 14). The opera house's 85th through 87th performances of Boris Godunov numbered as the last three of Chaliapin's 38 appearances in the role. He made his 38th and last appearance as Met Opera's second Boris Godunov on Thursday, March 14, 1929.

Fyodor Chaliapin's last Met Opera performance occurred only six days later. On Wednesday, March 20, he sang Méphistophélès in the opera house's 372nd performance of Gounod's Faust.

Kathleen Howard's Met Opera portfolio included 37 appearances as the Nurse in Boris Godunov. She sang the Nurse to Adamo Didur's Boris in 13 of the 22 performances that the opera received in the five seasons, 1916-1917 season to 1920-1921 season, distinguished by Kathleen Howard's debut and Adamo Didur's 48th Boris appearance. Her 14th and last overlap with Didur's Boris occurred with his solitary reprisal for the fourth of the 1924-1925 season's six performances.

Kathleen Howard sang the Nurse to Fyodor Chaliapin's Boris in 23 of the 36 performances that the opera received in the seven seasons, 1921-1922 season to 1927-1928 season, demarcated by Chaliapin's assumption of the title role and Howard's last Met Opera performance. Her 23rd and last overlap with Chaliapin's Boris marked her 37th and last appearance as the opera's nurse, Chaliapin's 33rd appearance as the opera house's second Boris, Met Opera's 82nd performance of Boris Godunov and Howard's last Met Opera performance.

The Metropolitan Opera's United States premiere of Boris Godunov was sung in Italian, not in the original Russian. An Italian libretto prevailed at the opera house for the opera's first 116 performances, from Wednesday, March 19, 1913, to Friday, May 16, 1947. The only two exceptions occurred during Fyodor Chaliapin's tenure as Met Opera's second Boris and Alexander Kipnis's four performances in the 1942-1943 season as Met Opera's fourth Boris. Chaliapin sang in Russian while all other cast members and the chorus adhered to the Italian libretto, according to the Metropolitan Opera website's post, "From the Archives: Boris Godunov at the Met," by Peter Clark, the Met's Director of Archives. Consequently, Kathleen Howard experienced an all-Italian opera in her 14 overlaps with Adamo Didur and a mixture of Chaliapin's Russian with everyone else's Italian in her 23 overlaps with Fyodor Chaliapin.

The takeaways for Kathleen Howard singing Boris Godunov with Adamo Didur and Fyodor Chaliapin are that the American mezzo-soprano overlapped with the Metropolitan Opera's first two Boris Godunovs; that 14 of her 37 appearances as the historical opera's Nurse coincided with the opera house's first Boris Godunov, Adamo Didur; that 23 of her 37 Nurse appearances occurred with the opera house's second Boris Godunov, Fyodor Chaliapin; that the opera was staged with an Italian libretto, but that Chaliapin sang his role in Russian; and that Kathleen Howard's 37th and last performance as the Nurse marked her last Met Opera performance, Fyodor Chaliapin's 33rd of 38 Boris performances and Met Opera's 82nd performance of Boris Godunov.

Polish operatic bass Adamo Didur created the title role Wednesday, March 19, 1913, in the Metropolitan Opera's United States premiere of Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov; Bain News Service 1913 negative glass photo of Adamo Didur as Boris Godunov; George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington DC: No known restrictions on publication, via Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Russian operatic bass Fyodor Chaliapin sang for eight seasons as Met Opera's second Boris Godunov; Portrait of Fyodor Chaliapin in the Role of Boris Godunov, 1912 oil on canvas by Alexander Golovine depicts Chaliapin in costume designed for 1908 Paris premiere; Met Opera purchased the Paris production's costumes and sets for the opera house's United States premiere of Boris Godunov in 1913; Level 1, Room 41, The State Russian Museum, Mikhailovsky Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia: RgF2CTCpHmv-Lw at Google Cultural Institute, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_Golovin_-_Portrait_of_Fyodor_Chaliapin_in_the_Role_of_Boris_Godunov_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Polish operatic bass Adamo Didur created the title role Wednesday, March 19, 1913, in the Metropolitan Opera's United States premiere of Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov; Bain News Service 1913 negative glass photo of Adamo Didur as Boris Godunov; George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington DC: No known restrictions on publication, via Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014692015/

For further information:

Clark, Peter. "From the Archives: Boris Godunov at the Met." The Metropolitan Opera > Discover > Articles.
Available @ https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/articles/from-the-archives-boris-godunov-at-the-met/

"Debuts: Adamo Didur, Jean Noté, Paolo Ananian, Francesco Spetrino, Jules Speck." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 42000 Faust {256} Academy of Music, New York, Brooklyn: 11/14/1908.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=42000

"Debuts: Anne Girerd, Fyodor Chaliapin, Riccardo Martin, Giuseppe Tecchi, A. Edel." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 40010 New production Mefistofele {15} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/20/1907.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=40010

"Debut: Kathleen Howard." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 64010 Boris Godunov {27} Academy of Music, New York, Brooklyn: 11/14/1916.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=64010

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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=54660

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