Edwin McArthur

Who was Edwin McArthur?

Edwin McArthur was a celebrated American classical music conductor, pianist and accompanist. From 1935 until his retirement in 1955 he was the usual accompanist of the Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad.

McArthur was born in Denver, Colorado and, having begun work as a professional pianist, studied piano at the Juilliard School and moved to New York as a music teacher and organist. He was married to his wife Blanche in 1930. He applied for a post to play for Flagstad soon after her debut at the Metropolitan Opera and she chose him for her accompanist for her tour of that year. She encouraged him to study with her the repertoire of Scandinavian songs, especially those of Edvard Grieg. It was his custom to play accompaniments from memory.

He made his conducting debut during an Australian tour with her, in Sydney in 1938. In 1941, he became possibly the first American-born conductor to lead a work at the Metropolitan Opera House, conducting Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior in Tristan und Isolde. His readings were considered lyrical and expressive, and Flagstad insisted that he should direct performances wherever she went. McArthur championed American songs, and Flagstad recorded two of his own - Night and We Have Turned Again Home - in the early 1950s. He remained her conductor right through to her retirement in 1955, persuading her to make final appearances in Wagnerian scenes at her farewell concert at Carnegie Hall on 20 March 1955, for the benefit of the Symphony of the Air. He wrote a memoir of his work with Flagstad, published in 1960.