History
In 1909 Otto Kahn purchased the building on behalf of the Metropolitan Opera and named it the Lyric Theater, as it is now known. Having been modeled on the Concertgebouw, the Lyric was primarily a concert hall until 1982.
In the early 20th century, the Lyric Opera featured opera tenor Enrico Caruso who appeared there with the Metropolitan Opera in a performance of Flotow's Martha, a boxing match between Joe Gans and Mike Sullivan, and the first public showing of electric cooking in Baltimore, as well as hosting speakers like Aimee Semple McPherson, Will Rogers, Richard Byrd, Clarence Darrow, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh and William Jennings Bryan.
Major renovations from 1980-1982 completed its transformation into an opera house. Among the orchestras that performed in the Lyric Opera House are the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (until 1982), and the Philadelphia Orchestra (until 1980), the latter of which had a long history with the venue, including the 1934 debut of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with the composer at the piano.
Currently, the Lyric is the home of Lyric Opera Baltimore, which is operated as part of the Patricia and Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric.
Read more about this topic: Lyric Opera House
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