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Maurice Hermann Grau (1849 – 14 March 1907) was an Austrian-born American impressario, opera director, and theatre manager and producer. The Americana: A Universal Reference Library stated that "from 1872 until 1903 was the most prominent operatic manager in America". He was a named partner in the US theatre management and production firm Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau which managed numerous theaters in Boston and New York City, including the Metropolitan Opera House. As part of this firm Grau co-managed the Metropolitan Opera (the Met) from 1891 until Abbey's death in 1896 when he took over sole management of the Met. He remained the manager of the Met until 1903 when he retired. He was also concurrently the manager of the Royal Opera House in London from 1897-1900.
The Oxford Companion to American Theatre stated that, "Although best known for his successful tenure as head of the Metropolitan Opera, he was also important in the growth of popular musical theatre in America." He should not be confused with his cousin, also named Maurice Grau (1857-1934), who was a theatre agent.
Early life and education
Born to Moravian parents Emmanuel and Rosalie Grau, Maurice Grau was born in 1849 in Brünn, Austrian Empire (now Brno, Czech Republic). In 1854 the Grau family immigrated to the United States when Maurice was five years old; settling in New York City where Emmanuel and Rosalie operated a boarding house. He was educated in the New York City public school system and then attended the New York Free Academy (now City College of New York) where he graduated in 1867. He then matriculated to Columbia Law School and while a student there was an apprentice in the law firm of Morrison, Lauterbach & Spitgarn.
Grau abandoned his law ambitions in favor of a career in the theatre; largely due to the influence of his uncle, Jacob Grau, who was a theatre impresario that specialized in importing French opéra bouffe to the United States. Maurice began working for his uncle as a child; selling libretti to patrons at his uncle opera house. His uncle was appointed director of the Academy of Music in New York in 1862, but after a difficult tenure there during the American Civil War he left to take over the management the Theatre Francais in 1866. At this time Maurice began working for his uncle in more serious theatre business endeavors at the age of seventeen, and in 1872 he ultimately decided to not pursue the legal profession but embrace a career in artist management.
Career and later life
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Grau began his career as a theatre manager and producer in 1872 when he formed a partnership with Carlo A. Chizzola. Their partnership resulted in the first significant achievement of Grau's career: bringing the French soprano Marie Aimée to the United States. Grau and Chizzola became Aimée's manager on February 12, 1872. Theatre scholars Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak credited Aimée's American appearances with popularizing not only the genre of opéra bouffe in the United States but also setting the foundation for the popularity of the musical within America.
Grau was also responsible for bringing Anton Rubinstein to the United States for his 1872-1873 American tour. Other prominent European artists he brought to the United States included composer Jacques Offenbach; actors Benoît-Constant Coquelin, Tommaso Salvini and Henry Irving; and actress Sarah Bernhardt. In 1873 he co-founded the English Opera Company with Clara Kellogg.
In 1883 Grau married opera singer Maria Louise Durand.
Grau's association with the Metropolitan Opera began in 1890 when he partnered with Henry Eugene Abbey to bring a special series of 21 opera performances to the Met stage.
Grau became ill in December 1906. He died at his home in Paris on March 14, 1907.
References
Citations
- ^ Beach & Rines 1912, Entry: Grau, Maurice.
- ^ Dee Baily (2002). "Grau, Maurice". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O004182.
- ^ Bordman & Hischak 2004, p. 274.
- "MAURICE GRAU DEAD; THEATRICAL AGENT; Son of Ex-Metropolitan Opera Manager and Cousin of Late Maurice Grau". The New York Times. March 11, 1934. p. 31.
- ^ Kytka (3 January 2019). "Moravian Maurice Grau and the Metropolitan Opera". Très Bohèmes. Czechs in America Organization.
- ^ Gänzl 2001, p. 810.
- ^ Krehbiel 1909, p. 278.
- ^ "MAURICE GRAU DIES IN HIS PARIS HOME; Former Director of the Metropolitan Opera House Had Been Ill Since December. A FAMOUS IMPRESARIO Directed the Tours of Many Celebrities and Put Grand Opera on a Paying Basis". The New York Times. March 15, 1907. p. 9.
- Carlson 1985, p. 27.
- "Impresario Grau Is Dead: The Man Who Made the Metropolitan Famous". The Sun. New York City. 15 March 1907. p. 9a.
Bibliography
- Beach, Frederick Converse; Rines, George Edwin, eds. (1912). "Grau, Maurice". The Americana: A Universal Reference Library. Scientific American Compiling Department.
- Bordman, Gerald; Hischak, Thomas S. (2004). "Grau, Maurice". The Oxford Companion to American Theatre (3 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195169867.
- Carlson, Marvin (1985). The Italian Shakespearians: Performances by Ristori, Salvini, and Rossi in England and America. Folger Books. ISBN 9780918016768.
- Gänzl, Kurt (2001). "Grau, Maurice". The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre, Second Edition. Vol. II. Schirmer Books.
- Krehbiel, Henry Edward (1909). Chapters of Opera: Being Historical and Critical Observations and Records Concerning the Lyric Drama in New York from Its Earliest Days Down to the Present Time. Henry Holt and Company.