Tosca's Last Two Acts Jan. 12, 1910, Aired as First Met Broadcast

Summary: Tosca's last two acts Jan. 12, 1910, aired as the first Met broadcast of a Met Opera presentation that was heard live, as the performance occurred.

The first Met broadcast, which took place Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1910, featured Swedish-American dramatic soprano Olive Fremsted in the title role of Puccini's Tosca: DIVAMuseum @hautehistory, via Twitter March 4, 2018

Tosca's last two acts Jan. 12, 1910, aired as the first Met broadcast of a Met Opera presentation that was transmitted live, immediately as the performance was taking place.

The Metropolitan Opera Archives Database (MetOpera Database) credits American inventor and radio pioneer Lee de Forest (Aug. 26, 1873-June 30, 1961) with transmitting the first broadcast of a live Met Opera performance with his Wednesday evening broadcast of the last two acts of Tosca by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). A rooftop transmitter, erected at the opera house by the American inventor and radio pioneer, had relayed to wireless installations a signal that was then audible, via land lines, by telephone receivers. The broadcast's listeners numbered "a few hundred," with Newark, New Jersey, as the broadcast's most distant reach.

Tosca received 15 performances in the 1909-1910 season. The 1909-1910 season's opening performance of Tosca took place Monday, Nov. 22, 1909, at the Metropolitan Opera House. The second through fourth on-tour performances occurred Monday, Nov. 29, at New York City's Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM); Friday, Dec. 3, at the Lyric Theater in Baltimore, Maryland; and Tuesday, Dec. 7, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Metropolitan Opera House was the venue for the fifth through eighth performances (Saturday, Dec. 1; Friday, Dec. 17; Thursday, Dec. 30; Wednesday, Jan. 12). The ninth performance took place Friday, Jan. 14, in Boston, Massachusetts. The Metropolitan Opera House was the venue for the 10th performance, Saturday, Feb. 19. The 11th through 15th, closing performances were staged, on tour, Tuesday, March 22, at Manhattan's New Theater; Saturday, April 2, in Boston, Massachusetts; Friday, April 8, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Monday, April 25, in Chicago, Illinois; and Wednesday, May 4, at the Auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia.

The first Met broadcast took place during the season's eighth Tosca performance. The Wednesday, Jan. 12, presentation numbered as the opera house's 66th Tosca performance.

Egisto Tango (Nov. 13, 1873-Oct. 5, 1951) conducted the first Met broadcast's performance. The Italian conductor had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1909, in the opera house's fourth performance of Werther by French Romantic Era composer Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912).

The production's director was Jules Speck, Met Opera's stage manager for French and Italian operas from 1908 to 1917. The French stage manager had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Nov. 14, 1908, in the opera house's 256th performance of Faust by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

Olive Fremstad (March 14, 1871-April 21, 1951), stage name of Anna Olivia Rundquist, sang the first Met broadcast's title role. The Swedish-American dramatic soprano had made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Nov. 25, 1903, as Sieglinde in the opera house's 96th performance of Die Walküre by German Romantic era composer-librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Riccardo Martin (Nov. 18, 1874-Aug. 11, 1952) was the first Met broadcast's Cavaradossi. The American tenor had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Nov. 20, 1907, as Faust in the opera house's 15th performance of Mefistofele by Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito (Feb. 24, 1842-June 10, 1918).

Pasquale Amato (March 21, 1878-Aug. 12, 1942) sang the first Met broadcast's Scarpia. The Italian operatic baritone had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Nov. 20, 1908, as Germont in the opera house's 67th performance of La Traviata by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Leo Devaux (Jan. 21, 1872-1951) was the first Met broadcast's Spoletta. The French tenor had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1909, as Schmidt in the opera house's fourth performance of Massenet's Werther.

Bernard Bégué sang the first Met broadcast's Sciarrone. The French baritone had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Nov. 24, 1902, as the Herald in the opera house's 20th performance of Verdi's Otello.

Florence Wickham (1880-Oct. 20, 1962) was the first Met broadcast's trouser role of the Shepherd. The American mezzo-soprano had made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1909, as Emilia in the opera house's 24th performance of Verdi's Otello.

Edoardo Missiano (?-December 1911) sang the first Met broadcast's Jailer. The Italian baritone had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1908, as the Sergeant in the opera house's 64th performance of Puccini's La Bohème.

The first Met broadcast was followed immediately by the second Met broadcast. The next day, Thursday, Jan. 13, 1910, the opera house's double-billed Cav Pag, Cavalleria Rusticana by Italian operatic composer Pietro Mascagni (Dec. 7, 1863-Aug. 2, 1945) and Pagliacci by Italian opera composer and librettist Ruggero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857-Aug. 9, 1919) were aired as the second Met broadcast.

The Metropolitan Opera House hosted the United States premiere of Puccini's Tosca Monday, Feb. 4, 1901. The opera received seven performances during its premiere season.

The takeaways for airing Tosca's last two acts Jan. 12, 1910, as the first Met broadcast are that the first Met broadcast was engineered by American inventor and radio pioneer Lee de Forest; that the first Met broadcast's audience numbered "a few hundred"; that the first Met broadcast's most distant reach was Newark, New Jersey; and that the second Met broadcast, which took place the following day, Thursday, Jan. 13, presented the opera house's double-billed CavPag, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

American inventor and radio pioneer Lee de Forest is credited with engineering the first Met broadcast, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1910, which transmitted Tosca's last two acts to an audience of a few hundred, with Newark, New Jersey, as the most distant reach; photo of Lee de Forest, presented in 1910 to Ignatius Hubert McCarty (July 30, 1891–Jan. 10, 1970) of McCarty Wireless Telephone Systems, in California Historical Radio Society's collection of The Society of Wireless Pioneers (SOWP) papers: Lee de Forest: King of Radio, Television, and Film, via Facebook Aug. 26, 2018

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

The first Met broadcast, which took place Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1910, featured Swedish-American dramatic soprano Olive Fremsted in the title role of Puccini's Tosca: DIVAMuseum @hautehistory, via Twitter March 4, 2018, @ https://twitter.com/hautehistory/status/970480570798149632

American inventor and radio pioneer Lee de Forest is credited with engineering the first Met broadcast, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1910, which transmitted Tosca's last two acts to an audience of a few hundred, with Newark, New Jersey, as the most distant reach; photo of Lee de Forest, presented in 1910 to Ignatius Hubert McCarty (July 30, 1891–Jan. 10, 1970) of McCarty Wireless Telephone Systems, in California Historical Radio Society's collection of The Society of Wireless Pioneers (SOWP) papers: Lee de Forest: King of Radio, Television, and Film, via Facebook Aug. 26, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/144784125605950/photos/a.152718708145825/1872972382787107/

For further information:

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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=40010

"Debuts: Edmond Clément, Dinh Gilly, Alma Gluck, Leo Devaux, Else Michaelis, Ruth Smith, Henriette Moss, Anne Smith, Egisto Tango, Kurt Stern." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 45060 New production Werther {4} New York, Manhattan, New Theatre: 11/16/1909.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=45060

"Debuts: Ernst Kraus, Olive Fremstad, Lillian Heidelbach, Johanna Pöhlmann, Paula Ralph, Josephine Jacoby, Marcia Van Dresser, Felix Mottl, Anton Fuchs, Max Brückner, Obronsky, Impekoven & Co." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 32010 New production Die Walküre {96} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/25/1903.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=32010

"Debuts: Isabelle L'Huillier, Concetto Paterna, Edoardo Missiano." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 42020 La Bohème {64} Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 11/17/1908.
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Available @ https://twitter.com/hautehistory/status/970480570798149632

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