The Johnson Era 1935–50

Abstract

Herbert Witherspoon, a voice teacher at the Juilliard School of Music and from 1908–16 a bass on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, was successor to Giulio Gatti-Casazza as the company’s general manager. Only days after taking office, however, Witherspoon died of heart failure, and, thus, his responsibilities fell to his assistant, the tenor Edward Johnson, who had decided to conclude his singing career. After the long, steady experience of Gatti, the company found itself guided by a tyro, and one who had to run a large operation despite the exigencies of the Great Depression and, during years to come, a world war.