author
Geraldine Farrar
1882–1967
A magnetic early 20th-century opera star, this American soprano was admired for both her voice and her stage presence. She became a Metropolitan Opera favorite and later reached an even wider audience through silent films.
1 Audiobook
Geraldine Farrar: The Story of an American Singer
by Geraldine Farrar
About the author
Born in Melrose, Massachusetts, in 1882, Geraldine Farrar showed musical promise early and went on to study seriously before launching her career in Europe. Her breakthrough came in Berlin, and she soon built a reputation not just for vocal skill but for vivid, emotionally direct acting.
Farrar became one of the Metropolitan Opera's most celebrated performers after her debut there in 1906. She was especially associated with roles such as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly and Carmen, and her popularity was so intense that devoted young fans were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers."
She also crossed into silent film, something unusual for a major opera singer of her time, and starred in movies including Carmen and Joan the Woman. After retiring from the operatic stage, she remained a well-known public figure and later wrote about her life and career before her death in Connecticut in 1967.