Lyric Opera House

On the evening of October 31,1894, Emil Paur led the Boston Symphony Orchestra into the prelude to "Die Meistersinger von Nurenberg." It was the opening number of the gala concert celebrating Baltimore's new "Music Hall." Nellie Melba was to crown the evening with her rendition of Handel's "Sweet Bird" aria. Mr. T. Henry Randall, architect for the building joined the throngs backstage to be congratulated by Madame Melba on the hall's perfect acoustics.

No one could have had the foresight to predict the many and varied sounds to ring through this building during its first 75 years. Just 11 years later, Mike Sullivan of Boston and Joe Gans fought a draw at the Lyric Theater. Gans, the lightweight champion suffered an injured left eye which eventually ended his career. In 1905, Baltimoreans were treated to a first exhibition of cooking by electricity at the Food Show in the Lyric.

The list of speakers who have taken the spotlight in the Lyric is a chapter in American history. It includes William Jennings Bryan, Roald Amundsen, Richard E. Byrd, Charles A. Lindbergh, Calvin E. Coolidge, Amelia Earhart, Clarence Darrow, Will Rogers, and Herbert Hoover. Among the great names... the world-famed performers... there appear little known personages out of the past. Gus Schoenlein (known as Americus) wrestled with George Hackenschmit, the world's champion, in the Lyric late in 1906.

The acoustics of the Lyric are world-renowned, and conductors and performers alike have attested to this fact from the beginning. Indeed, it is because of these unique acoustical qualities that so many people, over the years, were anxious to renovate the Lyric.

The Lyric's auditorium was registered on the National Register of Historical Places in 1986. The exterior of the facility, however, remains free so modernization can continue without restrictions. Not only is the theatre a cultural and architectural landmark, it is a world landmark when judged in terms of its sound. Baltimore¹s Lyric Opera House has a steady stream of great moments since 1894 and will continue to be the cultural and entertainment capital of the state of Maryland.