OPERA IN THE UNITED STATES. PART II
San Francisco's operatic experiences--New Orleans and its
opera house--Philadelphia; influence of New Orleans, New
York, etc.; The Academy of Music--Chicago's early operatic
history; the Chicago-Philadelphia company; Boston--Comic
opera in New York and elsewhere.
I
During the greater part of the nineteenth century New York was
unquestionably the metropolis of opera in America, and to trace
operatic performances outside that city is a complicated and difficult
undertaking. Generally speaking, other cities obtained their opera by
grace of visiting companies from New York and, on the whole, that grace
was not abundant. Exception must be made in the case of New Orleans
and San Francisco. The latter city never enjoyed what might be called
a permanent operatic institution such as was familiar to New York from
the days of da Ponte, but it had the advantage of frequent visits from
opera troupes on their way to and from Mexico.
The first opera given in San Francisco, as far as we can discover, was
_Ernani_, which was produced by George Lover in 1853. Later, attempts
to establish Italian opera there were made by Lanzoni and Lamperti.
In 1857 Signor and Signora Bianchi gave a season with a very good
company and in opposition to another company brought together by Thomas
Maguire. Those were the days of flowing gold in California, when the
raw yellow metal was thrown on the stage in moments of enthusiastic
appreciation. It cannot be said that artistic conditions were ideal.
Madame Anna Bishop was in San Francisco in 1858-59, but she seems to
have taken part only in operatic concerts. A Spanish opera company and
a company known as the Bianchi Troupe appeared at the old Metropolitan
Theatre in the early sixties, producing _Norma_, _La Sonnambula_, _La
Favorita_, _Belisario_, _Linda di Chamouni_, _Ernani_, _Nabucco_,
_Il Trovatore_, and other works of the same type. _La Traviata_ was
produced at a benefit for Signora Brambilla in 1866 and three years
later Parepa Rosa appeared in _Don Pasquale_. In 1870 there were three
opera companies playing San Francisco at about the same time. Alice
Oates' Popular Opera Bouffe Company gave _La Périchole_, _Petit Duke_,
_La Fille de Madame Angot_, and _Giroflé-Girofla_ with great success,
while similar works were presented by a French company with Marie
Aimée. At the Bijou Theatre Campobello's troupe gave _Il Barbiere
di Siviglia_, _La Favorita_, and other compositions of the same
school. In the same year Theodor Wachtel, the famous coachman tenor,
appeared--presumably in _Le Postillon de Lonjumeau_--and Mme. Mez
Fabbri also gave a series of operas.
For several years following we can find no definite information about
opera in San Francisco beyond the fact that Mme. Zeiss-Dennis, the
famous contralto, made operatic appearances during the early seventies.
In 1876-77 Marie Rose, Annie Louise Cary, and Clara Louise Kellogg
gave English representations of _Carmen_ and _Die Zauberflöte_, and in
1878 the two last-named appeared in a season of opera at the Baldwin
Theatre. At the same theatre earlier in the latter year Catherine Lewis
sang in _opéra bouffe_ of the _Giroflé-Girofla_ type. The redoubtable
Colonel Mapleson brought Her Majesty's Opera Company to San Francisco
in 1881, and in the following year the Emma Juch Opera Company gave
a season at Baldwin's Theatre. Mme. Eugénie Pappenheim, whom we have
already met in New York, appeared with the German and Italian Opera
Company in 1884, and in 1884-85 there was a season of light opera at
the Tivoli Theatre, among the operas produced being 'Little Red Riding
Hood,' _Boccaccio_, and 'H. M. S. Pinafore.' The appearances of Etelka
Gerster, Adelina Patti, and Emma Abbott were other features of operatic
life in San Francisco in 1884.
From this time on San Francisco enjoyed opera in large quantity and of
occasionally high quality. Light opera was especially in evidence, with
the Tivoli Theatre as its favorite home. Offenbach's 'The Georgians,'
as well as _Lucia di Lammermoor_, 'Martha,' 'Cinderella,' 'The Mikado,'
'Nanon,' 'Nell Gwynne,' 'Olivette,' 'The Three Guardsmen,' and
'Princess Ida' were produced in 1885. In the same year Amalia Materna,
Emma Nevada, and Sofia Scalchi made their San Francisco débuts. The
ill-fated National Opera Company and Emma Abbott's troupe were the
chief purveyors of opera in 1887. The latter remained for a few years.
In 1889 came Paston and Canteli's Madrid Spanish Opera Company, which
produced _Il grand Mogul_, _La Mascota_, _Galatea_, _Il Ballo in
Maschera_, _Il Trovatore_, and _La Zaroule_. Tamagno in _Otello_ was
the most noteworthy event of 1890, and 1891 is remarkable for the
appearance of a Jewish opera troupe which gave operas in the Jewish
language. There is nothing particular to record for the years 1892,
1893, 1894, and 1895. The presence of the Tavery Opera Company was the
chief event of 1896, while in 1897 the predominant feature was the
appearance of Puccini's Opera Company in _La Bohème_, _La Traviata_,
_Cavalleria rusticana_, _Faust_, and other works.
