Baltimore Opera Tenor Scrapbook Programs Correspondence

Description

Baltimore Opera Tenor Scrapbook Programs Correspondence
Baltimore Opera Tenor Scrapbook Programs Correspondence
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Description
[Music][Opera]
Wahle, Albert C.
Scrapbook of Tenor's Career.
Mostly Baltimore, Maryland: Mostly 1898-1921 8” x 6½”. Quarter cloth/marbled paper covered boards. 252 pages with at least 140 news clippings, 35 performance programs, 13 items of correspondence, several other items of ephemera and four photographs. Most items are adhesive mounted and around 40 pages are blank.. Book good: portions of front cover perished and a large chunk separated, backstrip detached but firmly attached to rear cover; items generally very good minus or better.
This is a memoir of sorts, of a man determined to make a living in the opera world. Told mostly through news clippings and performance programs, with some handwritten entries as well, we come to know the career of tenor, conductor and teacher Albert Wahle, a resident of Baltimore for most of his life.
It begins in 1898 when Albert was around 22 years old and performing with Albaugh's Lyceum Stock Company in Baltimore. By mid-1899 he was living in New York City. This part of the book includes several pieces of correspondence including an ALS from Francis Wilson, the comic opera performer as well as letters and notes of introduction from noted British actress Leonora Bradley as well as George Lederer, the Broadway producer and director. This networking apparently paid off as by 1901 Wahle was performing all over the country with, among others, the Jaxon Opera Company, the American Standard Opera Company, and the Klaw-Erlanger production of Ben Hur on Broadway. In 1905 he resettled in Baltimore and split his time between teaching at the International Conservatory of Music and being a soloist at St. Igantius Church. In 1911 he became the musical director for Concordia Gesang Verein, a German singing society in Baltimore and apparently performed with them as well. Wahle was quite active in the German opera community, and at least one quarter of the items herein are in German. Wahle earned a living through music until around 1920 working a number of odd jobs over the next 20 years. As the scrapbook reveals, he still performed and conducted around Baltimore until as late as the mid-1930s.
Wahle was an inveterate clipper, and his career is documented in over 140 news clippings which detail his numerous performances as well as criticisms of them. Many of these performances are further brought to life by over 35 programs, most of which document his work in Baltimore.
A number of dated diary entries list where he played, the city and theater, his role and songs sung as well as the occasional reflection on the performance. Other manuscript entries include dates and cast lists, transcriptions of letters from fans. Near the end of the book is alphabetized list of songs, presumably those he could perform. There is also a four page chronology of how he earned a living from 1898-1941 both as a performer as well as a number of odd jobs he took.
A densely packed volume with numerous opportunities for scholarship, giving insight into one man's quest to earn a living at opera in the early 20
th
century, as well as the German-American music community in Baltimore.
This item is offered by Langdon Manor Books, LLC, antiquarian booksellers.  Please do not hesitate to contact us for additional information and/or photos and we will respond promptly.  We package our items carefully, ship daily, and have a no hassle returns policy--your satisfaction is guaranteed.  We are members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksllers (ILAB) and the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA) and adhere to their rules of ethics.
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