Chapter VI: Opera in the United States. Part I: New York (2)

For the season of 1900-01 Milka Ternina came to the Metropolitan and New York was introduced to Louise Homer, Lucienne Bréval, Fritzi Scheff, the inimitable and much-lamented Charles Gilibert, Imbart de la Tour, Robert Blass, and Marcel Journet. Mancinelli was still conductor. The novelties were Puccini's _La Tosca_ and Ernest Reyer's _Salammbo_. Of the newcomers for 1901-02 the only one that calls for mention is Albert Reiss, whose Mime and David still delight New York Wagner lovers. Isidore de Lara's _Messaline_ and Paderewski's _Manru_ were the novelties, and there was also a gala performance in honor of Prince Henry of Prussia, which was one of the most elaborate displays of snobbery ever staged in America. Walter Damrosch, Signor Sepilli, and M. Flon were the conductors. Alfred Hertz came over as conductor of German opera for the season of 1902-03, and has remained a distinctly reliable asset to the Metropolitan ever since. The only novelty of that season was Ethel Smyth's _Der Wald_, though Verdi's _Ernani_ and _Un Ballo in Maschera_ had been strangers for so long that they were novelties in effect. Before the opening of the season Mascagni favored New York with a visit and produced at the Metropolitan his own operas _Zanetto_, _Cavalleria rusticana_, and _Iris_. His enterprise was not successful.

VI

Maurice Grau was compelled through ill health to retire from the management of the Metropolitan during the season of 1902-03 and before the opening of the next season the reins passed to Heinrich Conried, a native of Austria, who had already made an enviable reputation as manager of the German theatre in Irving Place and of various German and English comic opera companies. Conried was an excellent impresario. For his first season he annexed Enrico Caruso, Olive Fremstad, and Otto Goritz, and brought over Felix Mottl as conductor, besides retaining Sembrich, Eames, Calvé, Homer, Scotti, Plançon, Journet, Campanari, and other Grau stars. Everything else he did before or since, however, was overshadowed by his production of _Parsifal_ on December 24, 1913. Whether his action was artistically and ethically justified or whether, as many believed, it was a violation of the sacred shrine of Bayreuth, is not a question pertinent to this narrative. But there is no doubt that his motives in staging the opera were purely commercial and the manner in which he advertised it was productive of unfortunate results which cheapened Wagner's solemn art-work beyond expression. For purposes of record it may be noted that in this first American production of _Parsifal_ Milka Ternina was the Kundry, Alois Burgstaller the Parsifal, Anton Van Rooy the Amfortas, Robert Blass the Gurnemanz, Otto Goritz the Klingsor and Marcel Journet the Titurel. Alfred Hertz conducted. Prompted by the tremendous publicity given to _Parsifal_, Henry W. Savage hawked it in an English version all over the country. A much-touted novelty; a variant from the small-time vaudeville, from the eternal stock company, from eternal boredom; a cross between a church meeting and a circus! Such was _Parsifal_ to the shirt-sleeved communities of America from coast to coast. It was a sad spectacle--the saddest perhaps in the artistic annals of this country.

In his second season Conried staged a rather too elaborate production of Strauss's _Die Fledermaus_, which he followed up in his third season with _Der Zigeunerbaron_. The production of _Hänsel und Gretel_ in the presence of the composer and the revival of Goldmark's _Königin von Saba_ were creditable features of the third season. In 1906-07 Mr. Conried outshone himself and, whatever his motives, he stirred operatic New York then as it had perhaps never been stirred. To begin with, he produced Richard Strauss's setting of Oscar Wilde's _Salome_. Such a fluttering in the moral dovecotes has rarely been seen. Ever meticulously careful of its spotless purity, New York protested violently against the 'shocking exhibition' and, after the first performance, the directors of the Metropolitan issued the following notice: 'The directors of the Metropolitan Opera and Real Estate Company consider that the performance of _Salome_ is objectionable and detrimental to the best interests of the Metropolitan Opera House. They therefore protest against any repetition of this opera.'

