Earth and Space News: Myrtle Schaaf Sang in 54 Performances in Her Two Seasons at Met Opera

Summary: Myrtle Schaaf sang in 54 performances in two seasons at Met Opera, beginning with Bizet's Carmen in 1921 and ending with Wagner's Lohengrin in 1923.

American mezzo-soprano Myrtle Schaaf's Met Opera portfolio included Wagnerian roles as a Page in Lohengrin and Tannhäuser and as the Second Esquire in Parsifal; she closed her Met Opera portfolio Friday, April 20, 1923, with her performance as a Page in Lohengrin; undated photo of Bain News Service glass plate negative; George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington DC: No known restrictions on publication, via Library of Congress (LOC) Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

American mezzo-soprano Myrtle Schaaf sang in 54 performances in her two seasons at Met Opera, beginning with her debut in Bizet's Carmen in the 1921-1922 season and her last role, in Wagner's Lohengrin, in the 1922-1923 season.

She filled her Met Opera portfolio with 16 roles, one of which she created. In her first season, 1921-1922, she obtained 11 roles from 10 operas. In her second and last season, 1922-1923, she welcomed five more roles, including the role she created at the opera house.

Myrtle Schaaf made her Metropolitan Opera debut Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1921, as Mercédès in the opera house's 267th performance of Carmen by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875). Her debut, which happened in the first of the 1921-1922 season's 10 performances of Carmen, occurred at New York City's Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). She returned Saturday, Dec. 3, as Mercédès for the season's second Carmen performance, which took place at the Metropolitan Opera. She sang the role for one performance (Saturday, March 17, 1923) in the next season, 1922-1923.

She added Lohengrin by German Romantic era composer-librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883) as her Met Opera portfolio's second opera Wednesday, Nov. 16, 1921, the day after her Met Opera debut. She appeared as the Page in three additional performances (Saturday, Jan. 14, 1922; Monday, Jan. 30; Thursday, Feb. 16) in the 1921-1922 and two performances (Thursday, March 8, 1923; Friday, April 20) in the next season, 1922-1923. Her second Page performance in the 1922-1923 season marked her last Met Opera performance.

She added a Shepherd as her Met Opera portfolio's third role debut with her appearance Friday, Nov. 18, 1921, in the opera house's 157th performance of Tosca by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). She made three additional appearances (Saturday, Dec. 10; Wednesday, Dec. 21; Friday, March 3) as the Shepherd in the 1921-1922 season.

Myrtle Schaaf's fourth role occurred Monday, Nov. 21, 1921, as a Coal Gatherer in the opera house's ninth performance of Louise by French composer Gustave Charpentier (June 25, 1860-Feb. 18, 1956). She sang the role in four more performances (Friday, Dec. 30; Tuesday, Jan. 17; Wednesday, Feb. 8; Thursday, March 30) in the 1921-1922 season.

Her also acquired her fifth role in Louise. Her sole appearance as a Young Ragpicker occurred Tuesday, Dec. 6) in the opera's 10th performance at Met Opera.

She claimed the Second Esquire in Wagner's Parsifal as her sixth role with her appearance Friday, Dec. 9, 1921, in the opera's 95th performance at Met Opera. She added three performances (Monday, Jan. 2; Tuesday, April 11; Friday, April 14) as the Second Esquire in the 1921-1922 season and four performances (Friday, Dec. 8; New Year's Day, Monday, Jan. 1; Saturday, March 3, matinee; Friday, March 30).

Alcazar music hall singer Floriana numbered as Myrtle Schaaf's seventh Met Opera role. In the 1921-1922 season, she sang Floriana in three performances (Monday, Dec. 12; Monday, Dec. 26; Saturday, April 22) of Zazà by Italian opera composer and librettist Ruggero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857-Aug. 9, 1919).

Her eighth Met Opera role was as nurse Hua-Qui in L'Oracolo by Italian opera composer Franco Leoni (Oct. 24, 1864-Feb. 8, 1949). She sang Hua-Qui in the opera's 35th (Thursday, Dec. 15, 1921) and 38th (Saturday, April 29, 1922) performances. She closed her first season at Met Opera with her second performance as Hua-Qui.

Myrtle Schaaf obtained her ninth Met Opera role Friday, Jan. 20, 1922, as trouser-role Siebel in the opera house's 324th performance of Faust by 19th-century French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893). Her second appearance as Siebel occurred Friday, April 6, 1923, in her second season.

