Confessions of an Opera Singer Kathleen Howard 9781489509994 Books
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Real people, real obstacles overcome; inside the back-stage life in opera houses.
“It is a story of real people, real obstacles overcome, and contains much talk of back-stage life in opera houses.” -Kathleen Howard
"Confessions of an Opera Singer" is the autobiography of Kathleen Howard, a Metropolitan Opera star from 1916 through 1928. Turning to film acting after her voice broke, Kathleen Howard was also an accomplished writer who served on the staff of Harper's Bazaar. She made her first movie appearance, appropriately cast as an Italian Grande dame, in Death Takes a Holiday. Generations of W.C. Fields fans have doted upon Howard's full-blooded portrayals of Fields' virago wife in It's a Gift and The Man on the Flying Trapeze. Toning down her screen mannerisms a bit, Kathleen Howard spent her last decade in films in such supporting roles. "Confessions of an Opera Singer" provides a great overview of what life was like for a Metropolitan Opera star in the early 1900's, and remains a fascinating read.
“Will please ever student who has aspirations for the operatic stage. It is a simple human account of just what happened from the time the youthful Miss Howard came to New York to study singing until the present time. The long road led her to Paris, Germany, London, and back to the Metropolitan Opera House. The account of her life in Germany is of particular interest, inasmuch as she pictures the unbearable life of the younger military officers, with its false glitter and soul-destroying discipline. One chapter tells of the costumes she used for her parts when she began to sing in opera and those she uses now.” -The American Review of Reviews, Volume 58, 1918
“Howard is accustomed to using her head to good purpose, not only by her clever work but also in the writing of her recently published memoirs, ‘The Confessions of an Opera Singer,’ wherein she displays not only good taste, but much good sense.” -Musical America, Volume 31, 1919
CONTENTS I THE WAY IT ALL HAPPENED II A STRUGGLE AND A SOLUTION III PARIS AT LAST IV PENSION PERSONALITIES V OPERATIC FRANCE VERSUS OPERATIC GERMANY VI PREPARING RÔLES IN BERLIN VII MY FIRST OPERATIC CONTRACT SIGNED VIII MY ONE LONE IMPROPOSITION IX THE MAKINGS OF A SMALL MUNICIPAL OPERA HOUSE X MY DÉBUT AND BREAKING INTO HARNESS XI SOME STAGE DELIGHTS XII MISPLACED MOISTURE AND THE STORY OF A COURT-LADY XIII HUMAN PASSIONS AND SMALLPOX XIV DISCOURAGEMENTS THAT LED TO A COURT THEATRE XV SALARIES AND A TENOR'S GENIUS XVI THE ART OF MARIE MUELLE XVII THE NON-MILITARY SIDE OF A GERMAN OFFICER'S LIFE XVIII GEESE AND GUESTS XIX RUSSIANS, COMMON AND PREFERRED XX THE GRANDMOTHERS' BALLET XXI STAGE FASHIONS AND THE GLORY OF COLOUR XXII ROYAL HUMOUR XXIII COVENT GARDEN AND--AMERICA
(cover image courtesy of Crystal Church)
Confessions of an Opera Singer Kathleen Howard 9781489509994 Books
I first encounted Kathleen Howard as Amelia Bissonette (that's Bissonay; don't let her catch you calling her Bissonette!) in the W.C. Fields film It's a Gift She makes the bedroom scene with him into an all time classic ("Why are they calling you from the maternity hospital at this hour of the night?") She played the same role in The Man On the Flying Trapeze as Leona Wolfinger("Hurry, Ambrose, there are burglars singing in the basement.") to his Ambrose Wolfinger("What are they singing?") . She was the perfect foil for Fields who played the henpecked husband in both movies.After that, Fields nearly died and had a long recovery. Meanwhile, she moved on and worked fairly steadily although she dropped downward in the credits. One of her notable roles in a later film was as the bossy maid in the Barbara Stanwyck film Ball of Fire in which Stanwyck broke Howard's jaw with a sucker punch in a staging accident. She did have one television credit in 1951, which was the end of her acting career.
So who was Kathleen Howard? This book is most of what information is available about her. It is the story of a young girl growing up in the Gilded Age who obviously had parents of some means and who developed an early love for the opera. So much love for the opera that she broke off a marriage engagement with a young man when he didn't take her aspirations seriously. So much love for the opera that when she saw little opportunities to learn opera in the U.S., she went to France to study opera. When she didn't find enough opportunity to perform there she went to Germany, learned to speak and sing in German quickly. She got her first job in Metz, which was then in German hands. During her years in Germany, she visited her brother, Cecil Howard, a sculptor in Paris. It also includes pictures of her in costume for her various roles and how the costumes evolved.
Now, candidly, I'm not a fan or knowledgeable in opera. Victor Borge's gag with the high note of the soprano knocking him off the piano bench hits pretty close to home. I am familiar with the orchestral scores but not the stories nor the costumes and staging. Her account of launching her career and what it took to work in opera at that time was colorful in detail and mostly easy to follow. The culture of the opera at that time was completely new to me, but I get the feel of how a young girl growing up at that time could aspire to become an opera diva. The book ends with her return to New York, her marriage to Edward Kellogg Baird, and his formation of an opera company in New York including her. But, she notes at the very end that the opera company failed and she landed a role in the Metropolitan Opera.