The subsequent history of opera in San Francisco is chiefly the
recital of visits by opera troupes from various quarters. Apart from
the Emma Abbott Opera Company, which was more or less a fixture, there
has been no permanent operatic organization there; but San Francisco
is an eager supporter of opera and has never lacked a generous supply
of it. Comic opera has been especially well supported and the Tivoli
Theatre has perhaps seen more of that form of entertainment than any
other house in the United States.
II
In New Orleans during the first half of the nineteenth century opera
flourished with a brilliance unknown elsewhere in America. The
Louisiana city was, as we have pointed out, an American Paris, and
the best operatic artists of the French capital appeared there in
works selected from the current Parisian répertoire. The opera house
was the centre of social, artistic, and musical New Orleans. It was
an institution with a tradition and an atmosphere. The brilliant and
cultured Creole society lent to it the glamour which only society can
give, but it was not dependent upon social support in the same sense as
the successive New York opera houses were dependent on such support.
It was a popular institution; it was an integral part of the life of
the city; it was a source at once of pride and pleasure to the humblest
citizen. And to a certain extent it remains so still.
The father of opera in New Orleans, as we have already pointed
out, was John Davis, who built the Théâtre d'Orléans in 1816. This
theatre was remodeled in 1845 and was destroyed by fire in 1866. Its
glory, however, had departed several years previous to the latter
date and had passed over to the New French Opera House, erected by
the New Orleans Opera-House Association in 1859. The moving spirit
in the new enterprise was M. Boudousquie, who became its manager. M.
Parlange tried a season of opera at the Théâtre d'Orléans in 1859-60,
but without success, and the old house then fell into disuse. Its
history, however, had been a brilliant one. For over forty years it had
maintained a standard of artistic excellence unsurpassed in America and
not far below that of the best European opera houses. Its ensembles,
both vocal and instrumental, were exceptionally good--notably so,
indeed, in a period when operatic stars were too conspicuously in
the ascendant. True, its repertory was never remarkable either for
its novelty or for its eclecticism. But that was a fault only too
common to opera houses both here and abroad during the first half of
the nineteenth century. The list of operas presented at the Théâtre
d'Orléans between 1825 and 1860 would be too long to quote here,
but it may be mentioned that during that time New Orleans heard the
following operas for the first time: _Le Barbier de Séville_, _La
Maette de Portici_, _Fra Diavolo_, _Robert le Diable_, _L'Éclair_
(Halévy), _Sémiramide_, _Les Huguenots_, _La Sonnambula_, _Zanetta_
(Auber), _Lucia di Lammermoor_, _La Esmeralda_ (Prévost), _Beatrice
di Tenda_, _Il Furioso_, _L'Elisir d'Amore_, _Norma_, _Guillaume
Tell_, _La Favorita_, _La Fille du Régiment_, _La Juive_, _Lucrecia
Borgia_, _I Puritani_ (in Italian), _Belisario_ (in Italian), _La Reine
de Chypre_, _Der Freischütz_, _Les Martyrs_, _Charles VI_ (Halévy),
_Jérusalem_ (Verdi), _Le Prophète_, _Le Caïd_ (Thomas), _Les Deux
Foscari_, _Les Montenégrins_ (Limmander), _La Gazza Ladra_, _Tancredi_,
_Othello_ (Rossini), _Moses_ (Rossini), _Don Giovanni_, _Marguérite
d'Anjou_ (Meyerbeer), _La Vestale_ (Spontini), _L'Étoile du Nord_, _Il
Trovatore_, _Ernani, Jaguarita_ (Halévy), _Martha_ and _Rigoletto_. Of
these _Il Furioso_, _L'Elisir d'Amore_, _Les Martyrs_ and _Le Prophète_
were given for the first time in America.
M. Boudousquie opened the New Orleans Opera House with a brilliant
company which included Mathieu (tenor), Melchisedes (baritone),
Genebrel (basso), and Feitlinger (soprano). He presented _Le Pardon
de Ploërmel_ for the first time in New Orleans and put on a number
of operas already familiar to the city, including _Rigoletto_, with
the novice Patti in the rôle of Gilda. The war naturally killed all
operatic activities for the time being. Subsequently the New Orleans
Opera House was reopened with a strolling company managed by the
Alhaiza brothers. In 1866 a splendid company gathered together by the
Alhaizas in France was drowned on the voyage to America in the wreck of
the _Evening Star_. A surviving brother opened with an Italian troupe,
and since then the New Orleans Opera House has continued its functions,
with occasional interruptions, _per varios casus per tot discrimina
rerum_. Italian, German and English companies have been heard there
from time to time, but on the whole it has remained a thoroughly French
house directed by French managers and presenting opera in the French
tongue. Its principal artists have been selected from among the best
on the contemporary French stage and have included many singers of
world-wide reputation. For years it has been the custom of the house
to change its singers every season, and on that account it would be
