Baltimore Lyric Opera House
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The Lyric Baltimore is a
music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...
in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
, United States, located close to the
University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt consists of four colleges in applied arts and sciences, Robert G. Merrick School of Bu ...
law school. The building was modeled after the
Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...
concert hall in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, and it was inaugurated on October 31, 1894, with a performance by the
Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...
and Australian opera singer
Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the f ...
as the featured soloist. Beginning in 1904, it was also used for touring performances by the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
, and from 1950, it was the home of the
Baltimore Opera Company The Baltimore Opera Company (BOC) was an opera company in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, based at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House. On March 12, 2009, the 58-year-old opera company announced plans to pursue Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidatio ...
until that company's liquidation in 2009. The venue was originally called The Music Hall at its founding in 1894. Between 1909 and 2010, it was known as the Lyric Opera House. When entrepreneur and football team owner
Art Modell Arthur Bertram Modell (June 23, 1925 – September 6, 2012) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League (NFL) team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens f ...
and his wife pledged a $3.5 million donation in 2010, it was renamed The Patricia & Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric in their honor. The name reverted to "The Lyric" on March 31, 2021. As the final installment was about to be paid, the Modell's say they were notified by Lyric executives of plans to remove the name, unless the family agreed to continue its contributions. They declined. The Lyric was home of the Lyric Opera Baltimore, founded after the demise of Baltimore Lyric Opera, from 2011 to 2017.


History

Over the years, the venue has had various names, beginning with "The Music Hall" (1894-1909). In 1909, it became the "Lyric Opera House", its name for rest of the twentieth century. The name was changed to "The Patricia & Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric" in 2010, in recognition of a $3.5 million donation over a 10-year period beginning that year by
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...
football team owner
Art Modell Arthur Bertram Modell (June 23, 1925 – September 6, 2012) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League (NFL) team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens f ...
and his wife
Patricia Breslin Patricia Rose Breslin (March 17, 1925 - Oct 12, 2011) was an American actress and philanthropist. She had a prominent career in television, which included recurring roles as Amanda Miller on '' The People's Choice'' (1955–58), and as Laura Harr ...
. The name reverted to "The Lyric" on March 31, 2021.


Opera and music at the Lyric

Prior to the 1909 purchase of the building on behalf of the Metropolitan Opera by
Otto Kahn Otto Hermann Kahn (February 21, 1867 – March 29, 1934) was a German-born American investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. Kahn was a well-known figure, appearing on the cover of ''Time'' magazine and was sometimes ...
,
Oscar Hammerstein I Oscar Hammerstein I (8 May 1846 – 1 August 1919) was a German-born businessman, theater impresario, and composer in New York City. His passion for opera led him to open several opera houses, and he rekindled opera's popularity in America. He ...
presented an opera season and began to make plans to remodel it by enlarging the stage area. However Kahn's purchase caused the venue's name to be changed to the Lyric Theatre.Lyric Opera House History
''Lyric Opera House''. Retrieved December 12, 2013
and firmed up the continuity of the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
's annual visits. In the early 20th century, the Lyric Opera featured opera tenor
Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...
who appeared there with the Metropolitan Opera in a performance of
Flotow Flotow is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Friedrich von Flotow (1812–1883), German composer * Hans von Flotow Hans Ludwig Carl Theodor von Flotow (10 September 1862 - 19 December 1935) was a high-level diplomat for ...
's ''
Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...
''. In 1950, building on earlier amateur efforts, the Baltimore Opera was formally established as the Baltimore Civic Opera Company, with the famous American
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
Rosa Ponselle Rosa Ponzillo, known as Rosa Ponselle (January 22, 1897 – May 25, 1981) was an American operatic dramatic soprano. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the ...
as its first
artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...
. She brought
Beverly Sills Beverly Sills (born Belle Miriam Silverman; May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose career peak was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verd ...
to Baltimore for a production of ''
Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...
'' in 1952. By 1970, the name was changed to Baltimore Opera Company and had become firmly established at the Lyric. Having been modeled on the Concertgebouw, the Lyric was primarily used as a concert hall. 1916 saw the founding of the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, ...
which presented performances there until 1982, while the building was purchased from Kahn in 1920 and a significant renovation created an enlarged balcony with seating capacity reaching 2,800. In March 1974, the Lyric's 75th anniversary featured the return of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and throughout these years, the
Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...
made regular appearances in Baltimore until April 1980. A highlight was the 1934 premiere of
Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...
's ''
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini The ''Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini'', Op. 43, (, ''Rapsodiya na temu Paganini'') is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano and orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto, all in a single movement. Rachmaninoff wrote ...
'', with the composer at the piano.


Other events

Many different kinds of events were presented at the Lyric, including sporting events such as the 1905 lightweight boxing fight between
Joe Gans Joe Gans (born Joseph Saifus Butts; November 25, 1874 – August 10, 1910) was an American professional boxer. Gans was rated the greatest lightweight boxer of all time by boxing historian and The Ring (magazine), Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleisc ...
, the lightweight champion, and Mike Sullivan and the 1906 wrestling bout between Gus Schoenlein and the world champion,
George Hackenschmidt Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt (1 August 1877 – 19 February 1968) was an Estonian Strongman (strength athlete), strongman, wrestling, amateur and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, writer, and Philosophy of sport, sports philoso ...
, the world champion of the time. The first public showing of electric cooking in Baltimore took place, as well as hosting speakers like
Aimee Semple McPherson Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson (née Kennedy; October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee or Sister, was a Canadian-born American Pentecostalism, Pentecostal Evangelism, evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920 ...
,
Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...
, Richard Byrd,
Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the ...
,
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...
,
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...
and
William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...
. In 1967,
The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...
performed at the Lyric. Performers appearing at the Lyric included in April/May 1984
Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner (), was a Russian-born actor. He was known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical ''The King and I'' (19 ...
who starred in ''
The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...
'' which over 70,000 people attended in four weeks. That same year, Patti Labelle's performances sold out five performances while, in 1987, ''
Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
'' played to over 75,000 people.


Creating an opera house

Major renovations from 1980 to 1982 completed its transformation into an opera house.


References


External links

* *, including photo from 1984, at Maryland Historical Trust https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/modell-family-claims-the-lyric-is-dropping-their-name-unless-more-contributions-are-made {{Authority control Opera houses in Maryland Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore Theatres in Baltimore Tourist attractions in Baltimore Music venues completed in 1894 Theatres completed in 1894 1894 establishments in Maryland Mount Vernon, Baltimore Music venues in Baltimore