Bateman French Opera: La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein

Event Information

Venue(s):
French Theatre

Conductor(s):
Monsieur [conductor] Lefevre

Price: $1, reserved, $1.50; balcony boxes, $8-$10; proscenium boxes, $10-$15; gallery, $.50

Event Type:
Opera

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
29 February 2016

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

24 Sep 1867, 8:00 PM
26 Sep 1867, 8:00 PM
28 Sep 1867, 8:00 PM

Program Details

Opening night of French Comic Opera. Harper’s Weekly published illustrations of the costumes, Sept 28, 1867, p. 617.

Performers and/or Works Performed

Grande duchesse de Gérolstein, La

Composer(s): Offenbach

Text Author: Halévy, Meilhac

Participants: Bateman French Opera Company; Monsieur [vocalist] Monter (role: Nepomuc); Monsieur [vocalist] Guiffroy (role: Fritz); Monsieur [tenor] Lagriffoul (role: Baron Puck); Monsieur [tenor] Leduc (role: Prince Paul); Monsieur [vocalist] Bonedick; Lucille [vocalist] Tostée (role: Grand Duchess); Monsieur [tenor] Valter (role: Baron Grog); Onquot de [vocalist] Felcourt (role: Wanda); Isabelle [vocalist] Armand; Mme. [vocalist] Duchesne; Monsieur [baritone] Duchesne (role: General Boum); Mme. [vocalist] Monter

Citations

Announcement: New York Sun, 05 September 1867, 4.

Advertisement: New York Herald, 08 September 1867.

“Mr. H. L. Bateman has pleasure in stating that he has taken this establishment for the entire season, excepting those nights reserved for the performances of Mme. Ristori, with the design of introducing for the first time in this country the world famous ‘Operas Bouffes’ of the well known composer Offenbach. To present so charming an entertainment acceptably he engaged while in Paris a complete corps of accomplished musical commedians [sic], chorus and musicians, who will arrive on the steamer Atlantic from Havre on or about the 10th inst. Mlle. Lucille Tostée, a lady of recognized musical and dramatic genius, leading artiste of the Bouffe Parisiennes, will make her entrée in the character of LA GRANDE DUCHESSE DE GÉROLSTEIN, on Tuesday evening, Sept. 24, in the great comic opera of that name, now performing in Paris and other continental cities with a success heretofore unprecedented, but which its sparkling melodies, admirable orchestration and irresistible comic characters, dialogues and incidents have well entitled it to achieve. Mr. Bateman has imported an entire wardrobe of the most costly and elegant description, made expressly by a Parisian costumer, while new and correct scenery, properties &c. are now being rapidly prepared.”

Advertisement: New-York Times, 08 September 1867, 7.

Announcement: New-York Times, 09 September 1867, 4.

Announcement: New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold, 09 September 1867, 6.

Announcement: New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold, 09 September 1867, 8.

Advertisement: New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold, 15 September 1867, 8.

Announcement: New York Post, 21 September 1867.

“Loiterers on Broadway are already beginning to take an interest in the opera of ‘The Duchess of Gerolstein,’ which Mr. Bateman is to bring out at the French Theatre next Tuesday night, from seeing the comical prints of the leading characters of the piece in some of the shop windows. This may be regarded as a premonitory symptom of the popular interest that will be awakened by the actual performance of an opera which has amused Paris for several months, and will be produced here as well as there, if we may trust Mr. Bateman, as we feel inclined to do. French opera needs only good management in New York to achieve success, and Mr. Bateman seems to be the man to strive for and deserve it.”

Announcement: New-York Times, 23 September 1867, 4.

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Advertisement: New-York Times, 23 September 1867, 7.

Advertises sheet music to some songs from this work, just published. “My Father’s Sword” and “Oh Let Him Know” are 50 cents each.

11)

Advertisement: New York Herald, 24 September 1867.

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Advertisement: New-York Times, 24 September 1867, 7.

“Mr. Bateman has the honor to announce to the public that he has engaged a Company of Parisian Artists to appear in the above specialty of of French Comic Opera, and that he has perfected all his arrangements for its production in this City, in the most complete manner possible, comprising a beautiful wardrobe, by Nonnon, of the Grand Opera House, Paris; new and appropriate scenery, by Mr. George Evans. A large and efficient orchestra, under the leadership of Mons. Lefevre: as also a full and experienced chorus….Omnibuses to convey visitors, free of charge, to the French opera will start from the corner of Broadway and 14th – St. every five minutes between 7 and 9 P.M., returning from the theatre after the performance.”

