Kathleen Howard and Enrico Caruso Sang Together in Martha at Met Opera

Summary: Kathleen Howard and Enrico Caruso sang together in Martha at Met Opera, in the April 24, 1919, performance of Friedrich von Flotow's romantic comedy.

Enrico Caruso's caricature of Kathleen Howard, New York, Nov. 10, 1917; K. Howard, Confessions of an Opera Singer (1918), opposite page 260: Public Domain, via Project Gutenberg

Kathleen Howard and Enrico Caruso sang together in Martha at Met Opera, in the Thursday, April 24, 1919, performance of Friedrich von Flotow's romantic comedy of masquerades and mistaken identity.

The Metropolitan Opera had premiered Martha by German composer Friedrich von Flotow (April 27, 1812-Jan. 24, 1883) Friday, Jan. 4, 1884, as the 15th of the inaugural season's 20 operas. The four-act opera lirica (lyric opera) received six performances in the 1883-1884 season.

Martha received six performances in the 1918-1919 Met Opera season. The season's first five Martha performances (Saturday, Dec. 7, 1918; Monday, Dec. 30; Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1919; Friday, March 14; Thursday, March 27) took place at the opera house. The season's sixth, closing performance of von Flotow's opera, in which Howard and Caruso sang, was held at the Auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso (Feb. 25, 1873-Aug. 2, 1921) had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Nov. 23, 1903, as the Duke of Mantua in the opera house's 35th performance of Rigoletto by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). He had added the role of Martha's Lionel to his Met Opera portfolio in the opera's 23rd Met Opera performance, Friday, Feb. 9, 1906.

Enrico Caruso's appearance in the April 1919 performance with Kathleen Howard marked his 35th performance as Lionel at the Metropolitan Opera. His Met Opera portfolio achieved a total of 41 Lionel appearances with his singing Lionel in the six subsequent performances that were offered in the 1919-1920 season. He sang his 41st and last Met Opera Lionel Wednesday, April 21, 1920, in the opera house's 71st Martha performance.

American mezzo-soprano Kathleen Howard (July 27, 1884-April 15, 1956) had 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). Kathleen Howard's appearance Thursday, April 24, 1919, with Enrico Caruso in the opera house's 65th performance of Martha marked the addition of the role of Nancy to her Met Opera portfolio and the only co-appearance of Kathleen Howard with Enrico Caruso in a complete opera at the Metropolitan Opera.

Kathleen Howard added 17 more performances as Nancy to her Met Opera portfolio. She sang her 18th and last Met Opera Nancy on New Year's Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31, 1927, in the opera house's 85th performance of Martha.

As Lady Harriet and her masquerade of maid-for-hire Martha, Maria Barrientos sang opposite Kathleen Howard and Enrico Caruso. Lady Harriet's maid, Nancy, joins Lady Harriet's Martha as maid-for-hire Julia. Farmer Lionel's discovery of his noble parentage leads to his marriage with Lady Harriet and his foster brother Plunkett's marriage to Nancy.

María Alejandra Barrientos Llopis (March 4, 1884-Aug. 8, 1946) had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Jan. 31, 1916, in the title role in the opera house's 82nd performance of Lucia di Lammermoor by Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848). She added Lady Harriet/Martha to her Met Opera portfolio Friday, April 21, 1916, in the opera house's 48th performance of Martha.

The co-appearance of Maria Barrientos with Kathleen Howard and Enrico Caruso marked the Catalan coloratura soprano's ninth Martha performance at the Metropolitan Opera. Singing the last three (Tuesday, March 2, 1920; Thursday, March 25; Wednesday, April 21) of the season's six Martha performances gave her a total of 12 appearances as Lady Harriet/Martha at the Metropolitan Opera. Her 12th and last Met Opera Martha appearance took place in the same performance as Enrico Caruso's last Met Opera Lionel, the season's sixth, closing performance.

Adamo Didur's Plunkett joins Enrico Caruso's Lionel as dupes in Lady Harriet and Nancy's maid-for-hire masquerades. Adamo Didur (Dec. 24, 1874-Jan. 7, 1946) had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Nov. 14, 1908, as in the opera house's 256th performance of Faust by 19th-century French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

The Polish operatic bass added Plunkett to his Met Opera portfolio Monday, Dec. 13, 1909, in the opera house's 39th performance of Martha. His singing Plunkett with Kathleen Howard, Enrico Caruso and Maria Barrientos marked his 13th Plunkett performance at the Metropolitan Opera. Singing the role in six of the opera house's next 17 Martha performances gave Adamo Didur a total of 19 Plunkett appearances at the Metropolitan Opera. He sang his 19th and last Met Opera Plunkett Monday, Jan. 19, 1925, in the opera house's 82nd performance of Martha.