impossible to enumerate here the list of distinguished artists who
have appeared on its boards. Mention may be made, however, of such
well-known names as Devoyed, Durnestre, Ambre, Tournie, Levelli,
Pical, Michat, Orlius, Etelka Gerster, Fursch-Madi, Paulin, Baux,
Mounier, Deo, Feodor, Albers and Maurice Renaud. The following operas
have been given in New Orleans for the first time from 1866 to 1914,
inclusive: _Crispino e la Comare_, _Faust_, _Un Ballo in Maschera_,
_Petrella's Ione_, _Linda di Chamouni_, _L'Africaine_, Gounod's _Romeo
et Juliette_, Donizetti's _Don Sebastian_, _Der fliegende Holländer_,
_Lohengrin_ (in Italian), _Fidelio_ (in Italian), _Tannhäuser_ (in
Italian), _Aïda_, _Carmen_, _Mefistofele_ (in Italian), _Paul et
Virginie_, _Mireille_ (in Italian), _Les Petits Mousquetaires_ (first
time in America), Planquette's _Rip Van Winkle_, Gounod's _Le Tribut de
Zamora_ (first time in America), Thomas's _Le Songe d'une nuit d'eté_,
Lalo's _Le roi d'Ys_ (first time in America), _Le Cid_, _Sigurd_ (first
time in America), _Cavalleria rusticana_ (in English), _Hérodiade_
(first time in America), _Samson et Dalila_ (first time in America),
_Lakmé_, _Esclarmonde_ (first time in America), _Manon_, _Les Pécheurs
de Perles_, _Werther_ (first time in America), Salvayre's _Richard III_
(first time in America), _Die Walküre_ (in German), _Siegfried_ (in
German), _Tristan und Isolde_ (in German), _Die Götterdämmerung_ (in
German), _La Navarraise_, _Benvenuto Cellini_, _I Pagliacci_, _La Reine
de Saba_ (first time in America), _Reyer's Salammbo_ (first time in
America), _Godard's La Vivandière_, _La Vie de Bohême_, _La Giaconda_,
_Cendrillon_ (first time in America), _Messaline_, Verdi's _Otello_
(in English), _Tosca_ (in English), _Parsifal_ (in German), _Siberia_
(first time in America), _L'Amico Fritz_, Cilea's _Adrienne Lecouvreur_
(first time in America), _Madam Butterfly_ (in English), _Fedora_ (in
Italian), _Louise_, _Le Jongleur de Notre Dame_, _Hänsel und Gretel_,
_Thaïs_, _L'Attaque du Moulin_, Leroux's _Le Chemineau_ (first time
in America), _Don Quichotte_ (first time in America), _Quo Vadis_,
_Sappho_, Saint-Saëns' _Phryne_, and Bizet's _L'Arlésienne_ (first time
in America).
III
Historically the French opera in New Orleans is of great importance
for its influence on the operatic development of other cities. This
is especially true of Philadelphia, which was introduced to opera by
the New Orleans organization in 1827. Philadelphia, of course, was
already familiar with the English ballad opera and it had heard a
diluted English version of _Der Freischütz_ in 1825, but of opera in
its real sense it was still quite innocent. The New Orleans company
which appeared at the Chestnut Street Theatre in 1827 returned each
succeeding season until 1834. The following list of operas produced by
them may be of interest: _Le petit Chaperon rouge_, _Joconde_, _Robin
des Bois_ (_Der Freischütz_), _Azema_, _La Dame blanche_, _Le Maçon_,
_Werther_, _Thérèse_, _Rendezvous bourgeois_, _Le Solitaire_, _La fète
du village voisin_, _Adolphe et Clare_, _Les voitures versées_, _Les
Visitandines_, _Le nouveau seigneur de village_, _Cendrillon_, _Les
Folles amoureuses_, _Aline_, _Moses in Egypt_, _La Vestale_, _Jean de
Paris_, _Trente ans de la vie d'un joueur_, _Fiorella_, _La Fiancée_,
_Gulistan_, _La Caravane de Cairo_, _La Dame du lac_, _Le Calife de
Bagdad_, _Comte Ory_, _La Muette de Portici_, _Fra Diavolo_, _Guillaume
Tell_, _Le Barbier de Séville_, _La Clochette_, _La Gazza Ladra_, _Le
Petit Matelot_, _La pie Voleuse_, _La Jeune Prude_, _Zampa_, _Jean_,
_Rossignol_, _Le Philtre_, _La Tour de Nesle_. The Montressor Troupe,
an Italian company, appeared at the Chestnut Street Theatre in 1833
and gave Philadelphia its first taste of Italian opera, presenting _Il
Pirata_, _Italiani in Algieri_, _La Cenerentola_, Rossini's _Otello_,
and Mercadante's _Elisa e Claudio_.
The proximity of New York insured frequent visits of opera companies
from that city, and it may be said without exaggeration that from
this time forward New York was almost exclusively the source of
supply for opera in Philadelphia. So much is this so that to follow
the history of opera in the former city is practically to follow it
in the latter, except that New York was a base and Philadelphia a
visiting point. Opera in English by the Woods was a feature of the
Philadelphia season in 1843 and, in the following year, the Rivafinoli
Opera Troupe, which we have already met in New York, gave a season of
ten nights. Cimarosa's _Matrimonio segreto_ was the most interesting
of their offerings. More opera in English by the Woods, the Seguins,
Caradori-Allan, Fanny Elssler, and others occupied musical Philadelphia
until 1845, the only break being a short season in 1843 by an Italian
company which presented _Norma_, _Lucia di Lammermoor_, _Belisario_, _I
Puritani_, and _Gemma di Vergy_. The New Orleans company reappeared in
1845 with _La Favorite_, _La Fille du régiment_, _Robert le diable_,
_Le Domino noir_, _La Muette de Portici_, _L'Ambassadrice_, _La Juive_,
and _Les Huguenots_.