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Review: New York Herald, 25 September 1867, 6.

Describes plot.

14)

Review: New-York Times, 25 September 1867, 4.

“Offenbach’s very exhilarating extravaganza, ‘The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein,’ which, we believe, is still in keeping a part of Paris mad with merriment, was produced at the French Theatre last evening, before the very largest audience which the sedate eagles of that pleasant place of amusement have yet looked down upon. The record to be made of this new experiment upon public taste in this vicinity, is that it was received without a smile and closed with a triumph as complete as it was unhesitatingly awarded. The American public has now witnessed the comic opera of every nationality that owns such a thing, but it must be confessed that the merriest of all is this very naughty mixture of the witty, the ridiculous and the broad, which OFFENBACH concocts better than anybody else, and only a taste of which is afforded in his ‘Grand Duchess.’ The growth of Opera Bouffe would make a pretty story. It originated, we fancy, in the vaudeville, with songs, just as the original of the English comic opera was a farce with ballads and glees. Each of these originals was noticeable for this: that the music was wholly subsidiary to the plot, incident and dialogue of the piece in which it was inserted, and was so irrelevant that it might be and was often omitted from the representation without affecting the sense of the play. Indeed, the songs and choruses in those old comic operas were written, we imagine, after the piece was wholly finished; the composer, gathering his inspiration from the dialogue, producing an air to which the dramatist fitted words in extension of the theme of the already finished scenes. Thus in a good majority of those old and very comical affairs you were pretty sure to come across something like this:

Jeanette—I’ll not marry him!

Mon Pere—You must marry him!

La Mere—She shall marry him!

Trio—(Music by Mr. SMITH.)

JEANETTE, PERE ET MERE.

Jeanette—I’ll not marry him!

Mon Pere—You must marry him!

La Mere—She shall marry him!

Aye, she shall, &c., &c.

But with the appearance in the musical world of composers noticeable for the facility with which they struck off brilliant melodies, and who possessed at the same time thorough knowledge of combination and culmination, the old musical farces and vaudevilles began to vanish, and a new style of humorous works appears, in which the music is the chief attraction and the dialogue a secondary consideration. Indeed so very secondary in some instances is this, (even in the ‘Grand Duchess,’) that one feels inclined to call out with Capt. Hawtree, ‘Cut that.’ OFFENBACH possesses this new talent in a more eminent degree than any of his contemporaries or immediate predecessors. The plot and incidents of his pieces are likely enough his own invention, and we can fancy him calling in the aid of a dramatist merely to write a few jingling rhymes and a few snatches of comic dialogue to give the singers times to recover breath, and the musicians time to turn over the leaves of their books. The stories of his operas (and in all the leading points that of the ‘Grand Duchess’) belong to that class of pieces of which there are not a few on the Parisian stage, which are at once pleasant and wrong. To hunt the devil out of them would be to drive the fun out as well as the sin; and we don’t see the necessity of doing that. It would result in a death in the cause of virtue, which virtue don’t ask. We have already given the plot of the ‘Grand Duchess’ in detail, and it is unnecessary to repeat it. The whole effect of the piece depends on the music, and the credit of the success is to be divided between the composer and the artists who reproduced him. To entirely appreciate this opera one must behold the theatre crowded by Frenchmen and French women, as it was very nearly last evening, where every auditor feels a sympathetic response within to every gesture, note and sentiment presented, and could, and does, perhaps, make actual life one continual Opera Bouffe. And then the American character (as exhibited largely in the younger members) is so near that of the French, that little of the effect is lost upon it. The audience last night received every point in the new opera with as much appreciation as a Parisian crowd would, and there is little doubt that the singers were charmed by the similarity of disposition in these and their native patrons. Most of the actors last night, were, of course, below the level of the original cast in Paris, but they are much above any French artists we have had here, and even the weaker features of the troupe served to show the merits of the Parisian school. Mlle. TOSTEE, who gave vitality to the rôle of the Grand Duchess, has a good voice, quite clear, eminently pleasant, and altogether strong enough for the French Theatre where the acoustics are superior. Her petite figure contains a deal of what it would be expressive (if not elegant) to call devilment, and within her demure eye there lurks the spirit of Thalia in her wildest mood. Her success with the audience was complete after her opening aria: ‘Ah! Que j’aime,’ and in the eloquent melody of the finale ‘Le Sabre de mon Pere.’ The essence of the cancan dance and song, which winds up the second act, however, appeared to frenzy the audience, and it had to be repeated. Mlle. DE FELCOURT—(bating the ungraceful effect of an ugly pair of stockings)—was very effective in the pretty part of Wanda; she has not much of voice, but what there is is good; but the rest of the ladies of the cast were inferior to the men. Nevertheless, although they all fall into the fault of looking at the audience when they should be looking at their interlocutors on the stage, they never drop into that dull rigidity of expression when idle, and are otherwise free from the faults of the little people of our own stage—whether operatic or dramatic. The men are all excellent. Mons. GUFFROY is the leading comedian, and he sustained the character of Fritz, the favorite of the Duchess who won’t be her favorite, and in a part that offered every opportunity for buffoonery, was never low, overcharged or stagey. He is not only a good actor, but he is also a good singer, and impressed every verse and every line of his part upon the audience. Messrs. LEDUC (Prince Paul,) LAGRIFFOUL, (Baron Puck,) and DUCHESNE (Le General Boum,) are a grotesque trio not to be met with often, we fancy. Their mirth was delightfully contagious, and their humor seemed to spring from nature rather than be pumped up through the aid of art. The choruses were not so effective as they will be when a couple of public performances give the singers confidence, but the voices have the immediate charm of freshness and capacity for their work. The orchestra, under a leader from Paris, (M. LEFEVRE,) was trained to perfection. In brief, if a lively work, merry music, spirited acting, gold and silver, silk and satin, used to the most grotesque ends, and picturesque scenery, avail anything, Opera Bouffe is not only a success, but a fixed institution hereafter, in New-York, if the supply of fresh material can be kept up.”

