Geraldine Farrar

Alice Geraldine Farrar (February 28, 1882 – March 11, 1967) was an American lyric soprano who also frequently sang dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." In the 1910s, she also found success as an actress in silent films. Farrar had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers". She appeared in the title role in the first Met performance of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly in 1907 and remained a member of the company until her retirement in 1922, singing 29 roles there in 672 performances. She developed a great popular following, especially among New York's young female opera-goers, who were known as "Gerry-flappers". Farrar created the title roles in Pietro Mascagni's Amica (Monte Carlo, 1905), Puccini's Suor Angelica (New York City, 1918), Umberto Giordano's Madame Sans-Gêne (New York, 1915), as well as the Goosegirl in Engelbert Humperdinck's Königskinder (New York, 1910), for which Farrar trained her own flock of geese. According to a review in the New York Tribune of the first performance, "at the close of the opera Miss Farrar caused 'much amusement' by appearing before the curtain with a live goose under her arm."

According to her biographer:

Farrar recorded prodigiously for the Victor Talking Machine Company and was often featured prominently in that firm's advertisements.

Film career Farrar also appeared in silent films, which were produced between opera seasons. Literary and film critic Edward Wagenknecht describes Geraldine Farrar as “the most illustrious artist Paramount brought to the screen.” The acquisition of Farrar by producer Jesse Lasky in 1915 was regarded as “the most sensational coup in motion-picture history” at the time. As a prima donna of the Metropolitan Opera, Farrar’s arrival in Hollywood was greeted with great anticipation and fanfare:

For her performance, she came in first among the women in the 1916 "Screen Masterpiece" contest held by Motion Picture Magazine. One of her other notable screen roles —and the one that Farrar personally ranked her finest—was as Joan of Arc in the 1916 film Joan the Woman.

In June 1931, Farrar made her debut radio broadcast over the National Broadcasting Company's nationwide "Red" network.

In 1960, Farrar was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the music and film categories, located at 1620 and 1709 Vine Street.

Personal life

Beginning in 1908, Farrar had a seven-year love affair with the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini. Her ultimatum, that he leave his wife and children and marry her, caused Toscanini to abruptly resign his position as principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in 1915. Farrar was a close friend to the Met's star tenor Enrico Caruso and there has been speculation that they too had a love affair. It is said that Caruso coined her motto: Farrar farà ("Farrar will do it").

Farrar's marriage to actor Lou Tellegen on February 8, 1916, was the source of considerable scandal. The marriage ended, as a result of her husband's numerous affairs, in a very public divorce in 1923. The circumstances of the divorce were brought again to public recollection in 1934, following Tellegen's bizarre suicide in Hollywood. When told of Tellegen's death, Farrar reportedly said "Why should that interest me?"

Farrar retired from opera in 1922 at the age of 40; her final Met performance was as Leoncavallo's Zazà. By this stage, her voice was in premature decline due to overwork. According to the American music critic Henry Pleasants, the author of The Great Singers from the Dawn of Opera to Our Own Time (first published 1967), she gave between 25 and 35 performances each season at the Met alone. They included 95 appearances as Madama Butterfly and 58 as Carmen in 16 seasons. The title role in Puccini's Tosca, which she had added to her repertoire in 1909, was another one of her favourite Met parts.

Within several weeks of announcing her retirement from opera, Farrar transitioned into concert performances, signing to appear at a recital at Hershey Park on Memorial Day 1922. She continued to make recordings and give recitals throughout the 1920s and was briefly the intermission commentator for the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts during the 1934–35 season. In 1938, Farrar published an unusual autobiography, titled Such Sweet Compulsion. The book was written in alternating chapters purporting to be her own words and those of her deceased mother, with Mrs. Farrar rather floridly recounting her daughter's many accomplishments.

Geraldine Farrar died in Ridgefield, Connecticut of heart disease in 1967, at the age of 85; she was buried in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. She had no children.

Filmography The headstone of Geraldine Farrar in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

Year Title Role Notes Carmen Carmen Temptation Lost film Maria Rosa Maria Rosa Joan the Woman Jeanne d'Arc Tecza (daughter of Montezuma) Incomplete film, only two of six reels survive Lost film Short Lost film undetermined/presumably Lost film Shadows Incomplete film, only one reel survives undetermined/presumably Lost film Flame of the Desert undetermined/presumably Lost film

Media

In popular culture The American author Barbara Paul has written several murder mystery novels featuring Geraldine Farrar, Enrico Caruso, and the Metropolitan Opera.