L'Amore dei Tre Re by Italian composer Italo Montemezzi (Aug. 4, 1875-May 15, 1952) provided Myrtle Schaaf's 10th Met Opera role. She sang the Shepherd in three performances (Thursday, Feb. 9; Saturday, April 15; Saturday, April 29) in her first season. As her second L'Amore dei Tre Re performance was staged as a double feature with L'Oracolo, she sang two roles in two operas on that date.

She added her 11th Met Opera role in her first season, 1921-1922. She sang the Solo Madrigalist Saturday, March 18, in the opera house's 56th performance of Puccini's Manon Lescaut. Her second season, 1922-1923, welcomed two performances (Saturday, Nov. 25; Monday, Dec. 11) as the Solo Madrigalist.

Rossweisse in Wagner's Die Walküre numbered as Myrtle Schaaf's 12th Met Opera role and as her portfolio's first role debut in the 1922-1923 seasont. She sang as the ninth Valkyrie in two performances (Tuesday, Jan. 9, 1923; Saturday, Jan. 27).

Myrtle Schaaf's 13th role claimed her first and only role creation at Met Opera. She created Mariquita in the Metropolitan Opera's United States premiere of Anima Allegra by Italian composer and conductor Franco Vittadini (April 9, 1884-Nov. 30, 1948). She sang Mariquita in all six performances of the opera's premiere season (Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1923; Friday, Feb. 23; Saturday, Feb. 27; Monday, March 5; Thursday, March 15; Saturday, April 7).

Rigoletto by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) provided Myrtle Schaaf's 14th Met Opera role. She sang Countess Ceprano, targeted for seduction by the lecherous Duke of Mantua, in two performances (Thursday, Feb. 15, 1923; Saturday, March 3) in the 1922-1923 season. She preceded her second appearance as Countess Ceprano with singing the Second Esquire in that day's matinee of Wagner's Parsifal.

She achieved her 15th Met Opera role as a Page in Wagner's Tannhäuser. Her only appearance in Tannhäuser took place Wednesday, Feb. 21, in the 1922-1923 season.

Kate Pinkerton, whose marriage devastates Cio-Cio-san, numbered as Myrtle Schaaf's 16th Met Opera role. She sang Kate in three performances (Saturday, Feb. 23; Wednesday, March 14; Thursday, March 22) in her second season, 1922-1923.

The second role in Myrtle Schaaf's Met Opera portfolio claimed the honor of her 54th and last Met Opera performance. Approximately 17 and one-fifth months after her first performance (Wednesday, Nov. 16, 1921) as the Page in Wagner's Lohengrin, she sang the role for her last Met Opera performance, Friday, April 20, 1923.

The takeaways for Myrtle Schaaf's 54 performances in two seasons at Met Opera are that the American mezzo-soprano filled her Met Opera portfolio with 16 roles from 15 operas; that her 16 roles included one role creation, as Mariquita in Franco Leoni's Anima Allegra; that twice in her two seasons at the opera house she made same-day appearances in two different operas; and that she revisited her second role, as a Page in Wagner's Lohengrin, for her last Met Opera performance.

According to the Thursday, Oct. 6, 1921, issue of Musical Courier (page 37), Met Opera mezzo-soprano Myrtle Schaaf drove from Buffalo to New York City in a Buick coupé in 1918 to pursue her musical ambition of signing with the Metropolitan Opera; undated image of Bain News Service glass plate negative; George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington DC: No known restrictions on publication, via Library of Congress (LOC) 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:

"Buffalo Girl in Metropolitan Opera Co. of N.Y." The Buffalo Enquirer, Monday, May 9, 1921: 7.
Available @ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21651815/the-buffalo-enquirer/

"Debut: Myrtle Schaaf." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 79010 Carmen {267} Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, Brooklyn: 11/15/1921.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=79010

"L'Oracolo." Opera Scotland > Listings > Browse All Operas.
Available @ http://www.operascotland.org/opera/671/Oracolo

Marriner, Derdriu. "Anima Allegra's 10th, Last Met Opera Performance Was March 28, 1924." Earth and Space News. Monday, May 3, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/05/anima-allegras-10th-last-met-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Myrtle Schaaf Debuted as Mercédès With Geraldine Farrar as Carmen." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 7, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/06/myrtle-schaaf-debuted-as-mercedes-with.html

"United States Premiere Anima Allegra." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 83240 United States Premiere Anima Allegra {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/14/1923.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=83240

Earth and Space News

Monday, June 14, 2021

Myrtle Schaaf Sang in 54 Performances in Her Two Seasons at Met Opera

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