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Review: New-York Daily Tribune, 25 September 1867, 5.

“For the first time in New York a season of Opera Bouffe, upon a grand scale, was begun last night at the Theatre Francais. The new-comer has been more than politely welcomed. Old world prestige and a combination of humor, splendor, and good music have united to draw from our public the best tribute that it can pay to comedy. The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein has been received with the demonstrations due her gracious extravagance. Thanks to a very efficient preparation in costumes, scenes, and choruses, and a skilled company of merry makers, she is now the center of a gorgeous mirth, to which the public must gravitate smilingly for many nights to come. The success of Duchess is decided; it has captivated eyes and ears alike, and will require no great trouble of translation to make its spirit intelligible to the English-speaking mind.”

16)

Review: Courrier des États-Unis, 25 September 1867.

“One can complain about the decadence of art and the brutishness of the masses, which is the view of every man calling himself serious, but whether brutalized or not, it is certain that the Grande-Duchesse is the most sidesplitting of buffooneries. [Gives a brief outline of the plot.]

But why seriously recount these distractions with neither head nor tail. You have to content yourself with splitting your sides with laughter, like the audience. Offenbach’s score deserves the immense success that it has obtained everywhere, and that no one begrudged him yesterday evening. We’ll have to quote almost all the numbers, which we don’t have time to do. We’ll talk about it tomorrow, at the same time that we talk about the interpreters, who received the warmest response.”

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Review: Courrier des États-Unis, 26 September 1867.

THEATRE-FRANCAIS. – “Yesterday we spoke about the immense success obtained by La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein at the first performance. We see with pleasure that our American colleagues agree with us. The Tribune and the Times, above all, overflow with enthusiasm. Not even the German papers, ordinarily so unkind to whatever is in French, failed to render justice to Offenbach’s work and to the merit of its performers.

Offenbach’s score has the animated qualities that have yielded so many bravos in La Belle Hélène, Barbe bleue, and La Vie Parisienne. It sparkles with inspiration, wit and vivacity; the composer’s favorite melodic and rhythmic turns are found there. That’s his way; and because, making offerings to popular success, he’s faithful to it with an inexhaustible fruitfulness, there’s no need to hurry to say it’s starting again. Ears that are not well-trained confuse, here, in a melody, the groundwork and the form, two absolutely distinct things, of which the first is renewed when the composer has some imagination, and the second perfects itself in settling down, when he has either great or small originality, which makes him be recognized among the other masters, his superiors or his equals. It’s possible that this flowing, rapid and bright style borrows something from Italian opera buffa music, something else again from French vaudeville; but . . . it constitutes an artistic individuality. What makes Offenbach’s music succeed at first hearing is that it is scenic before everything else, and that’s a merit that some very great musicians don’t have, as witness M. Gounod. To our eyes, Offenbach is altogether as much a melodist as any other. Let’s not forget that he is popular in Wagner’s homeland, and that with each new score he finds again in Vienna the successes he has in Paris.

