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35-647: The Opera Company of Philadelphia was established in 1975 with the merger of the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company (PLOC) and the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company (PGOC); two organizations which had competed with one another for many years. Adele W. Paxson , who headed the PLOC, was appointed the first president of the company's board, a position she held for many years. Max Leon , conductor and general manager of

70-446: A bas-relief bust of Mozart . Seated on the cornice above are the figures of Poetry, on the left, and Music, on the right. The elaborate carvings and gilded wood sculpture decorations throughout the auditorium are the work of Charles Bushor and Joseph A. Bailly and the ceiling murals of allegorical figures were completed by Karl Hermann Schmolze. In the 1880s, the ceiling was enriched with additional painted decorations placed around

105-499: A few. The final opera performance by the company was held on November 22, 1974. Another staging of La bohème , it starred Jean Fenn as Mimì and Luciano Rampaso as Rodolfo. Academy of Music (Philadelphia) 12th–13th & Locust The Academy of Music , also known as American Academy of Music , is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Despite its name,

140-517: A new opera. The work, The Hero , premiered on June 1, 1976. In 1980, the company artistically reorganized to form the Opera Company of Philadelphia . The company's first production, Giacomo Puccini 's La bohème , was held on February 10, 1958 at the Academy of Music . The production starred Elaine Malbin as Mimì and John Alexander as Rodolfo. Although the company performed works from

175-483: A relatively plain brick and brownstone exterior that could be clad in marble if funds became available later. The ornate auditorium has an "open horseshoe" shape and proscenium columns with elliptical cross-sections in order to provide more direct sight lines from the seats in the side balconies. The auditorium is enclosed by a solid three-foot brick wall with studding and pine boards lining the inner sides to prevent echoes and absorb sound. The upper balconies are recessed in

210-472: A seating capacity of 2,389 which can be expanded to 2,509 when seats are placed in the orchestra pit and proscenium boxes. An 1860 account by Runge mentioned that the full auditorium, then nearly 3,000 persons, could be emptied in four minutes in "great calmness and order" owing to the wide corridors and stairways. In 1947, it was reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer that, at the time, the venue sat up to 3,052 when 94 additional audience seats were added in

245-668: A significant number of American premieres of works in the standard operatic and classical repertoire. Noted operas that had their American premieres there include Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos , Gounod's Faust , and Wagner's The Flying Dutchman . In 1916, Leopold Stokowski conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in the American premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony (the Symphony of a Thousand ). Outside of arts events, it hosted various public meetings, including

280-413: A tiered fashion and supported by 14 Corinthian columns. An unusual feature was that the boxes were originally placed against the rear wall on the second and third levels (Balcony and Family Circle). They were divided from each other by walls that curved down from the ceilings. These have since been removed and boxes created elsewhere. The front of the first balcony is highly ornamented. The hall currently has

315-503: A variety of composers and musical periods, for the most part the company concentrated on Italian grand opera and verismo opera ; particularly operas by Giuseppe Verdi and Puccini. The company notably presented the United States premiere of Renzo Rossellini 's Uno sguardo dal ponte on October 17, 1967 with Nicola Rossi-Lemeni as Eddie Carbone and Gloria Lane as Beatrice. Many notable singers performed leading roles with

350-641: Is also a backdrop of weddings, receptions, and corporate events. An architectural competition for the Academy's design was announced in October 1854 and was won by the Philadelphia firm of Napoleon LeBrun and Gustavus Runge. A style of architecture that originated in Runge's native Germany now known as Rundbogenstil ("round arch style") was used for the exterior here and in a number of American buildings of

385-536: The 1872 Republican National Convention . An indoor football game took place here in 1889 between the University of Pennsylvania and a club from Princeton University , resulting in a 0-0 tie, appears to have been only the second football game ever played indoors at the time. During the Philadelphia Phillies 1895 baseball season , the Academy offered an electric play by play scoreboard for all of

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420-411: The orchestra pit . . The interior might be considered an early example of American Baroque Revival architecture. The auditorium is graced by a large crystal chandelier, which measures 16 ft (4.9 m) in diameter, and weighs 5,000 lb (2,300 kg). When installed, the chandelier contained 240 gas jets, which were converted to electricity in 1900, and rewired in 1957. That same year, it