The Havana troupe, which we met in New York, regaled Philadelphia in
1847 with Pacini's _Saffo_, Verdi's _Ernani_, _I Lombardi_ and _Due
Foscari_, with Bettini's _Romeo e Giuletta_, with _La Sonnambula_,
_Mosé in Egitto_, _Norma_, and _Linda di Chamouni_. The Seguins still
continued to give opera in English. Sanquirico and Patti brought their
company from New York in 1848, without setting the Delaware on fire,
though they included _Don Giovanni_ in their extended répertoire. They
remained in Philadelphia until 1851, when the Havana troupe appeared
with a splendid company, including Bosio, Bertucca, Salvi, and Marini.
The only novelty produced by the Havana company was _Don Pasquale_, but
their performances were artistically the finest that had been heard
in Philadelphia. In 1852 the Seguins produced Verdi's _Luisa Miller_
for the first time in America. Both Albani and Sontag appeared in
Philadelphia in 1853 with the old Rossini-Bellini-Donizetti program,
and a similar repertory secured the appearances of Grisi and Mario
in 1855. _Il Trovatore_ was heard in 1856 with Brignoli and Anna La
Grange. Opera in English still continued under various auspices.
An event in the operatic history of Philadelphia was the opening in
1857 of the Academy of Music, which continued to be the home of opera
in that city until Oscar Hammerstein built his Philadelphia Opera House
in 1908. It was erected by a company promoted and organized by most
of the wealthy and socially prominent residents of Philadelphia. The
first year of its existence was rendered interesting by the visit of a
German company headed by Mme. Johannsen, which gave _Der Freischütz_,
_Fidelio_, Auber's _Le Maçon_, and Lortzing's _Czar und Zimmermann_.
There was Italian opera of the usual sort aplenty in that and the
succeeding year. The winsome Piccolomini made her Philadelphia début in
1859 and additional variety was introduced into the same year by the
production of _Le Nozze di Figaro_, _Don Giovanni_, Pergolesi's _La
Serva Padrona_, Meyerbeer's _Les Huguenots_ and _Robert le diable_,
Verdi's _I Vespri Siciliani_, and Mozart's _Die Zauberflöte_. Ronconi,
Carl Formes (somewhat passé), and Adelina Patti-Strakosch were the
most notable artists--apart from Piccolomini. A French company gave
Offenbach's _La Chatte Métamorphosée_ and other comic operas in 1860
and the following year saw the first production in Philadelphia of
Verdi's _Un Ballo in Maschera_ and Massé's _Les Noces de Jeanette_.
Meyerbeer's Dinorah was a novelty of 1862.
The German company with Madame Johannsen reappeared in 1863 and 1864,
and to musical Philadelphia it must have come like the first breeze of
autumn after a parching summer. Its répertoire included _Martha_, _Der
Freischütz_, _Le Maçon_, Kreutzer's _Nachtlager in Granada_, _Fidelio_,
_Die Zauberflöte_, Lortzing's _Der Wildschütz_, Boieldieu's _Jean de
Paris_, Flotow's _Stradella_, Mozart's _Die Entführung aus dem Serail_,
and _Le Nozze di Figaro_, Méhul's _Joseph_, Adam's _Le Postillon de
Lonjumeau_, Nicolai's _Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor_, Spohr's
_Jessonda_, Gounod's _Mireille_, as well as _Don Giovanni_, _Faust_,
and _Tannhäuser_. At least seven of these were complete novelties
to Philadelphia. The Italians continued in force with Clara Louise
Kellogg, Bellini, Zucchi, and others. Petrella's _Ione_ was a novelty
of 1863 and in 1864 'Notre Dame of Paris,' by the American composer W.
H. Fry, was produced under the leadership of Theodore Thomas. In 1865
_La Forza del Destino_ appeared and in 1866 _L'Africaine_, _Crispino e
la Comare_, and _L'Étoile du Nord_.
Balfe's 'The Rose of Castile,' Auber's _La Fiancée_, Eichberg's
'Doctor of Alcantara,' Wallace's 'Maritana,' and other works were
given in English by Ritching's troupe in 1866 and 1867. Indeed, opera
in English persisted in Philadelphia as it has done nowhere else in
America. Italian opera continued on its usual course from year to
year without any achievements of special note. In 1868 and again in
1873, 1875, and 1879 there was an epidemic of _opéra comique_ during
which Philadelphia heard _La Grande Duchesse_, _La Belle Hélène_,
_Barbe-Bleue_, _La Périchole_, _Orphée aux Enfers_, _Les Bavards_,
_Monsieur Chaufleuri_, _Géneviève de Brabant_, _L'Œil Crève_, _Fleur
de Thé_, _La Vie Parisienne_, _Le Petit Faust_, _Les Cent Vierges_,
_La Fille de Madame Angot_, and other works of that type. The first
performance of Gounod's _Romeo et Juliette_ in 1868, _Le Prophète_
in 1869, Bristow's 'Rip Van Winkle' in 1870, Thomas's _Mignon_ and
_Hamlet_ in 1872, Verdi's _Aïda_ in 1873, _Lohengrin_ in 1874, _Der
fliegende Holländer_ in 1877, _Rienzi_ and _Carmen_ in 1878, and
Boïto's _Mefistofele_ in 1881 may also be worthy of notice. During
those years Strakosch and Mapleson were the chief purveyors of opera
to Philadelphia, excepting, of course, the French troupes who were so
generous of _opéra comique_ novelties. In 1882 the Boston Ideal Opera
Company, of which we shall have something to say later, appeared at
the Walnut Street Theatre presenting _Fatinitza_, 'The Pirates of
Penzance,' 'The Mascot,' _Olivette_, 'Czar and Carpenter,' 'H. M. S.
