The Boston Opera House was an
opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...
located on
Huntington Avenue in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts. It opened in as the home of the
Boston Opera Company
The Boston Opera Company (BOC) was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts, that was active from 1909 to 1915.
History
The company was founded in 1908 by Bostonian millionaire Eben Dyer Jordan, Jr. and impresario Henry Russel ...
and was demolished in after years of disuse.
Speare Hall, a
Northeastern University
Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North Ca ...
dormitory, now stands on the site at the corner of Opera Place and Huntington Avenue.
History
Construction
Designed by the Boston architects
Wheelwright and Haven, construction began on the Boston Opera House in 1901 but due to financial difficulties the completion of the opera house was delayed. Eventually Bostonian millionaire
Eben Jordan, Jr. stepped forward in 1908 to provide the funds to finish the building and provide a home for the newly formed
Boston Opera Company
The Boston Opera Company (BOC) was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts, that was active from 1909 to 1915.
History
The company was founded in 1908 by Bostonian millionaire Eben Dyer Jordan, Jr. and impresario Henry Russel ...
(BOC) under the leadership of
impresario
An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer.
His ...
Henry Russell.
Guido Nincheri
Guido Nincheri (1885 – 1 March 1973) was a Canadian painter and designer working mainly in stained glass and fresco.
Biography
Guido Nincheri was born in Prato, Italy in 1885. He studied art in Florence and immigrated to Montreal in November 19 ...
provided interior decoration for the theatre which was located two blocks from
Boston Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall is a concert hall located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, opened in 1900. Designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead and White, it was built for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the ...
, and one block from the
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...
.
Opening
The opera house officially opened on November 8, 1909 with a performance of ''
La Gioconda'' by the BOC. The production starred
Lillian Nordica
Lillian Nordica (December 12, 1857 – May 10, 1914) was an American opera singer who had a major stage career in Europe and her native country.
Nordica established herself as one of the foremost dramatic sopranos of the late 19th and early 2 ...
in the title role and
Louise Homer
Louise Beatty Homer (April 30, 1871May 6, 1947) was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932.
After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer ...
as La Cieca.
[Opera House History]
At its opening, the theatre was described as a "perfect jewel-box of an opera house". It served as the home of the BOC during the company's six years of operation. Russell served as the company's director for all its short duration and
Arnaldo Conti
Arnaldo Conti (Parma, 22 February 1855 — Milan, 24 March 1919) was an Italian conductor of opera.
He spent much of his life on tour in opera houses around the world, directing performances with singers such as Adelina Patti, Luisa Tetrazzini, ...
was the conductor from 1909–1913. After the BOC went bankrupt in 1915 the venue was used by other local opera companies, as well as by the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...
for its regular visits.
Demise
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the Opera House fell into disuse and disrepair.
In 1957, the
Boston Redevelopment Authority
The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is a Massachusetts public agency that serves as the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial d ...
, acting on behalf of the
Northeastern University
Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North Ca ...
Trustees, declared it unsafe, and scheduled it for demolition. The local opera community demonstrated and petitioned the BRA to spare their only venue, but the order stood. The solidly built building was gutted in 1958, but proved difficult to demolish. Two demolition companies gave up in frustration, as the opera house resisted their efforts. Only after a new and larger wrecking derrick arrived, did the walls fall.
A brick rescued from the demolished theater by noted
WGBH-FM
WGBH (89.7 MHz; branded as GBH without the " W" since August 31, 2020) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of National Public Radio (NPR) and affiliate of Public Radio Exchange (PRX), which m ...
announcer
Ron Della Chiesa
Ron Della Chiesa is a Boston area radio personality. Born in 1938 in Quincy, Massachusetts, he was taken by his father to jazz and Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts in the early 1950s, and developed an ear for both genres. His commentaries, origi ...
is preserved in the theater's archives at Northeastern University. The archived plans for the Opera House may be viewed and copied by requesting an appointment with Northeastern University's Facilities or Space Planning and Design Department.
References
Further reading
*
* Henry Charles Lahee. The grand opera singers of to-day: an account of the leading operatic stars who have sung during recent years, together with a sketch of the chief operatic enterprises. Boston: L.C. Page and Company, 1912
External links
*Eichler, Jeremy
"The rise and fall of the original Boston Opera House" ''The Boston Globe'', November 8, 2009.
Program for 1910 productions on New York Public Library websitenypl.org
Program for 1910 productions on New York Public Library website nypl.orgProgram for 1920 productions on New York Public Library websitenypl.org
Postcard on New York Public Library website nypl.orgAerial photo of Boston Opera House and vicinity 1950s on Flickr.cmom
See also
*
Boston Opera House (1980)
The Boston Opera House, also known as the Citizens Bank Opera House, is a performing arts and esports venue located at 539 Washington St. in Boston, Massachusetts. It was originally built as the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre, a movie palace in ...
{{coord, 42.3405, -71.0896, type:landmark_region:US-MA, display=title
Opera houses in Massachusetts
Opera House, Boston
Landmarks in Fenway–Kenmore
Opera House, Boston
20th century in Boston
Fenway–Kenmore
Music venues completed in 1909
1909 establishments in Massachusetts
Theatres completed in 1909
Buildings and structures demolished in 1958
Demolished buildings and structures in Boston