After this book ends, according to other sources her opera career ended in 1928. She and her sister Marjorie, who accompanied her on all her other adventures, became writers and editors at Harper's Bazaar Magazine. After she completed her first film, Death Takes A Holiday, she resigned from the magazine and pursued an acting career in Hollywood. Her husband died in 1951, she and her brother died in 1956.
It probably would be bittersweet for her that she is remembered mostly for the W.C. Fields films but her book does put that into perspective. Her story is a first hand account of Gilded Age America and also of Europe between the Franco Prussian War and World War I.
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Confessions of an Opera Singer Kathleen Howard 9781489509994 Books Reviews
This was the second book I purchased to read, going across country on the train, for my new . Unlike 'Strangled Melody' which was set in the 1980's in America, this book purports to be the memoirs of a singer I had never heard of- an 'also-ran' who sang Contralto/Mezzo in some of the secondary Opera Houses in Europe, in the late 19th, and early 20th Century.
Like many works of this genre, the writing is not stellar. It is not, however, merely a recitation of facts, dates, and famous royalty met and/or courted. This woman loved her family, yet loved her art more. She left America for the 'career in Europe' back when that meant something, and proved herself, both to the chauvinistic Germans of the era, as well as to herself, and the critics. There are moments for a historical Opera buff, that bring to light (even if just for an instant) famous composers, and (yes!) even the Royalty of Europe, that perished in the Great War (WWI).
I am glad this book has been preserved on the format. There is no need to republish this in paperback. It is not worth the time and effort. It is not a Flagstad, or a Robert Merrill bio, of the greatest of the Greats. It is not even on the level of a Louise Homer, but it IS a record of one American singer's life and times. For that, it was worth the writing.
This is made for the opera buff who has a real interest in the "old" singers from the turn of the previous century. Kathleen Howard, a Canadian contralto and actually a gifted writer, studied in France and had a good career singing major roles in Germany before coming to the Met where she sang a wide variety of character roles, including Zita in the world-premiere of Gianni Schicchi. Her Met career was followed by years as a writer and then acting in Hollywood in film, notably with W.C.Fields. Her very well-written memoirs end with her return to North America but are filled with vivid recollections of her life and studies in Paris and then what it was like to be singing as a foreign singer in pre-WWI Germany with all the atmosphere and daily life in provincial and not-so provincial German opera houses She really creates a feeling of the somewhat halcyon time before the devastating war. I found the book highly readable and enjoyable, but then I love historical musical memoirs. Recommended if you do, too.
I first encounted Kathleen Howard as Amelia Bissonette (that's Bissonay; don't let her catch you calling her Bissonette!) in the W.C. Fields film It's a Gift She makes the bedroom scene with him into an all time classic ("Why are they calling you from the maternity hospital at this hour of the night?") She played the same role in The Man On the Flying Trapeze as Leona Wolfinger("Hurry, Ambrose, there are burglars singing in the basement.") to his Ambrose Wolfinger("What are they singing?") . She was the perfect foil for Fields who played the henpecked husband in both movies.
After that, Fields nearly died and had a long recovery. Meanwhile, she moved on and worked fairly steadily although she dropped downward in the credits. One of her notable roles in a later film was as the bossy maid in the Barbara Stanwyck film Ball of Fire in which Stanwyck broke Howard's jaw with a sucker punch in a staging accident. She did have one television credit in 1951, which was the end of her acting career.
So who was Kathleen Howard? This book is most of what information is available about her. It is the story of a young girl growing up in the Gilded Age who obviously had parents of some means and who developed an early love for the opera. So much love for the opera that she broke off a marriage engagement with a young man when he didn't take her aspirations seriously. So much love for the opera that when she saw little opportunities to learn opera in the U.S., she went to France to study opera. When she didn't find enough opportunity to perform there she went to Germany, learned to speak and sing in German quickly. She got her first job in Metz, which was then in German hands. During her years in Germany, she visited her brother, Cecil Howard, a sculptor in Paris. It also includes pictures of her in costume for her various roles and how the costumes evolved.
Now, candidly, I'm not a fan or knowledgeable in opera. Victor Borge's gag with the high note of the soprano knocking him off the piano bench hits pretty close to home. I am familiar with the orchestral scores but not the stories nor the costumes and staging. Her account of launching her career and what it took to work in opera at that time was colorful in detail and mostly easy to follow. The culture of the opera at that time was completely new to me, but I get the feel of how a young girl growing up at that time could aspire to become an opera diva. The book ends with her return to New York, her marriage to Edward Kellogg Baird, and his formation of an opera company in New York including her. But, she notes at the very end that the opera company failed and she landed a role in the Metropolitan Opera.
After this book ends, according to other sources her opera career ended in 1928. She and her sister Marjorie, who accompanied her on all her other adventures, became writers and editors at Harper's Bazaar Magazine. After she completed her first film, Death Takes A Holiday, she resigned from the magazine and pursued an acting career in Hollywood. Her husband died in 1951, she and her brother died in 1956.
It probably would be bittersweet for her that she is remembered mostly for the W.C. Fields films but her book does put that into perspective. Her story is a first hand account of Gilded Age America and also of Europe between the Franco Prussian War and World War I.
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