Pinafore,' and 'The Chimes of Normandy.' The Emma Abbott Grand English
Opera Company appeared in the same year, as did Maurice Grau's French
Opera Company.
From this time on Philadelphia was supplied with opera chiefly from the
Metropolitan in New York until Mr. Hammerstein built his Philadelphia
Opera House there in 1908 and presented the same attractions as were
heard at the Manhattan. After he sold out to the Metropolitan interests
the Chicago-Philadelphia Opera Company, of which we shall speak later,
catered to the operatic demands of the Quaker city.
IV
Chicago, in spite of--or perhaps because of--its phenomenally rapid
growth, has only recently become an operatic city of any importance.
But one must not conclude that opera was unknown there before the
unlucky Mr. Hammerstein was compelled to forego the organization which
his genius had created and which formed the nucleus of the Chicago
Opera Company. Chicago, indeed, became acquainted with opera while
yet it was a city only _in futuro_, and it continued to enjoy opera
with more or less regularity during all the succeeding years, though
it lacked a permanent organization of its own until fate and Mr.
Hammerstein conspired to supply one.
The beginning of grand opera in Chicago has been traced by Mr.
Karleton Hackett, and his record of it furnishes interesting and
rather amusing reading.[52] Chicago in 1850 had a population of about
28,000 people and a theatre built and managed by J. B. Rice. Mr. Rice
was enterprising and an important result of his enterprise is noticed
in the Chicago 'Journal' of July 27, 1850, as follows: 'Mr. Rice,
ever ready to minister to the tastes of the public, has effected an
engagement with an opera troupe of acknowledged reputation who will
make their first appearance on Monday evening.
Among them are Mr. Manners and Miss Brienti, names already familiar to
many of our readers. This is a new feat in theatrical entertainments
and one which should meet with distinguished favor.'
Two nights later _La Sonnambula_ formally introduced Chicago to the
'new feat in theatrical entertainments.' As an example of musical
criticism in its simplest terms we quote the following from the
'Journal': 'An excellent house welcomed the Opera Troupe to the Chicago
boards last evening and _La Somnambula_ (!) was performed as announced.
Whatever may be the taste of the theatre-going public in this city with
regard to Operas, all must conceed (!) that the music was of a high
order, and executed with admirable grace and skill. Miss Brienti's face
is eloquent in her favor, to begin with, and her voice, now as soft as
a vesper bell, now wild and shrill as a clarion, doubles and completes
the charm. Messrs. Manvers and Quibel both possess voices of tone,
power and cultivation, and with Miss Brienti and Miss Mathews make
melody and harmony that Apollo would not hesitate to accompany upon his
ocean-tuned harp.'
The second performance of _La Sonnambula_ was interrupted by a fire
which burned down Mr. Rice's theatre. The enterprising manager,
however, erected a 'new and splendid establishment' which was opened
early in 1851. Two years later Signor Poliani, 'acting in the name
and on behalf of Mme. de Vries and Signor L. Arditi,' announced
performances at the Chicago Theatre of 'the opera in three acts,
_Lucia di Lammermoor_, the _chef d'œuvre_ of Donizetti, and the grand
masterpiece of Bellini, _Norma_.' In addition to Mme. de Vries and
Signori Pezzolini, Toffanelli and Colletti, there was 'a very effective
chorus of ladies and gentlemen--the best in the United States of
America and desirable even in Europe.' The orchestra, furthermore,
was 'composed of solo performers, and all professors of the highest
standing--over 40 in number, the whole under the magic direction of the
most distinguished master and composer, Sig. L. Arditi, of European
fame and well known as one of the greatest living composers.' One is
not surprised to learn that this marvellous company made a great hit
and remained in Chicago long enough to give _La Sonnambula_. It was
succeeded by a troupe of 'acting monkeys, dogs, and goats.'
In 1858 Chicago had its next operatic treat when the New Orleans
English Opera Company--which assuredly did not come from New
Orleans--gave a season of two weeks, presenting _La Sonnambula_,
'Daughter of the Regiment,' Auber's 'Crown Diamonds,' and _Fra
Diavolo_, 'The Barber of Seville,' 'The Bohemian Girl,' 'Cinderella,'
_Der Freischütz_, and _Il Trovatore_. The tenor rôles were sung by a
lady. In the same year Carl Formes, whose reputation had outlived his
voice, appeared with a strong company which carried no less than three
conductors--the same being Carl Anschütz, Carl Bergmann, and Theodore
Thomas. Maurice Strakosch with Amalia Patti, Brignoli, and the others
of his troupe visited Chicago in 1859, giving _Il Trovatore_, _Martha_,
_Norma_, _La Sonnambula_, _La Favorita_, and _Don Giovanni_--the
last-named with a 'cast which has never been excelled in any opera
house in Europe, New York, Boston, or Philadelphia.'
