1918 | Music
Music
Opera: Where the Lark Sings (Wo die Lerche singt) 2/1 at Budapest's Königstheater, with music by Franz Lehár; Duke Bluebeard's Castle (A Kék szakállu Herceg Vára) 5/24 at Budapest, with music by Béla Bartók; Meriden, Conn.-born soprano Rosa Melba Ponselle (originally Rosa Ponzillo), 21, makes her Metropolitan Opera debut 11/15 singing the role of Donna Leonora opposite Enrico Caruso in the 1862 Verdi opera La Forza del Destino. She is the first U.S. woman to become a Met prima donna without having trained in Europe; Il Trittico 12/14 at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, with music by Giacomo Puccini, who has written a trio of short operas—Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi.
Composer Claude Debussy dies of cancer at Paris March 25 at age 55; librettist-composer Arrigo Boito at Milan June 10 at age 76.
First performances: Classical Symphony by Sergei Prokofiev 4/21 at Petrograd; The Legend of the World at Play (Le Dit des Jeux du Monde) by Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, 26, 12/2 at Paris.
Stage musicals: Oh, Lady! Lady! 2/1 at New York's Princess Theater, with New York-born actress Constance Binney, 21, music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, 219 perfs.; Sinbad 2/14 at New York's Winter Garden Theater, with Al Jolson, book by Harold Atteridge, music by Sigmund Romberg and others, songs that include "My Mammy" by Brooklyn-born composer Walter Donaldson, 25, lyrics by Joe Young, 20, and Sam M. Lewis, 33, "Rock-a-by Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" by Jean Schwartz, lyrics by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis, 164 perfs.; The Bing Boys on Broadway 2/16 at London's Alhambra Theatre, with music by Nat D. Ayer, lyrics by Clifford Grey, songs that include "If You Were the Only Girl in the World"; Oh, Look! 3/7 at New York's Vanderbilt Theater, with Alfred Kappeler, New York-born actress Genevieve Tobin, 18, book by James Montgomery, songs that include "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" by Harry Caroll, who has adapted Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu in C sharp minor, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, 68 perfs.; The Rainbow Girl 4/1 at the New Amsterdam Theater, with music by Louis A. Hirsch, book and lyrics by Rennold Wolf from a comedy by Jerome K. Jerome, 160 perfs.; Hitchy-Koo of 1918 (revue) 6/6 at New York's Globe Theater, with comedian Raymond Hitchcock, now 52, Leon Errol, Irene Bordoni, songs that include "You—oo Just You" by New York-born Tin Pan Alley song plugger and composer George Gershwin, 20, lyrics by Irving Caesar, now 23 (the two have met at the offices of Remick, the music publisher), 68 perfs.; The Ziegfeld Follies 6/18 at the New Amsterdam Theater, with Eddie Cantor, Will Rogers, Marilyn Miller, W. C. Fields, music by Louis A. Hirsch, 151 perfs.; The Passing Show 7/25 at the Winter Garden Theater, with Marilyn Miller, Fred and Adele Astaire, Eugene and Willie Howard, Charles Ruggles, Frank Fay, music chiefly by Sigmund Romberg and Jean Schwartz, lyrics chiefly by Harold Atteridge, songs that include "Smiles" by J. Will Callahan and Lee G. Robert, and with June Caprice singing "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" by John William Kellette, lyrics by Jean Kenbrovin (James Kendis, James Brockman, Nat Vincent), 124 perfs.; Yip Yip Yaphank 8/19 at New York's Century Theater, with a cast of 350 recruits from Camp Upton at Yaphank, Long Island, music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, songs that include "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," "Mandy," "Soldier Boy," 32 perfs.; Bran-Pie 8/28 at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, London, with English comedienne Beatrice Lillie (originally Constance Sylvia Munston), 23, Lee White, songs that include "Ja Da" by London songwriter Bob Carleton; Sometime 10/4 at New York's Shubert Theater, with Francine Larrimore, Ed Wynn, Brooklyn-born vaudeville trooper Mae West, 26, singing songs that include "Any Kind of Man" by Rudolf Friml, book and lyrics by Rida Johnson Young, 283 perfs.; Everything 8/22 at New York's Hippodrome, with DeWolf Hopper, book by R. H. Burnside, music by John Philip Sousa and Irving Berlin, lyrics by John H. Golden, 461 perfs.; Mr. Tower of London 10/28 at Nottingham's Coliseum, with Gracie Fields, now 20 (created by impresario Archie Pitts, it will tour the country for 9 years).
Lyricist Junie McCree dies at New York January 13 at age 52; dancer Vernon Castle at Fort Worth, Texas, February 15 at age 30. He returned to his native England 2 years ago, enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps, flew in combat over France, was awarded the Croix de Guerre, began teaching U.S. pilots, and has collided in flight with another plane after maneuvering to save the other pilot's life; Anna Held dies in pain of multiple myeloma (bone cancer) at New York August 13 at age 45.
Popular songs: "Till We Meet Again" by Peoria, Ill.-born composer Richard A. Whiting, 27, and Canadian-born songwriter Richard B. Egan, 28; "K-K-K-Katy" by Canadian-born songwriter Geoffrey O'Hara, 36; "After You're Gone" by Richmond, Va.-born composer Henry Creamer, 39, lyrics by Washington, D.C.-born writer Turner Layton, 24; "Somebody Stole My Gal" by Leo Wood; "Beautiful Ohio" by Robert A. King, lyrics by Ballard MacDonald.
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band tours Europe at year's end, spreading appreciation for the American musical idiom.