Odeon, Boston

The Odeon (1835 – c. 1846) of Boston, Massachusetts, was a lecture and concert hall on Federal Street in the building also known as the Boston Theatre.^[1][2] The 1,300-seat auditorium measured "50 feet square" with "red moreen"-upholstered "seats arranged in a circular order, and above them ... spacious galleries."^[3] The Boston Academy of Music occupied the Odeon in the 1830s and 1840s^[4] Notable events at the Odeon included "the first performance in Boston of a Beethoven symphony."^[5]

Odeon, Boston, 19th century

Detail of 1838 map of Boston, showing Odeon on Federal St.

Events

1830s

• Samuel A. Elliot opening address^[3]
• Joseph Story "on the life and professional character of the late Chief Justice Marshall"^[6]
• William Apess lecture^[7]
• James Madison memorial^[6]
• William Ellery Channing lecture^[8]
• Charles Zeuner concert
• Edward Everett lecture^[9]
• A.E. Grimké lecture^[10]
• Samuel J. May lecture^[10]
• Ralph Waldo Emerson lecture^[10][11]
• Society for the Prevention of Pauperism meeting^[6]

1840s

• Musical Convention^[12]
• Boston Children's Friend Society fundraiser^[6]
• Massachusetts Temperance Union meeting^[6]
• Boston Brigade Band concert^[13]
• George Lunt presentation^[14]
• Edgar Allan Poe reading^[15]