However, the bad taste left by _Salome_ in the mouths of the Metropolitan Opera House patrons was presumably removed by the gala productions of Puccini's _Manon Lescaut_ and _Madama Butterfly_ in the presence of the composer. The former had already been given by an Italian company at Wallack's Theatre in 1898 and the latter in English by Savage's company at the Garden Theatre in 1906. Other novelties of the season were Berlioz's _La Damnation de Faust_ and Giordano's _Fedora_. In the season of 1907-8 the only novelty was Francesco Cilea's _Adriana Lecouvreur_. The season was otherwise notable for the presence of Gustav Mahler, then conductor of the Court Opera, Vienna, who gave extraordinary readings of _Don Giovanni_, _Fidelio_, _Tristan und Isolde_, and _Die Walküre_.

Conried resigned from the Metropolitan management in February, 1908. His managerial career was certainly extraordinary; he thoroughly stirred New York's turgid operatic waters. The list of artists introduced by him is a brilliant one. Besides the names already mentioned it includes Bella Alten, Lina Cavalieri, Geraldine Farrar, Marie Mattfeld, Bessie Abbott, Marie Rappold, Berta Morena, Carl Burrian, Allessandro Bonci, Riccardo Martin, and the great Russian basso, Theodore Chaliapine.

In the meantime Oscar Hammerstein, who had made various immature attempts to break into the operatic field, built a new Manhattan Opera House, which he opened in December 3, 1906, for a season of opera which closed on April 20, 1907. His high sounding promises were not taken seriously by musical New York, but the achievements of his first season changed that attitude materially. True, the list of operas brought forward is not inspiring. It included _I Puritani_, _Rigoletto_, _Faust_, _Don Giovanni_, _Carmen_, _Aïda_, _Lucia di Lammermoor_, _Il Trovatore_, _La Traviata_, _L'Elisir d'amore_, _Gli Ugonotti_ (_Les Huguenots_), _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_, _La Sonnambula_, _Cavalleria rusticana_, _Mignon_, _I Pagliacci_, _Dinorah_, _Un Ballo in Maschera_, _La Bohème_, _Fra Diavolo_, _Marta_, and _La Navarraise_. But the significant fact is that Mr. Hammerstein had the courage to start a season of opera on an elaborate scale in opposition to the Metropolitan and without the support of 'society.' His success demonstrated the feasibility of such an enterprise and gave an impetus to the growth of public interest in opera, of which others are now reaping the benefit. He was rather unfortunate in his repertory, but he was more fortunate in his selection of artists. Among them were Melba, Calvé, Regina Pinkert, Bressler-Gianoli, Giannina Russ, Eleanora de Cisneros, Allessandro Bonci, Maurice Renaud, the greatest of French baritones, Charles Dalmorès, Charles Gilibert, Mario Ancona and Vittorio Arimondi. He was additionally fortunate in securing Cleofonte Campanini as conductor.

For his second season Mr. Hammerstein added to his forces Lillian Nordica, Mary Garden, Emma Trentini, Alice Zeppilli, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Jeanne Gerville-Réache, Giovanni Zenatello, Amadeo Bassi, Mario Sammarco, Hector Dufranne, Adamo Didur, and several others of lesser note, besides retaining his principals of the preceding season, with the exception of Calvé and Bonci. Before the season closed he also presented Luisa Tetrazzini. The first production in America of Charpentier's _Louise_ and Debussy's _Pelléas et Mélisande_ were notable results of a new policy which was to make the Manhattan Opera House _par excellence_ the home of French opera in New York. Other French operas on the list for the same season were _Carmen_, Berlioz's _La Damnation de Faust_, Offenbach's _Les Contes d'Hoffmann_, a revival, Gounod's _Faust_, and Massenet's _Thaïs_ and _La Navarraise_. The Italian list departed from the hackneyed a little by the inclusion of Giordano's _Siberia_ and _Andrea Chénier_ and of the Ricci brothers' _Crispino e la Comare_.

