Edward Emil Ziegler (March 25, 1870 – October 25, 1947) was an American

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

and opera manager.David Ewen, ''Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition''. New York; Hill and Wang, 1963. A native of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Ziegler began his career as assistant music critic at the '' New York Sun'', working under James Gibbons Huneker. He served as a critic for various other New York City papers before becoming the administrative secretary of the Metropolitan Opera in 1916; in 1920 he was engaged as the assistant general manager to Giulio Gatti-Casazza. He remained with the company for the rest of his life, supervising most of its administrative and financial operations; he also scouted Europe in search of new talent to add to the roster. In addition, he organized the radio broadcasts of company productions from its stage. When

Herbert Witherspoon Herbert Witherspoon (July 21, 1873 – May 10, 1935) was an American bass singer and opera manager. Biography He was born on July 21, 1873, in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Yale University in 1895 where he had performed as a member o ...

died at his post in 1935, Ziegler was considered for his replacement before being passed over in favor of Edward Johnson. In 1940 he helped lead the successful public drive to raise a million dollars for the company. He died in New York in 1947.

References

1870 births American opera managers 1947 deaths Metropolitan Opera people American music critics The New York Sun people Journalists from Baltimore 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American male writers 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers American male journalists {{US-music-journalist-stub