La Grande Duchesse counts no less than eighteen numbers, which we will review quickly. M. Duchesne (General Boum) recited, with as much vigor as wit, the verses Pif, Paf, Pouf. Then followed a lovely duettino between Fritz and Wanda, sung very well by Mlle Felcourt and M. Guffroy. It’s through an Offenbachian rhythm that the Grande Duchesse sends forth her amiable cry of an amorous cat [cat in heat?]: Ah! Que j’aime les militaires! They applauded Mlle Tostée warmly, and with good reason. The song Ah! C’est un bien beau régiment que le régiment de la Grande Duchesse won her an ovation. The verses of La Gazette d Hollande are delightful, and couldn’t have been rendered better than by M. Leduc, charged with the role of Prince Paul. The first-act finale carried everything away [was a sendup].

In the second act, three truly remarkable numbers: the narrative of the battle, by Fritz; the Grand Duchess’s proclamation; and the trio of the conspirators. M. Guffroy was perfect in the first. Mlle Tostée sang, with the greatest expressiveness, the verses Dites lui qu’on le trouve amiable. Flowers literally rained down on her. Finally, the trio by the conspirators, MM. Duchesne, Leduc and Lagriffoul, was a little masterpiece of performance, as was the quartet that followed it. Called back after the first act, the artists were again called back after the second, and they had to do the quartet in question again. The two other acts were musically less striking. Nevertheless we’ll mention the Grand Duchess’s verses in the last act, which Mlle Tostée set off so well.

The bouquets, and the most lively applause, were for Mlle Tostée, but we must add that the whole ensemble was perfect. MM. Leduc, Duchesne, Walter, Lagriffoul, were entitled to equal praise. The actor who had the role of the aide-de-camp, whose name escapes us, should not be forgotten. It isn’t only a success for M. Bateman’s company—it’s a triumph, and there’s a place for it to be much more satisfying than the disappointments of last year [which] had made us fear for the long-term future of the French theater of New York. We should thank M. Bateman.

The costumes were of the greatest opulence, the most irreproachable luster, and the most sidesplitting eccentricity. The scenery was brilliant, the chorus very good and the orchestra excellent. The Grande-Duchesse is destined to have a great career in New York, and in less than two weeks, all the pianos between 14th Street and Central Park will be repeating its motifs [tunes].”

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Review: New York Post, 26 September 1867.

“In bringing out such an opera as the ‘Duchess of Gerolstein,’ Mr. Bateman has evidently struck the right vein, and so experienced and shrewd a manager will know how to keep up the popular favor, which he has won at the outset of his enterprise. There are one or two exceptionable features in the opera which may be stricken out with manifest advantage, but as a whole it is entitled to the favor which it owes to its joyous and sparkling music, its humorous hits, and its amusing situations. It will be given to-night for a second time, at the French Theatre, and the performance will undoubtedly be more even and satisfactory than on the first night. It is well to bear in mind that hereafter the time for raising the curtain is fixed at precisely eight o’clock—a rule that will be invariably adhered to. We learn that the demand for seats and boxes is very good.”

19)

Review: New York Herald, 27 September 1867, 7.