455-416: The Academy as having excellent acoustics that were wrongly attributed to a circular brick chamber under the floor of the auditorium. [1] It was intended by the architects that sound penetrating the "elastic floor" would reverberate in this chamber and emerge into the auditorium. [2] Unfortunately, this device was ineffective as little sound could pass through the floor in either direction. The ceiling of

490-643: The Academy has never contained a music school. It is located between Locust and Manning Streets in the Avenue of the Arts area of Center City . The hall was built in 1855–57 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose. Known as the "Grand Old Lady of Locust Street," the venue is the home of the Philadelphia Ballet and Opera Philadelphia . It

525-546: The Academy. Various voice and instrumental competitions have taken place there, including the Pavarotti competition. In the 21st century, after the Philadelphia Orchestra moved to the Kimmel Center, many non-classical artists performed at the Academy. Managed today by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts, the space is used for a myriad of events, including Broadway, comedy, dance, family, jazz, and much more. It

560-606: The Civil War Era. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 18, 1855, with President Franklin Pierce in attendance and the venue opened with a grand ball on January 26, 1857. The first opera performed there was the Western Hemisphere premiere of Giuseppe Verdi 's Il Trovatore , on February 25 of the same year. In order to reserve as much of the budget for the interior as possible, the architects designed

595-455: The PGOC, became the company's first general manager, and Carl Suppa became the company's first artistic director. All three individuals were largely responsible for arranging, planning, and executing the merger. In 1976 the company presented the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti 's The Hero . At the end of the 1977–1978 season both Leon and Suppa left the company. As a result, J. Edward Corn

630-407: The auditorium was deliberately designed not to be a sound reflector for fear of echoes. Some have found the Academy's sound problematic for orchestra: "The Academy of Music in Philadelphia is a beautiful, historic, charming building with wholly unsuitable acoustics for orchestra...The dry, unreverberant acoustics results from the roughly 2,900 audience members, who completely surround the volume of

665-563: The auditorium, soaking up sound as they sit." The Academy was built as an opera house which typically has a lower reverberation than a concert hall, the venue's primary use for many years. The reverberation time has been measured at 1.4 seconds compared to 1.2 at La Scala, Milan, and 1.75 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Consequently, the "Philadelphia Sound" of the Philadelphia Orchestra was, at least in part,

700-854: The company including Luigi Alva , Carlo Bergonzi , Grace Bumbry , Montserrat Caballé , José Carreras , Elisabeth Carron , Richard Cassilly , Franco Corelli , Phyllis Curtin , Plácido Domingo , Simon Estes , Eileen Farrell , Mirella Freni , Nicolai Gedda , Peter Glossop , Marilyn Horne , Alfredo Kraus , James King , Albert Lance , Leon Lishner , Catherine Malfitano , Robert Merrill , Sherrill Milnes , Anna Moffo , Birgit Nilsson , Luciano Pavarotti , Roberta Peters , Leontyne Price , Louis Quilico , Samuel Ramey , Judith Raskin , Regina Resnik , Seymour Schwartzman , Renata Scotto , Cesare Siepi , Beverly Sills , Eleanor Steber , John Stewart , Joan Sutherland , Renata Tebaldi , Richard Tucker , Theodor Uppman , Cesare Valletti , Shirley Verrett , Camilla Williams , and Frances Yeend to name just

735-539: The company merged with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company but retained its original name. With the combined resources of both companies, the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company began producing higher quality productions with name artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Roberta Peters, Montserrat Montserrat Caballé, and others. For the bicentennial year 1976, the company commissioned famed opera composer Gian Carlo Menotti to create

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770-470: The company's third general manager. She remained in that position for fourteen years. In March 1990, Everett resigned from her post. Jane Grey Nemeth, director of the OCP's Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition at the time, became the company's acting general director. In January 1991, the company named Robert B. Driver its general director. In March 2009, the company announced the return of Driver to

805-517: The original murals. The original front stage curtain was a painted representation of draped crimson fabric with heavy golden fringe, ropes, tassels, etc. by J. R. Martin of Berlin. A secondary curtain had a scene of Lake Como, Italy, painted by Russell Smith of Philadelphia. The original seating on the Parquet and first balcony had arms and upholstery with springs and a covering of dark red plush fabric. The second balcony had "sofas without arms" and

