George Meader (1888–1963) was an American artist who first achieved
success abroad. During his childhood, he sang with a boys' choir in
Pittsburg and later studied music at the University of Minnesota. His
bright voice was first noticed during a trip to Germany, and he
proceeded to undertake serious study with Anna Schoen-Rene. He made
his concert debut in 1908 in London.
After studying with Pauline
Viardot-Garcia in Paris, he made his operatic debut in Leipzig in 1910
in Der fliegende Holländer. A year later, he created the role of
Scaramuccio in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos in Stuttgart.
He became a
successful concert artist and sang the tenor role in Mahler's Das Lied
von der Erde in 1913 in Amsterdam under Mengelberg's direction.
He
also participated in the celebrated performance of Haydn's Creation in
Berlin. Meader remained in Germany until 1919, when he returned to the
USA.
He joined the Met in 1921, appearing in the American premiere of
Korngold's Die tote Stadt with Maria Jeritza. He sang a total of
eleven seasons, making a total of 385 appearences, generally in buffo
and character roles.
After a period spent singing operetta and
musical comedy, he eventually settled in Hollywood, California. He may
still be seen as a supporting actor in a number of movies before 1952.
George Meader recorded for both German Grammophon and Columbia.