The takeaways for Kathleen Howard's singing with Enrico Caruso in Martha at Met Opera are that the American mezzo-soprano's first appearance as Martha's Nancy coincided with the Italian operatic tenor's 35th of 41 Met Opera appearances as Lionel; and that Kathleen Howard added 17 more appearances as Nancy after her first and only co-appearance with Enrico Caruso in a complete opera at the Metropolitan Opera.

Enrico Caruso as Martha's Lionel; official Met Opera photograph by Belgian-born American photographer Aimé Dupont (Dec. 6, 1841-Feb. 16, 1900), New York City NY; J.C. Haddon, Modern Musicians (1913), opposite page 128: 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:

Enrico Caruso's caricature of Kathleen Howard, New York, Nov. 10, 1917; K. Howard, Confessions of an Opera Singer (1918), opposite page 260: Public Domain, via Project Gutenberg @ https://gutenberg.org/files/32980/32980-h/images/ill_260.jpg

Enrico Caruso as Martha's Lionel; official Met Opera photograph by Belgian-born American photographer Aimé Dupont (Dec. 6, 1841-Feb. 16, 1900), New York City NY; J.C. Haddon, Modern Musicians (1913), opposite page 128: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enrico_Caruso_1873_-_1921.jpg

For further information:

"Debut: Frances Alda." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 42280 Rigoletto {59} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/7/1908.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=42280

"Debut: Beniamino Gigli." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 76130 New production Mefistofele {23} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/26/1920.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=76130

"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=25050

"Debut: Maria Barrientos." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356544 Lucia di Lammermoor {82} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/31/1916.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356544

"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: Enrico Caruso, Ellen Förnsen, Arturo Vigna, Karl Schroeder, Baruch & Co." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 32000 New production Rigoletto {35} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/23/1903. Opening Night {19} Heinrich Conried, General Manager.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=32000

Hadden, J. (James) Cutherbert. Modern Musicians; A Book for Players, Singers & Listeners. First edition October 1913; Reprinted July 1914, September 1918, October 1930. London & Edinburgh: T.N. Foulis; Boston MA: Le Roy Phillips; London & Edinburgh: T.N. Foulis.
Available from University of California Libraries via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/modernmusiciansb00haddiala/
Available from University of California Libraries via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/modernmusiciansb00haddrich/

Howard, Kathleen. Confessions of an Opera Singer. New York NY: Alfred A. Knopf, MCMXVIII (1918).
Available from University of California Libraries via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/confessionsofope00howarich
Available via Project Gutenberg @ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32980/32980-h/32980-h.htm#page_076

Marriner, Derdriu. "Kathleen Howard Began, Ended Met Opera Career as Boris Godunov's Nurse." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 21, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/06/kathleen-howard-began-ended-met-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Kathleen Howard Sang Amneris With Enrico Caruso in Verdi Festival." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 26, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/07/kathleen-howard-sang-amneris-with.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Kathleen Howard Sang Boris Godunov With Adamo Didur and Fyodor Chaliapin." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 28, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/06/kathleen-howard-sang-boris-godunov-with.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Martha Opened Jan. 4, 1884, as 15th Opera in Met Opera’s First Season." Earth and Space News. Monday, Dec. 28, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/01/martha-opened-jan-4-1884-as-15th-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Scotti, Sembrich, Caruso, Homer Sang Last Rigoletto Together April 1905." Earth and Space News. Monday, April 5, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/04/scotti-sembrich-caruso-homer-sang-last.html

"Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Martha." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1540 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Martha {1} Boston Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts: 01/4/1884.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1540

Opera Areas. "Nancy From Martha." Opera Arias > All Opera Composers > Friedrich von Flotow > Martha > Roles in Martha.
Available @ https://www.opera-arias.com/flotow/martha/roles/nancy/

Rous, Samuel Holland. Victrola Book of Opera. Fifth revised edition. Camden NJ: Victor Talking Machine Company, 1919.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/5thvictrolaopera00rousuoft/