From this time forward Chicago was supplied with opera almost
exclusively from New York and was included in the itinerary of the tour
with which nearly every New York company began or finished its season.
The visits of the New York companies to Chicago varied in length from a
week to four weeks. After Mr. Hammerstein sold out to the Metropolitan
interests his forces formed the nucleus of a newly organized
Chicago-Philadelphia Opera Company, which, under the management of Mr.
Andreas Dippel and subsequently of Mr. Cleofonte Campanini, has since
given Chicago regular seasons of opera rivalling in the standard of
their achievement those given at the Metropolitan in New York.
The Chicago-Philadelphia company has divided its season between the two
cities after which it is named, besides making post-season trips to a
number of Western cities. During the few years of its existence it has
placed to its credit a number of notable achievements, including the
first performances in America of Jean Nougues' _Quo Vadis_?; Ermano
Wolf-Ferrari's _Il Segreto di Susanna_ and _Le Giojie della Madonna_;
Victor Herbert's _Natoma_; Goldmark's 'Cricket on the Hearth' (in
English), Massenet's _Cendrillon_ and _Don Quichotte_, and Franchetti's
_Cristoforo Colombo_. Its regular repertory has been mainly that which
prevailed at the Manhattan Opera House under Hammerstein. The same is
true of most of its singers. Among the more notable additions to its
list of artists have been Jeanne Korolewicz, Maggie Teyte, Caroline
White, Lillian Grenville, Mario Guardabassi and Tito Ruffo, and it
has also enjoyed frequent 'visits' from stars of the Metropolitan and
Boston Opera Houses, with both of which it is closely affiliated.
Boston, like most other American cities, has been until recently in
the position of depending chiefly on New York for its operatic fare.
It was the latest of the large Eastern cities to become acquainted
with grand opera, having been introduced to that form of entertainment
by the Havana company of Señor Marty y Torrens in 1847. Satisfied
apparently with what was supplied to it from New York, it initiated no
noteworthy operatic enterprises of its own until 1909, when the Boston
Opera House was built through the munificence of Mr. Eben D. Jordan.
The artistic direction of the new enterprise was placed in the hands of
Mr. Henry Russell, who for some years previously had toured the country
successfully with his San Carlo Opera Company. Since then Boston
has been an operatic city of importance. In addition to excellent
performances of the regular French, Italian, and German repertory made
familiar by the Metropolitan and Manhattan companies, it has heard
the first performances in America of Debussy's _L'Enfant Prodigue_,
Raoul Laparra's _La Habañera_, Frederick Converse's 'The Sacrifice,'
Zan-donai's _Conchita_, Erlanger's _Noël_, Kienzl's _Kuhreigen_,
Bizet's _Djamileh_, Louis Aubert's _Forêt Bleue_, and Henri Fevrier's
_Monna Vanna_.
The Boston Opera Company is very closely affiliated with the
Metropolitan and the principals of each are carried on the roster
of the other. To a lesser extent there is a like exchange between
the Boston and the Chicago-Philadelphia companies. Almong the more
notable artists who have sung with the Boston company (excluding those
belonging principally to the Metropolitan company) may be mentioned
Carmen Mélis, Georgette Le Blanc-Maeterlinck, Leon Sibiriakoff, José
Mardones, Florencio Constantino, Giovanni Zenatello, George Baklanoff,
Lucien Muratore, Vanni Marcoux, and Eduardo Ferrari-Fontana.
It would be impossible, within the limits of a chapter, to follow
operatic activities in other cities of the United States. Nearly every
city of importance has received more or less regular visits from the
big New York companies, from the Chicago-Philadelphia company, and
from lesser enterprises organized for touring purposes. There would be
little point in citing a list of these enterprises, but mention may be
made of the opera companies promoted by Henry W. Savage and the Aborns,
which have done for the smaller cities of the United States what the
Carl Rosa and Moody-Manners companies have done for the principal
cities of Great Britain.
In many of the more progressive musical cities--such as San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Cincinnati--the question of permanent
operatic establishments has been strongly mooted, and undoubtedly
the time is fast approaching when these and other cities will enjoy
the advantages which now belong only to New York, Boston, Chicago,
Philadelphia, and New Orleans.
V
The line of demarcation between grand opera and comic opera is not
easy to trace. Both have run together with a promiscuity which makes
it very difficult to follow the history of one as distinguished from
that of the other. _Le Nozze di Figaro_ and _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_
go hand in hand with _Fidelio_ and _Norma_; _Die Meistersinger_ is a
companion of _Tristan_. The convenient tendency to spread the generic
name of opera over all forms of musico-dramatic expression is found in
all countries and periods. It is particularly noticeable in America,
where even the dignified Metropolitan Opera House found it consistent
to conjoin _Die Fledermaus_ and _Der Zigeunerbaron_ with _Parsifal_ and
_Salome_.
