Kathleen Howard Sang Meg Page to Antonio Scotti's Falstaff at Met Opera

Summary: American mezzo-soprano Kathleen Howard sang Meg Page to Antonio Scotti's Falstaff at Met Opera in 20 performances distributed over three seasons.

Kathleen Howard's repertoire, first in Europe and then at the Metropolitan Opera, included singing Meg Page in Verdi's Falstaff; in Europe, she also sang Frau Reich, Meg Page's equivalent in Otto Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor); undated photo from Bain News Service glass 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 Kathleen Howard sang Meg Page to Antonio Scotti's Falstaff at Met Opera in 20 performances that were presented over three successive seasons, from the 1924-1925 season through the 1926-1927 season.

The United States premiere of Falstaff by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) took place Monday, Feb. 4, 1895, at the Metropolitan Opera. Verdi's three-act comic opera, based upon The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV Part I and Part II by Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare (bapt. April 26, 1564-April 23, 1616), received 12 performances in the 1894-1895 season.

For the 1924-1925 season, the Metropolitan Opera replaced the 1908-1909 season's new staging of Falstaff with a new production. Wilhelm von Wymetal (1862-Nov. 11, 1937) directed the new production. The Viennese stage director had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Nov. 17, 1922, in the opera house's 28th performance of Der Rosenkavalier by German composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949).

Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872-July 10, 1933) designed the new production's sets. The Austrian American scenic designer had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Nov. 17, 1917, in the opera house's 294th performance of Faust by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

The production's costumes were designed by Joseph's daughter, Gretel Urban (Jan. 7, 1898-Dec. 6, 1997), and German designer Adolfo Hohenstein (March 18, 1854-April 12, 1928). Gretel had made her Met Opera debut Thursday, Dec. 23, 1920, in the opera house's premiere of Verdi's Don Carlo. Adolfo Hohenstein had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Jan. 22, 1910, in the opera house's United States premiere of Germania by Italian opera composer Alberto Franchetti (Sept. 18, 1860-Aug. 4, 1942).

The production's choreographer was Czech ballet master, choreographer and dancer Augustin “August” Berger (Aug. 11, 1861-June 1, 1945) was credited as the production’s choreographer. The Czech ballet master, choreographer and dancer had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Jan. 5, 1923, in the opera house's 15th performance of Guillaume Tell by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

Tullio Serafin (Sept. 1, 1878-Feb. 2, 1968) conducted Falstaff's United States premiere. The Italian operatic conductor had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Nov. 3, 1924, in the opera house's 294th performance of Verdi's Aida.

The 1924-1925 season's new Falstaff production received 11 performances. The opera house was the venue for the first (Friday, Jan. 2, 1925), third (Saturday, Jan. 17), fifh (Wednesday, Feb. 18), seventh (Thursday, Feb. 26) and eighth (Saturday, March 7) performances. The second performance (Tuesday, Jan. 6) was held at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The sixth performance (Tuesday, Feb. 24) took place at New York City's Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The last three performances (Tuesday, April 21; Thursday, April 30; Wednesday, May 6) were given, respectively, at the Auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia; the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio; and the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York.

Kathleen Howard (July 27, 1884-April 15, 1956) added Falstaff's Meg Page to her Met Opera portfolio in the 1924-1925 season's new production. She 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). Her debut happened at New York City's Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).

She sang Meg Page in 10 of the season's 11 performances. She appeared in the debut, second, third and fifth through 11th, closing performances.

Kathleen Howard sang Meg Page to Antonio Scotti (Jan. 25, 1866-Feb. 26, 1936) in the title role in all 11 of her 1924-1925 season appearances. The Italian baritone had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Nov. 15, 1899, as the Count de Nevers in the opera house's 78th performance of Les Huguenots by German Jewish opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer (Sept. 5, 1791-May 2, 1864).

Antonio Scotti had added Falstaff to his Met Opera portfolio Tuesday, March 16, 1909, in the opera house's 23rd Falstaff performance. His impersonation of the role qualified him as Met Opera's second Falstaff. He succeed Victor Maurel (June 17, 1848-Oct. 22, 1923), who had created Met Opera's Falstaff in the opera's United States premiere. The French operatic baritone had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Dec. 3, 1894, as Iago in the opera house's third performance of Verdi's Otello.

Antonio Scotti's first singing of Falstaff occurred in the 1908-1909 season's debut of a new production by Jules Speck, Met Opera's stage manager for French and Italian operas from 1908 to 1917. Speck had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Nov. 14, 1908, in the opera house's 256th performance of Gounod's Faust.

