chicagocivicopera

[Mary] Garden and Polacco (LOC)

from The Library of Congress

• Seuss. said:

  Mary Garden, 1874-1967. Scottish/American Operatic Soprano and Giorgio Polacco, 1873-1960, Italian opera conductor, aboard the RMS Aquitania on their way to shake up the Chicago Opera scene. from his allmusic.com bio . . .

  After that first Chicago season, engagements in France, Cuba, and South America kept the conductor busy until Mary Garden called him in 1921 to become music director and principal conductor of the Chicago Opera, reorganized as the Chicago Civic Opera. Working with the tempestuous Garden, Polacco -- despite several voluble conflicts with his "directa" -- filled the position more than honorably. From the November 14, 1921, production of Samson et Dalila through the time of his retirement for health reasons in 1930, the conductor concentrated on his work in Chicago, conducting just one year (1927) in Boston. During his Chicago tenure, Polacco confirmed his outstanding grasp of a wide-ranging repertory and an unflagging ability to light fires under nearly any cast. He often conducted Garden, notably in her French repertory and in Strauss' Salome. Polacco's final Chicago performance found him leading Garden's Mélisande on February 1, 1930.

  For more on Garden see

• B-59 said:

  They arrived on October 21, 1921, s. The New York herald. [volume], October 22, 1921, Page 9 (photo) chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045774/1921-10-22/ed-...