In our general survey of opera in America we have touched on the comic
opera activities which went on more or less in association with grand
opera, and it only remains for us to refer briefly to the activities of
such companies as devoted themselves exclusively to the lighter form of
entertainment. The first of these, of course, were the French companies
from New Orleans who familiarized the country with Pergolesi, Rousseau,
Piccini, Cimarosa, Méhul, Grétry, Dalayrac, Boieldieu, Auber, and other
masters of the light opera. Apart from the companies playing English
ballad opera--a distinct _genre_--these were the only troupes of note
which presented exclusively the lighter side of operatic art until late
in the nineteenth century.
The real era of comic opera in America began about 1870 and lasted
for somewhat less than twenty years. The first notable event of this
period was the importation of Miss Emily Soldene and company--then the
rage of London--by Messrs. Grau and Chizzola. They opened a season of
_opéra bouffe_ in English at the Lyceum Theatre, New York, in November,
1874, and played to crowded houses for several months, presenting
_Généviève de Brabant_, _Chilperic_, _La Fille de Madame Angot_, and
_Madame l'Archiduc_. Afterward they visited Philadelphia, Brooklyn,
Boston--'beautiful, bald-headed Boston,' as Miss Soldene called
it--Washington, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, Louisville, St. Louis,
Houston, Galveston, and New Orleans. In 1875 Madame Aimée arrived with
her French _opéra bouffe_ company, also under the management of Messrs.
Grau and Chizzola, and soon afterward came the Offenbach craze and the
ill-starred visit of the composer.
Next came the vogue of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, with very
fortunate results for America. The manager of the Boston Theatre was
then engaged in a desperate and unsuccessful hunt for novelties and, in
the extremity of his need, he appealed to his musical director. 'See
here,' said the latter, 'this "Pinafore" that everybody is crazy about
has been already done to death in many ways--but has it been really
sung? Never! Well, then, why not get Phillips and Whitney and Barnabee
and Tom Karl together and see what the piece is like, musically.'[53]
The suggestion appealed to the manager and it was agreed that the
proposed cast would be ideal. Hence the formation of the company known
as the Boston Ideals, which produced 'Pinafore' on April 14, 1879. For
all-round artistic excellence nothing like that performance had ever
been given by an English-speaking company in America, nor did any opera
company ever make such a success in this country as was achieved by the
Boston Ideals.
Miss Soldene's troupe, it is true, was a tremendous rage, but she is
frank enough to confess that its success was not exactly a triumph of
pure art. Setting a precedent for all managers of musical comedy, she
selected a chorus with a minimum of voice and a maximum of personal
pulchritude. She was rewarded by liberal patronage from the sort of
men who know the difference between a chorus girl and a show girl.
The Boston Ideals, on the other hand, were a splendidly talented and
efficient organization, containing some of the finest artists America
had produced and inspired with a sincere enthusiasm for their work.
During the six years following the production of 'Pinafore' they played
'The Sorcerer,' _Boccaccio_, _Olivette_, 'The Mascot,' 'Czar and
Carpenter,' 'Bohemian Girl,' 'Chimes of Normandy,' 'The Musketeers,'
'Pirates of Penzance,' 'Patience,' 'Marriage of Figaro,' _Fra
Diavolo_, 'The Weathercock' (their only failure), _Giroflé-Girofla_,
_Barbe-Bleue_, 'Martha,' _Fanchonette_, _Giralda_, _L'Elisir d'Amore_,
and 'Visit of the Blue Stocking.'
Subsequently the company was reorganized and, at the suggestion
of Colonel Henry Watterson, was christened 'The Bostonians.' Under
its new name the company lived for twenty-five years, surviving by
considerable length the popularity of comic opera in America. Among
the works it produced were 'The Poachers,' 'Dorothy,' _Don Pasquale_,
_Don Quixote_, _Mignon_, 'Pygmalion and Galatea,' 'Robin Hood,' 'The
Knickerbockers,' 'The Ogalallas,' 'Prince Ananias,' 'In Mexico, or a
War-time Wedding,' 'The Serenade,' 'Rip Van Winkle,' 'Maid Marian,'
'Rob Roy,' 'Vice Roy,' 'The Smugglers,' 'Maid of Plymouth,' and 'Queen
of Laughter.' Of these the most successful by far was De Koven's 'Robin
Hood,' which the Bostonians played for twelve years without dimming the
freshness of that most delightful of American light operas. Not the
least valuable of the services rendered to music by the Bostonians was
the opportunity they gave to young American singers. 'The Bostonians,'
said Henry Clay Barnabee, 'gave the United States the most successful
school for operatic study that this country has ever had, and from
its ranks graduated an astonishing number of well-known singers.
No other organization has done more, if as much, toward assisting
American writers of opera.' A list of the well-known graduates of the
Bostonians would be too long to quote, but among the familiar names may
be mentioned Marie Stone, Alice Nielsen, Grace Van Studdiford, Jessie
Bartlett Davis, Marcia Van Dresser, Kate Condon, Tom Karl, Joseph
Sheehan, George B. Frothingham, Eugene Cowles, Allan Hinckley, and W.
H. MacDonald, besides the inimitable comedian--Barnabee. The company,
of course, devoted its efforts largely to Boston, New York, and other
Eastern cities, but it made frequent tours west of the Mississippi,
playing every city of importance between that river and the Pacific
Coast.