840-608: The post of artistic director, and the appointment of David B. Devan, OCP's managing director since January 2006, as the OCP's executive director. Devan was appointed general director in February 2011. Devan announced that he will step down in June 2024. In 2013, the company renamed itself Opera Philadelphia and adopted a new logo. In August 2023, the company announced that Devan is to stand down as its general director and president on 31 May 2024, along with staff and expense reductions in

875-425: The quality of the orchestral sound in the hall, as collected by Leo L. Beranek in his book Music, Acoustics & Architecture : Extensive renovations beginning in 1994 have maintained the building's architecture and made acoustic improvements. Although many programs at the hall are amplified and the Academy is no longer home to the Philadelphia Orchestra, the opera, ballet and other classical concerts still rely on

910-524: The result of long-term efforts by Stokowski, later sustained by Eugene Ormandy , to compensate for this weakness. After some remodeling in the mid-1950s that included concrete under the stage to support a pipe organ, Ormandy refused to make recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the Academy. Riccardo Muti , Ormandy's successor, also made his commercial recordings with the orchestra elsewhere. Various conductors have commented on

945-654: The team's road games. The list of artists who have performed at the Academy of Music, from the 20th century, includes such figures as Marian Anderson , Maria Callas , Enrico Caruso , Aaron Copland , Vladimir Horowitz , Gustav Mahler , Anna Pavlova , Edith Piaf , Luciano Pavarotti , Tony Bennett (in 1962), Itzhak Perlman , Leontyne Price , Sergei Rachmaninoff , Artur Rubinstein , Isaac Stern , Richard Strauss , Igor Stravinsky , Joan Sutherland , and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , and others. Parts of Martin Scorsese 's 1993 film The Age of Innocence were filmed in

980-666: The theater as "magnificently gorgeous, brilliantly lighted, solidly constructed, finely located, beautifully ornamented" but went on to lament "all that lacks is a few singers to render it 'the thing'." The theatre had its first opera production, and what was billed as its formal opening, a month later on February 25, 1857, with a performance by the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company of Verdi's Il trovatore starring Marietta Gazzaniga as Leonora, Alessandro Amodio as Count di Luna, Pasquale Brignoli as Manrico, and Max Maretzek conducting. Maretzek, who

1015-432: The third, pew-like seating. These were mostly replaced with more typical theater seating. The installation of more spacious seating began in 2018. A 2007 donation of $ 5.3 million by Leonore Annenberg was designated for restoration of the Academy's ballroom. This was part of the almost $ 12 million (USD) in donations raised at the 150th anniversary concert for the Academy of Music. For many decades, Philadelphia regarded

1050-513: The wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2024, the company announced the appointment of Anthony Roth Costanzo as its next general director and president, effective 1 June 2024. 39°56′53″N 75°09′57″W  /  39.94804°N 75.16589°W  / 39.94804; -75.16589 Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that

1085-477: Was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani . Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius Rudel and Anton Guadagno (1966–1972). The company produced between four and six of their own operas every year in addition to sponsoring numerous traveling productions from the New York City Opera . In 1975

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1120-591: Was already presenting operas at the Academy of Music in New York City and at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia since 1850, brought his company back annually to the Academy of Music in Philadelphia through 1873. Due to his association with both the Philadelphia and New York City Academy of Music venues, his company was sometimes referred to as the Academy of Music Opera Company. The Academy has been in continuous use since 1857, hosting many world-famous performers, conductors and composers, and

1155-513: Was also home to the Philadelphia Orchestra from its inception in 1900 until 2001, when the orchestra moved to the new Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts . The Philadelphia Orchestra still retains ownership of the Academy, in partnership with Ensemble Arts. The hall was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The Academy of Music held an inaugural ball on January 26, 1857. Following it, The New York Times described

1190-501: Was appointed the company's second general manager; subsequently Julius Rudel became an artistic consultant for the company. In 1980, Corn left the company to become the director of the National Endowment for the Arts ' new opera and musical theater program. Margaret Anne Everett, the OCP's director of educational and community services since 1977, was initially appointed the company's acting manager and then officially became

1225-400: Was fitted with an electric-powered winch. It previously required 12 people working four-hours to lower it by hand. The fixture was restored to its original form and missing crystals replaced in 2008. The heat produced by the original gas fixtures helped to ventilate the hall by causing air to rise to various vents along the back walls and in the center of the ceiling. Atop the proscenium is

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