Falstaff received six performances in the next season, 1925-1926. The opera house was the venue for all six performances (Saturday, Nov. 14, 1925; Friday, Dec. 11; Monday, Dec. 28; Saturday, Jan. 23, 1926; Wednesday, Feb. 24; Thursday, March 18).

Kathleen Howard sang Meg Page to Antonio Scotti's Falstaff in all six performances. Tullio Serafin returned as conductor for the first and third through sixth performances.

Giuseppe Bamboschek (June 12, 1890-June 24, 1969) conducted the season's second Falstaff performance. The Italian-American opera conductor and pianist had made his Met Opera conducting debut Saturday, Dec. 20, 1919, in the opera house's 311th performance of Gounod's Faust.

The following season, 1926-1927, offered five Falstaff performances. The opera house was the venue for the first four performances (Saturday, Dec. 4, 1926; Monday, Dec. 27; Saturday, Jan. 15, 1927; Wednesday, Feb. 2). The fifth, closing performance (Tuesday, March 15) was held at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Kathleen Howard shared the first four performances with Tullio Serafin as conductor and Antonio Scotti as Falstaff. The fourth performance (Wednesday, Feb. 2, 1927), which numbered as the opera house's 53rd Falstaff performance, marked Kathleen Howard's 20th and last Meg Page impersonation at the Metropolitan Opera.

The fifth performance (Tuesday, March 15), in which Kathleen Howard did not appear, numbered as Antonio Scotti's last singing of Falstaff at the Metropolitan Opera. He had sung Falstaff in 32 successive performances distributed over six seasons (1908-1909 through 1910-1911; 1924-1925 through 1926-1927).

The takeaways for Kathleen Howard's singing Meg Page to Antonio Scotti's Falstaff at Met Opera are that the mezzo-soprano's first appearance as Meg numbered as Antonio Scotti's 11th appearance as Met Opera's second Falstaff; that Kathleen Howard made 20 appearances as Meg Page; that she shared all 20 performances with Antonio Scotti, 19 performances with conductor Tullio Serafin and one performance with conductor Giuseppe Bamboschek; and that Kathleen Howard and Antonio Scotti retired the roles from their respective Met Opera portfolios in their last shared season, 1926-1927.

As Met Opera's second Falstaff, Antonio Scotti made 32 appearances, distributed over six seasons, with his first three seasons (1908-1909 through 1910-1911) in Jules Speck's production and his last three seasons (1924-1925 through 1926-1927) in Wilhelm von Wymetal's new production; image of Antonio Scotti as Falstaff by Georg Gerlach & Company, real photo card publisher and printer based in Berlin, Germany, in S.H. Rous, Victrola Book of Opera (1917), page 122: 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:

Kathleen Howard's repertoire, first in Europe and then at the Metropolitan Opera, included singing Meg Page in Verdi's Falstaff; in Europe, she also sang Frau Reich, Meg Page's equivalent in Otto Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor); undated photo from Bain News Service glass 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) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014681081/; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kathleen_Howard.jpg

As Met Opera's second Falstaff, Antonio Scotti made 32 appearances, distributed over six seasons, with his first three seasons (1908-1909 through 1910-1911) in Jules Speck's production and his last three seasons (1924-1925 through 1926-1927) in Wilhelm von Wymetal's new production; image of Antonio Scotti as Falstaff by Georg Gerlach & Company, real photo card publisher and printer based in Berlin, Germany, in S.H. Rous, Victrola Book of Opera (1917), page 122: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verdi_-_Falstaff_-_Antonio_Scotti_as_Falstaff_-_The_Victrola_book_of_the_opera.jpg; via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/victrolabookofop00vict/page/122/mode/1up

For further information:

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"Debut: Victor Maurel." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 13480 New production Otello {3} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/3/1894.
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"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: Angela Gorman, Norman Bel Geddes, Ottokar Bartik, Giuseppe Bamboschek (Stage Debut)." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 68550 World Premiere (The Robin Woman: Shanewis) World Premiere (The Dance in Place Congo) The Robin Woman: Shanewis {1} The Dance in Place Congo {1} L'Oracolo {14} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 03/23/1918. (World Premiere).
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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=82700

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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=48500

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/06/kathleen-howard-sang-boris-godunov-with.html

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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=43620

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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=88800

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