öFarrar, Geraldine1882╨1967opera singerBorn in Melrose, Massachusetts, on February 28, 1882, Geraldine Farrar was the daughter of a professional baseball player. She displayed musical talent from early childhood, and although her dislike of practice led to her abandoning the piano she did continue her voice lessons, under Mrs. J. H. Long in Boston, Emma Thursby in New York City, and in 1899╨1900 under Trabadelo in Paris. In 1900 she traveled to Berlin, where an audition won her a three-year contract with the Royal Opera House. Her debut occurred there in October 1901 in Faust. During her stay in Berlin she studied under Lilli Lehmann. During 1904╨1907 she sang at the Monte Carlo Opera, making her debut there opposite Enrico Caruso in La BohÅme in March 1904. In March 1905, with only five days of rehearsal, she sang the world premiere of Mascagni╒s Amica. In those years she was the toast of several European capitals. Farrar made her American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, in Gounod╒s RomÄo et Juliette in November 1906. In February 1907 she sang Cio-Cio-San in the Met╒s first performance of Madama Butterfly, a performance that also featured Louise Homer and Caruso and for which Puccini himself was present. Her youth, her beauty, and her richly dramatic soprano voice made her a sensation in the role, which she repeated 95 times in her Metropolitan career. A second role that she made her own was that of the Goose Girl in Humperdinck╒s KÜnigskinder; from the world premiere in December 1910 she sang the role some 30 times. Others among the 23 roles she sang during her Metropolitan career were Carmen, which she carried against much skepticism (the role was firmly identified with Emma CalvÄ) in November 1914, Thaòs in 1917, Suor Angelica in 1918, Zaza in 1920, and Louise in 1921. After a final performance in Zaza in April 1922╤a performance for which the Met was more packed with her fans than usual and during which the streets outside were crowded with eager ╥Gerry flappers,╙ as her teenage admirers were known╤she retired from the Met, although she subsequently made a number of concert tours. She enjoyed a minor second career in silent motion pictures, beginning with Carmen in 1915 and including Maria Rosa, 1916, Joan the Woman, 1917, The Woman God Forgot, 1917, The Turn of the Wheel, 1918, The Hell Cat, 1918, The World and Its Woman, 1919, Flame of the Desert, 1920, and The Woman and the Puppet, 1920. Her final public appearance was at Carnegie Hall in November 1931. In 1938 she published an autobiography, Such Sweet Compulsion. She lived in retirement in Ridgefield, Connecticut, until her death there on March 11, 1967. ªstyl ` . ! ¬ 5¬ 5¬ * !I c !I ▐ o !I G !I L !I ≡ !I ∙ !I e !I j !I « 5¬ » !I
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