“The second night of La Grande Duchesse verified our prediction that opera comique, brought on the American stage in the same style as it is in Paris, must be a success. The French theatre was crowded to repletion, and parquet, dress circle and boxes were filled with beauty and fashion. Elegant toilets graced every part opf the house, and the ‘fierce democracie’ looked down from those unknown regions called the amphitheatre. There is nothing that conduces more towards the health and the removal of those disagreeable companions, spleen, ennui and ill humor, than a hearty laugh. Offenbach is the best purveyor of this commodity that we have ever encountered. Take the Grand Duchess, for instance. He brings the most grotesque characters into the most intensely comic situations and laughs at them in the most irresistibly funny music. Fritz, his tenor and the favorite of the Grand Duchess, is a sort of Mark Tapley, a good humored fellow who can philosophize and be merry under any circumstances. General Boum is a fire-eater of an original kind, and, with all his gunpowder propensities, is a tolerably well meaning fellow after all. Prince Paul and his envoy, Baron Grog, must be seen and heard to be appreciated. The former has an idiotic view of circumstances and the latter a supernaturally solemn physiognomy and a bow which would entitle him to the distinguished consideration of Mr. Seward. Baron Puck is a fussy prime minister, who is perpetually and unnecessarily worrying himself about the Grand Duchess, his pupil. The lady herself, who gives her name to the opera, is a very charming, willful and coquettish specimen of the sex. Mlle. Tostee is an admirable representative of this character. She is petite, embonpoint, and has ‘a lurking devil in her eye,’ the very embodiment of mischief. But we have forgotten to speak of the music. How shall we describe it? It sparkles like champagne, bubbles like one of the Saratoga springs, and is altogether something that one may carry home and hum to put the ‘young ones’ to sleep. It is so interwoven in the scintillating dialogue that it is hard to separate it from it; but still there are some selections that stand out in prominence. The song of the regiment, Voici le sabre de mon père; the delicious waltz to which the ladies of honor read their love letters, in the second act; Dites lui, Prince Paul’s reading of the paragraph of the Holland Gazette, the finale of the third act, and poor Fritz’s explanation of his adventure in the last act are probably the most prominent features in the opera. Encores were frequent last night and Le Feore [sic], chef d’orchestre, had several times to turn back the pages of his score. If La Grande Duchesse is a specimen of what this Franco-German Offenbach can do for us this season, we can safely prognosticate for him a reception in America equal to what Les Variétiès in Paris gave him. The costumes are the richest brought out for many years past in this city. The voices are exactly in accordance with the music, which is enough to say about them. The performance was brought to a close a little earlier than the first night, but late enough for all that. Still, when people can sit and laugh at a thing of this kind for over three hours no complaint can be made.”

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Review: New-Yorker Musik-Zeitung, 28 September 1867, 120.

“The Offenbach music, which is destructive of morality, with its uninterrupted can can and laxity, quand m'me” had the most significant successes here in years. What does all the complaining and resistance help if one has to continuously laugh! “This process of stimulating the laughing muscles destroys all moral and dogmatic preaching.

One simply has to laugh when the nonsense is clever, when the grand duchess is dancing can can with the court cavalier with her crown on her head (…). To evaluate Offenbach’s music in comparison with standard opera would be absurd. However, we can say that the quadrilles and other parts of the score are better than in other operas of the same composer, and that the operetta was well played and well sung.” Tostee lived up to her reputation in France and sings with taste. Although she seemed not quite comfortable in front of a new audience, which became obvious by her holding back a little with coquetries and extravagances, she still displayed lightness, flirtatious grace, Tostee lived up to her reputation in France. She possesses a clear, pleasant voice and si liveliness, and a good sense of humor. She sang the little romance “Dites lui” beautifully. Gusffroy as “Fritz” played with much natural comedy, and he sang better than other performers in this part in Paris and Brussels, which is much “en vogue” there. Duchesne as “General Boum” was excellent, and he shared the enthusiastic applause with the prima donna. Choruses and orchestra performed satisfactorily. The laughing of the audience seemed endless and thus the opera Tostee had played itself into their hearts. We can imagine that this opera will be played for two consecutive months.

21)

Review: New York Post, 28 September 1867.

“The ‘Grand Duchesse’ has already made such a sensation that it is difficult to get even good standing room.”

22)

Review: Courrier des États-Unis, 28 September 1867.

THEATRE-FRANCAIS. –“The success of the second performance of La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein has confirmed that of the first. This time, however, there were fewer French than Americans in the hall, which proves that the new genre agrees with the latter as much as it does the former. The stubborn defenders of virtue can feign indignation and protest against “the decadent Parisians.” Their puritanism is as laughable as the extreme militarism of General Boum, and won’t keep the public from preferring amusing works to boring ones, a laugh to yawns. One has to regard with great and holy dread those solemn ones who are offended by the drollery and glitter of merriment, those pokers of prudery who are disgusted by words that are as innocent as they are ridiculous, and who treat other people as rotten in order to modestly proclaim that they alone are pure. No, Parisians aren’t in decline because they frolic at La Belle Hélène, and the same spectators who swooned [with laughter] yesterday at La Grande-Duchesse are ready to let themselves be enraptured today by the vigorous tirades of Le Lion Amoureux [fable by Lafontaine].

She’s truly charming, this Grand Duchess, with her fantasies of elevated taste and her whims of an absolute ruler. If at first sight she singled out Fritz, it’s likely that she will single out plenty of others eventually, and Prince Paul will do wisely to not let a guard be mounted at the door of the nuptial chamber by a grenadier who’s too good-looking. Almost all great and beautiful princesses have the same richness of temperament, which is what distinguishes them from the rest of us mortals. The portrait of the Grande Duchesse is copied from nature.

