Montreal Arena/Aréna de Montréal

Montreal Arena/Aréna de Montréal

Montreal Arena/Aréna de Montréal. Covered amphitheatre, intended mainly for sporting events and horse-shows and erected in 1898 on Ste-Catherine St West at the corner of Wood Avenue. Built at a cost of $75,000 by the Montreal Arena Co, this structure of steel, wood, zinc, and brick seated 7000 people.

Several musical events took place there: the performance of Charles A.E. Harriss' dramatic legend Torquil in 1900; Metropolitan Opera productions of Carmen, Faust, Manon, and Tannhäuser, with casts including Emma Calvé, Marcella Sembrich, Sybil Sanderson, Marcel Journet, and Pol Plançon, in 1901; and Mascagni's operas Cavalleria rusticana, Zanetto, and Iris conducted by the composer in 1902. Patti was heard there (a farewell appearance in 1903), and so were Lilian Nordica and Édouard de Reszke (1903), Calvé (1905), Pauline Donalda on her return from Europe (1906), and Emma Albani in her farewell recital of the same year. The arena presented some famous concert bands - Sousa's in 1902, the Coldstream Guards in 1903, the Republican Guard of Paris in 1904, and the Irish Guards (3 concerts) in 1905. In 1906 the Montreal Oratorio Society produced Messiah and the Canadian premiere of The Dream of Gerontius at the arena. Enrico Caruso performed there in 1908, Luisa Tetrazzini in 1911, Mary Garden in 1912, and Eugène Ysaÿe in 1917.

On 2 Jan 1918 the building was destroyed by fire.