In New York the chief purveyor of comic opera during the seventies was
Maurice Grau, who had brought over Emily Soldene and Mme. Aimée and
who continued to import European favorites, including the Offenbach
operetta queen, Madame Théo. Rudolph Aronson, who had done some
successful experimenting in concert direction, next came forward with
an original scheme for a combined theatre, concert hall, restaurant,
and roof garden--an American adaptation of such European institutions
as the Ambassadeurs, Kroll's Garten, and the Volksgarten. With the
backing of nearly all the socially and financially prominent gentlemen
in New York he formed the New York Casino Company and built the
Casino, a Mauresque structure which is as much in place on Broadway
as Independence Hall would be in Algiers. With the operetta company
of John A. McCaull, taken over from the Bijou Opera House, the Casino
opened in October, 1882, presenting Johann Strauss's 'The Queen's Lace
Handkerchief.' After a very successful run this operetta was taken
off to make room for the Maurice Grau French Opera Company headed by
Madame Théo, which gave _La Jolie Parfumeuse_, _Romeo et Juliette_,
_Paul et Virginie_, _La Fille de Madame Angot_, and _La Mascotte_.
The McCaull Opera Company, with Lillian Russell, then returned to
the Casino, presenting 'The Sorcerer,' 'The Princess of Trebizond,'
'The Queen's Lace Handkerchief,' 'Prinz Methusalem,' 'The Beggar
Student,' 'Merry War,' 'Polly,' 'Billie Taylor,' 'Nanon,' 'Amorita,'
'Gypsy Baron,' 'Erminie,' 'The Marquis,' 'Madelon,' 'Nadjy,' 'The
Yeomen of the Guard,' 'The Brigands,' 'The Drum Major,' 'The Grand
Duchess,' 'The Brazilian,' 'Madame Angot,' 'Poor Jonathan,' 'Apollo,'
'Indigo,' 'The Tyrolean,' _Cavalleria rusticana_, 'Uncle Celestin,'
'Child of Fortune,' 'The Vice-Admiral,' and 'The Rainmaker of Syria.'
This company had become known in the meantime as the Casino Comic
Opera Company. In 1886 it went on tour, playing Boston, Philadelphia,
and Brooklyn, while the Casino was occupied by the Violet Cameron
Opera Company from London. The latter presented 'The Commodore' and
'Kenilworth' with little success. In 1892 Mr. Aronson decided to change
the policy of the Casino and to produce there lighter works of the
best French and German operatic schools. While he was in Europe the
directors of the Casino decided to turn the house into a music hall on
the style of the Empire and the Alhambra in London.
By this time, however, comic opera had lost its hold on the fickle
affections of the American people and frequent efforts to revive
interest in it since then have met with no more than the success of a
temporary curiosity. Much of the decline in the popularity of comic
opera was due to the rise of the English musical comedy, beginning
with 'Florodora' and 'The Belle of New York.' Except for occasional
excursions into Orientalism, like 'The Geisha' and 'San Toy,'
musical comedy rapidly ran into a set type of 'girl' show invariably
characterized by inanity of plot, mediocrity of text and music, and a
lavish display of feminine charms. For a time the success of Lehàr's
'Merry Widow' induced a vogue of Viennese light opera, of which traces
still exist, and occasional revivals _de luxe_ of 'Erminie,' 'Robin
Hood,' and the Gilbert and Sullivan operas aroused temporary interest.
But since the old Casino days there has been no public in New York
for comic opera and in that respect the fashion of New York has been
followed by the rest of the country. No comic opera which has come
before the public on its own merits and without the support of some
such stimulus as the 'Soul Kiss' waltzes of the new Viennese school,
has been able to win any measure of success. An instance may be cited
in the complete failure of 'Veronique.' Attempts to reach a public
educated above the musical attractions of the ordinary theatres have
been no more fruitful. Oscar Hammerstein made a gallant and costly
effort with French comic opera at the Manhattan and the Metropolitan
followed his good example more eclectically at the New Theatre (now
the Century). In neither case was New York interested. Even when the
indomitable and persevering Mr. Hammerstein shifted to Broadway and to
the vernacular, his productions of 'Hans the Flute Player' and 'The
Firefly,' flavored with the _sauce piquante_ of Emma Trentini, failed
to stimulate a lasting appetite in the New York theatre-goers. Andreas
Dippel opened a series of comic opera productions in the season of
1914-15. How far and how successfully his plans will mature remains to
be seen. But so far the lethargy of the public toward comic opera has
triumphantly resisted every attempt to rouse it and the prospects of
the enterprising impresario in that field are far from encouraging.
The trouble seems to lie deeper than mere indifference to a particular
genre of musical entertainment. It is presumably symptomatic of a
general apathy toward good music, or rather of a general lack of
intelligent æsthetic appreciation. That the faculty of intelligent
æsthetic appreciation is somewhat rudimentary in the average American
of to-day is a fact that the unbiased observer can hardly escape.
W. D. D.
FOOTNOTES:
[52] 'The Beginning of Grand Opera in Chicago,' 1913.
[53] See 'Reminiscences of Henry Clay Barnabee,' Boston, 1913.