Love of Opera

PHILIP: Belle Greene made a name for herself working at the Morgan, but she led a fascinating life outside of the Library. She had a wide social circle in New York, often dining out with friends and attending the theatre or opera. She drove a Pierce Arrow convertible and enjoyed what was then called “motoring” in the countryside to escape the heat and crowds of Manhattan. She went to masked balls, hung out with modernist artists and writers, and formed her own art and antique jewelry collection.

One of her good friends was the English actor Ellen Terry, who was immortalized in her role as Lady Macbeth through John Singer Sargent’s famous painting. On Christmas Eve 1910 Terry and Greene spent the evening together out on the town, as recounted in this letter to Bernard Berenson.

ANDI: I have been seeing a good deal of Ellen Terry & Sara Bernhardt lately. Two women who fascinate me—Ellen Terry spent last night with me & it is a fact that we did not go to sleep until five o’clock this morning—Never have I seen any one so overflowing with vitality & the joy of living as she is. We went in the evening to see Humperdinck’s new opera the Königskinder which is very Wagnerian—very Tristan and in the dances a touch of Hansel & Gretel The Russian dancers gave a Ballet afterwards & I almost fainted with joy—Pavlowa [sic] does a thing called the Swan which is too wonderful and she and Mordkin did a Bacchante dance that simply took me off my feet. Then Frank Sturgis gave us a supper at the Metropolitan Club & we came home & had another supper (chiefly a smokers) in my tiny apartment & Ellen T. & I talked for two and a half solid hours & as I said it was five o’clock before either of us thought of supper or bed—My but that woman has lived and so has the divine Sara—Do you suppose I will ever have all those exciting experiences?