After the resignation of Mr. Conried from the Metropolitan, Giulio Gatti-Casazza and Andreas Dippel were appointed managers. The former had been director of La Scala in Milan, and the latter for several years had been a prominent and versatile member of the Metropolitan company. Apparently the design in conjoining them was to give equal representation to the Italian and German sides of the house. The results for the season 1908-9 were very pleasing and there was a good admixture of Italian and German operas, without any startling revolution in the general character of the repertory. The novelties were d'Albert's _Tiefland_, Smetana's _Die Verkaufte Braut_, Catalini's _La Wally_, and Puccini's _Le Villi_, while there were revivals of Massenet's _Manon_, Mozart's _Nozze di Figaro_, and Verdi's _Falstaff_. The most notable addition to the Metropolitan forces was Arturo Toscanini, who came from La Scala as conductor of Italian opera. Hertz and Mahler remained as conductors of German opera, though Toscanini led performances of _Götterdämmerung_ and _Tristan und Isolde_ with apparent gusto and brilliant success. Among the new singers were Emmy Destinn, Frances Alda, Bernice di Pasquali, Marion Flahaut, Pasquale Amato, Adamo Didur, and Carl Jörn.

In the same season Mr. Hammerstein brought forward a number of interesting novelties, including Saint-Saëns's _Samson et Dalila_, Massenet's _Le Jongleur de Notre Dame_, and the _Princesse d'Auberge_ of Jan Blockx. He also had the hardihood to produce _Salome_, and its success seems to indicate that the squeamishness of New York's moral stomach had, by some strange process, entirely disappeared. Except for _Otello_ there was nothing else of particular interest in his list. During the season of 1909-10 he produced Strauss's _Electra_ and Massenet's _Hérodiade_, _Grisélidis_, and _Sappho_. In addition he made experiments with _opéra comique_, presenting Maillart's _Les Dragons de Villars_, Planquette's _Les Cloches de Corneville_, Audran's _La Mascotte_, Donizetti's _La Fille du Régiment_, and Lecocq's _La Fille de Madame Angot_. The most notable acquisitions to his forces in this season were Madame Mazarin, a French dramatic soprano of fine talent, Lina Cavalieri, and John McCormack, the Irish lyric tenor. He no longer had the services of Campanini, his principal conductor being the Belgian de la Fuente. After the close of the season he sold out to the Metropolitan interests and entered into an agreement with them not to give grand opera in New York city for ten years.

The season of 1909-10 at the Metropolitan had a number of unusual features. The most prominent of them was the appearance of a Russian troupe of dancers headed by Anna Pavlova and Mikail Mordkin. Another departure was a series of performances at the New Theatre, a beautiful house originally designed to give drama under somewhat the same auspices as prevailed at the Metropolitan. The operas given at the New Theatre were, on the whole, works of a light and intimate character, such as _Fra Diavolo_, _La Fille de Madame Angot_, Flotow's _Stradella_, Lortzing's _Czar und Zimmermann_ and Pergolesi's[?] _Il Maestro di Capella_. Nineteen operas, three ballets, and a pantomime were presented at this house. At the Metropolitan thirty-seven were produced, the chief novelties being Franchetti's _Germania_, Tschaikowsky's _Pique Dame_, Frederick S. Converse's 'Pipe of Desire' (the first production of an American opera at the Metropolitan), and Bruneau's _L'Attaque du Moulin_. There was a splendid revival of Gluck's _Orfeo ed Eurydice_ under Toscanini.

After the close of the season Mr. Dippel left the Metropolitan to assume the direction of the Chicago-Philadelphia Opera Company, which was formed chiefly of artists from Mr. Hammerstein's disbanded forces. During the season of 1910-11 he gave a subscription series of French operas at the Metropolitan on Tuesday evenings from January to April. The novelties of the series were Victor Herbert's _Natoma_, Wolff-Ferrari's _Il Segreto di Susanna_, and Jean Nougues' _Quo Vadis?_ The regular Metropolitan season saw the first production on any stage of Puccini's _La Fanciulla del West_ and Humperdinck's _Königskinder_, in the presence of their respective composers. Dukas' _Ariane et Barbe-Bleue_ had its American première and there was also a brilliant revival of Gluck's _Armide_.

