Pic from kilduffs.com – the old theater that was torn down to expand seating is on the right side of the building.
I was asked to write about this a few years ago by the librarian at my school and I never got round to it. Considering that I practically lived there as a child, going to operas and concerts? I figured that maybe I should. Here goes.
The Lyric opened on Halloween, October 31, 1894. It is located in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood on Mt. Royal Avenue and is close to the Maryland Institute College of Art and the University of Baltimore. Known then as The Music Hall, it retained that name until 1909 when the building was bought by Otto Herman Kahn for the Metropolitan Opera. Kahn was born in Baden, Germany was an investment banker and a patron of the arts, serving on the board for the New York based opera company. For ten years after it opened, it was simply a concert hall, however in 1904 it added opera to its repertoire with the Metropolitan Opera’s (New York) touring company. They needed a place to perform, Kahn bought the venue for them and the name promptly changed to The Lyric Opera House. Kahn sold the venue in 1920, but the name remained. One hundred twenty years later, the Met still comes to the Lyric for performances.
In 2010, the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, Art Modell pledged 3.5 million dollars to the Lyric and it named was changed again to The Patricia & Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric. The named reverted back to The Lyric in 2021 when the last payment from the Modell’s was made.
Following the 1920 sale, renovations to the building resulted in enlarged balconies and increased the seating area to around 2800. Further major renovations beginning in 1980 through 1982 elevated the building to a true opera house that could accommodate not only grand opera but touring sets of musicals and ballets etc. More renovations in 2010 and 2014 would add a fly tower, along with catwalks and upgraded rigging. The original building has been meticulously restored and is very safely contained within the renovations and additions.
Opera at the Lyric
The opera company that I saw perform dozens of times at the Lyric was the Baltimore Opera Company. Formed in 1950, with the former Met soprano, Rosa Ponselle as its artistic director. Born Rosa Ponzillo in 1897, she was the daughter of Italian immigrants who lived in Connecticut. She had mentored the novice company in the 1940s and had coached and tutored many of the new singers that were with the company – Beverly Sills and Placido Domingo among others. The company was then known as the Baltimore Civic Opera Company. By 1970, the named was changed to simply The Baltimore Opera Company and it was firmly entrenched at the Lyric. It was this company that performed Aida in 1971 – my first opera. I saw so many growing up, Tosca, Die Walkure, Die Fledermaus, Dialogue of the Carmelites, Die Rosenkavalier, Carmen, Macbeth, Madame Butterfly, La Boheme, La Traviata, Turandot, The Flying Dutchman………..to name a few. Costumes were done by AT Jones, Baltimore’s premiere costume house located at 708 N. Howard Street. When the Baltimore Opera shut its doors in 2009 during the recession, Lyric Opera Baltimore took over in 2011 through 2017.
Left – Rosa Ponselle in 1918 – Wikipedia public domain; Right – Beverly Sills in Manon – the role she did at the Lyric in 1952
The Symphony Orchestras
The BSO, or the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1919. It performed regularly at the Lyric until 1982 when it moved to the newly constructed Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The family had season tickets to that as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra who played at the Lyric until 1982. I met Arthur Fiedler backstage when the Boston Symphony played in 1974. I was 8.
Other Shows at the Lyric include musicals like Cats, The King and I, Evita and Kismet. The Maryland Ballet performed there along with Anna Pavlova and the Ballet Russe. It is still in use for concerts, musicals, speakers, comedy shows and other significant cultural and educational events. The Doors performed there in 1969. Robin Williams, Alvin Ailey, The Grateful Dead, Bill Maher, Dave Chappelle, Santana, Aretha Franklin, Journey, Ringo Starr, The Doobie Brothers, Celtic Thunder and Diana Ross have all performed at Baltimore’s Lyric.
It is a beautiful theater and I watched it evolve as a child – seeing the renovations and additions first-hand and marveling at them. Seeing the lobby transform while still keeping and restoring the old lobby was eye-popping for a 15 year old kid. The auditorium is now on the National Register of Historic Places – placed there in 1986.
Sources:
Wikipedia
www,lyricbaltimore.com
kilduffs.com
https://www.wbal.com/120-years-of-entertainment-at-baltimores-lyric-theater/
The Baltimore Sun
Baltimore Through My Eyes 