METROPOLITAN OPERA BROADCASTS.(Gladys Swarthout)(Brief Article)

Georges Bizet Carmen

Giuseppe Verdi Un Ballo in Maschera

Gioachino Rossini L'Italiana in Algeri

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Cosi Fan Tutte

In 1924, Mary Garden cut in half a Spanish shawl she had worn as Bizet's Gypsy and presented it to "the next great Carmen." The object of the tribute was Gladys Swarthout.

Born in Deepwater, Missouri, on Christmas Day 1900, Swarthout was American trained and forged her career entirely in America. She made her Metropolitan Opera house debut, as La Cieca in La Gioconda, on November 15, 1929. That same year, she met Frank Chapman, who was to become her husband and personal manager. Under his guidance, she was one of the first mezzos to achieve wide fame. In 1939, Russell McLaughlin of The Detroit News, puzzled by her pairing of Dalila's "Printemps qui commence" with "Una voce poco fa," then considered a soprano vehicle, wrote, "Miss Swarthout is so transcendently good-looking that it probably wouldn't matter if she sang the Pagliacci prologue."

Swarthout embraced radio, films and, eventually, television. She appeared in a number of movies, including Rose of the Rancho (1936), Give Us ...