The seasons of 1911-12, 1912-13, and 1913-14 at the Metropolitan have been notable chiefly for the first performance in America of Horatio W. Parker's 'Mona,' which was awarded the prize offered by the Metropolitan directors for the best opera by an American composer. Thuille's _Lobetanz_, Wolff-Ferrari's _Le Donne Curiose_, Leo Blech's _Versiegelt_, Walter Damrosch's _Cyrano de Bergerac_, Victor Herbert's _Madeleine_, Moussorgsky's _Boris Godounoff_, Strauss's _Rosenkavalier_, Charpentier's _Julien_, Montemezzi's _L'Amore dei tre re_, and Wolf-Ferrari's _L'Amore medico_ were the other novelties. Among the new singers engaged for those seasons were Lydia Lipkowska, Frieda Hempel, Margarete Ober, Lucrezia Bori, Margarete Matzenauer, Hermann Jadlowker, Leo Slezak, Carl Burrian, Jacques Urlus, Hermann Weil, Heinrich Hensel, and Giovanni Martinelli. During 1914-15 Melanie Kurt, Wagnerian soprano, and Elisabeth Schumann were added to the list of singers, and the novelties were Giordano's _Madame Sans-Gêne_ and Leoni's _L'Oracolo_. The season's sensation was a revival of _Carmen_ with Farrar.

* * * * *

In 1913 a project was launched through the initiative of the City Club of New York to establish a regular stock opera company which would provide good opera at popular prices. The project was supported by the Metropolitan directors--especially by Otto H. Kahn, chairman of the board--and a guarantee was secured sufficient to cover any deficit which the company might suffer in the beginning. As there was considerable doubt whether New York would support opera in English it was decided to make the experiment of giving operas in their original language and in English on different nights. Messrs. Milton and Sargent Aborn were entrusted with the management of the new enterprise and they were assisted materially by the coöperation of the Metropolitan in the matter of scenery and other accessories. The company was selected on the principle of securing a good, well-balanced ensemble and avoiding any approach to the 'star' system.

Rarely has an operatic enterprise been launched under more favorable auspices. It had the enthusiastic and unanimous endorsement of the press, the lively interest of the public, the backing of many of the wealthiest and most influential men in New York, as well as the quasi-official support of the city itself through the City Club. Finally, it was installed in the beautiful Century (formerly New) Theatre. Naturally, its first season was to a large extent an experiment and there was every reason to suppose that the faults disclosed would quickly be remedied. But the Century enterprise quickly succeeded in proving two very important facts, viz., that there is in New York a large public eager for good opera at popular prices and that this public wants opera in the English language.

The season was not far advanced before it became apparent that what we may call the Opera-in-English nights were more extensively patronized than the performances of operas in their original language, and the management accordingly reduced the performances in a foreign language to one a week. The success of the enterprise was sufficiently indicated by the public demand which was so unexpectedly great--especially for the cheaper seats--that after the close of the season the capacity of the house had to be increased to 1,800 seats.

The répertoire of the Century Opera Company during its first season included _Aïda_, _La Gioconda_, 'Tales of Hoffmann,' _Il Trovatore_, _Thaïs_, _Louise_, _Faust_, _La Tosca_, _Lucia_, 'Samson and Delilah,' 'Madam Butterfly,' 'The Bohemian Girl,' 'Romeo and Juliet,' _Rigoletto_, 'Haensel and Gretel,' _Cavalleria rusticana_, _Pagliacci_, _Manon_, _Lohengrin_, 'The Secret of Suzanne,' 'The Jewels of the Madonna,' _Tiefland_, 'Martha,' and 'Natoma.' The conductors were Alfred Szendrei and Carlo Nicosia. For its season of 1914-15 the Century considerably strengthened its forces, and particularly the orchestra, and it added a number of experienced singers to its roll. Most of its artists, it may be remarked, were Americans. The new conductors were Agide Jacchia, late of the Montreal Opera Company, and Ernst Knoch, who was formerly assistant to Richter, Bolling and others at Bayreuth. Jacques Coini, probably the most artistic stage director New York has had in connection with opera, was engaged in that capacity by the Century Company. The répertoire was largely that of the first season with the addition of _La Bohème_, 'Carmen,' and 'William Tell.' Of the entire list, ten were chosen by popular vote. Altogether the quality of the performances was considerably improved, most of the crudities of the first season being eliminated. But financially the enterprise, like all preceding efforts in the same direction, was not successful and the general support did not warrant the continuance of Mr. Kahn's subsidy, and consequently performances were suspended in the spring of 1915. Some sort of revival of the enterprise is devoutly to be hoped for.

W. D. D.

FOOTNOTES:

[38] This was Manuel del Popolo Vicente García, father of Manuel García, the famous teacher, and of Maria Felicita García, who became Madame Malibran.

[39] Da Ponte was the first professor of Italian at Columbia University, though he bore the title only by courtesy. He really did valuable work in promoting the study of Italian literature, particularly of Dante, in this country. His part in the promotion of Italian opera in New York was also far from a small one, as we shall see.

[40] Translated and quoted by Dr. Ritter, _op. cit._, Chap. X.

[41] William Michael Rooke was the son of a Dublin tradesman named Rourke or O'Rourke and was to a large extent a self-taught musician. For a time he taught the violin and pianoforte in Dublin--among his pupils on the former instrument being Balfe--and later he was chorus-master at Drury Lane under Tom Cooke, leader at Vauxhall under Sir Henry Bishop, and a conductor of oratorios at Birmingham. 'Amalie' was produced with success at Covent Garden in 1837.

[42] The operas given during Palmo's first season were Bellini's _I Puritani_, _Beatrice di Tenda_, and _La Sonnambula_; Donizetti's _Belisario_ and _L'Elisir d'Amore_; and Rossini's _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_ and _L'Italiana in Algieri_. During the second season were given Donizetti's _Lucia di Lammermoor_, _Lucrezia Borgia_, and _Belisario_; Rossini's _Sémiramide_ and _La Cenerentola_; Bellini's _Il Pirata_; and Luigi Ricci's _Chiara de Rosenberg_.

[43] The novelties were Strakosch's _Giovanna di Napoli_ and Donizetti's _Parisina_ and _Maria di Rohan_, while there was an oasis in the desert in the shape of _Freischütz_. When his lease at the Astor Place house expired Maretzek continued his operatic career in a more or less irregular way at Castle Garden and Niblo's. He produced Verdi's _Luisa Miller_ for the first time in America at the former place and at the latter he introduced Meyerbeer's _Prophète_.

[44] Bergmann became conductor of the Arion in 1859. The society was formed in 1854 by seceding members from the Deutscher Liederkranz.

[45] Campanini, in the opinion of Philip Hale, was a greater tenor than either de Reszke, de Lucia, or Tamagno. He was a brother of Cleofonte Campanini, recently musical director of the Chicago Opera Company. Nilsson came here in 1870, after having made a big reputation in Europe. A winsome personality and a voice of sweet quality, great compass, and even register, but of moderate power, were her chief assets. 'Elsa,' 'Margaret,' 'Mignon,' and 'Donna Elvira' were her most successful rôles.

[46] Offenbach has described his American experiences in his _Notes d'un musicien en voyage_, 1877.

[47] There is, of course, no intention of belittling the splendid operatic achievements which followed the action of these gentlemen in founding the Metropolitan company. But we have serious grounds for questioning the ultimate value of an artistic enterprise undertaken by a group of financiers as a sort of luxurious toy.

[48] Nicolini was Patti's husband and she refused to sing when he was not also engaged. There is a story that she had two prices: one for herself alone and another about 25 per cent. less for herself and Nicolini.

[49] Niemann sang Siegmund at the first Bayreuth festival.

[50] Francesco Tamagno was to a large extent a one-part tenor. He created the title rôle in _Otello_, and in that rôle he has never been surpassed.

[51] We have the authority of Mr. H. E. Krehbiel, who is our guide for much of this chapter.