The same for the diplomat Baron Grog. He’s a photograph. “My family,” he says, “destined me for diplomacy. From my tenderest childhood, they taught me to have a cold air about me. When they caught me not having a cold air, they gave me a kick in the shins.”

And the discussion of the battle-plan! “You see, Highness,” says Boum, “it’s all about cutting off and folding in.” “Hold on! It’s like a pancake!” replies the duchess. And the public laughs. There’s no common sense, but the unexpectedness makes it funny, even on reflection. How many generals are not any braver than Fritz, and whose skill consists of marching straight in front of themselves, and bumping, bumping, always bumping! Generalissimo Grand didn’t do anything else in the Battle of the Wilderness. Didn’t General Pope, even more ridiculous than Boum, say that he made his mare’s saddle his headquarters?

All comparison aside, the puritans who strike out at the nonsense of La Grande Duchesse should be furiously wounded by the incongruities of M. de Pourceaugnac [by Molière], for example. Le sabre de mon père and the lovable cancan of the Duchess certainly aren’t any more misplaced than the syringes of that gentleman from Limoges. So much the worse for those whose peevish turn of mind forbids them to understand an appreciate burlesque; but let’s not preach to the choir. We knew beforehand all the virtuous “seesaws” of these solemn preachers, and one is tempted to reply in the style of [the librettists of La Grande Duchesse] MM. Meilhac and L. Halévy: “I know that! You force us toward virtue. Not funny, but not at all funny.” If it’s true that Europe is in decline because it likes Offenbach’s repertoire, the state of decline is much more agreeable than another state.

We won’t protest against the maestro’s music any more. One can’t always be pickled in Gluck and Mozart. Reading Oedipus at Colonus doesn’t prevent one from reading Punch in its time. One can admire Fidelio and enjoy La Belle Hélène all the same. The Princess Metternich, a great musician, the patron of Wagner and assiduous spectator at the Concert Society, doesn’t disdain playing the joyful and dancing motifs of Offenbach on her piano. Yes, the latter is a master, and he is treated as such, not only by the little guys, but by accomplished musicians. Only the coming of the undertakers would refuse him the title.

The artists brought in by M. Bateman have everything needed to understand and interpret the genre to which they are devoted. Mlle Tostée, Mlle Felcourt, MM. Duchesne, Lagriffoul, Guffroy, Walter deserved well from the public and their director, and their names will soon be the most popular in New York. Their success, Thursday, was even greater than two evenings before, and that’s not saying a little.

This evening, third performance of La Grande Duchesse, whose reputation can only grow.”

23)

Review: New-York Times, 30 September 1867, 5.

“The third performance by the French Opera Company took place on Saturday evening before an audience as large and select as any previous ones. We think that this undertaking will show how many people, of every walk of life, there are in New-York who can appreciate good entertainment; and long after the fashionable rage for the Bouffes shall have subsided the general public will continue to extend them a hearty support. In fact, this comic opera may be a greater success here than in Paris; for a worthier class of people will go to see it. The French like it because they understand what it is all about; the American ignorance on this point adds to its popularity. Here we know only that a couple of pretty women and four droll men are singing excellent music; in France they know that this opera of the ‘Grand Duchess of Gerolstein’ is a burlesque on Court morals and is an enjoyable piece of scandalum magnatum. The picture which our American audiences take in it is agreeable to note, because it is thoroughly honest and innocent. Mirth and music, without reference to the meaning hidden beneath the comic language and incident, attract the New Yorkers; and it is certain that their delight is the purest recognition of the composer’s genius.

The manner of the principal actors and actresses of this new company deserve to be studied by our native artists. Mlle. TOSTEE, who is a sort of Mrs. WOOD translated into French, and Messieurs GUFFROY and DUCHESNE may be described as actors who infuse into every expression of their faces the full meaning and point, not only of what they have to utter, but of all that is spoken by the other characters on the scene with them—who, like all French actors, never permit their acting to stop when their mouths are closed; who act every succeeding night with the energy of débuants [sic]; who act with the tone of the voice, the accent of a syllable, a glance, a step, or a gesture even of the finger; who seem to be absorbed in the idea that they are what they represent, and never give evidence to the audience that they are playing a part with Mlle. TOSTEE or Messrs. GUFFROY or DUCHESNE; who study their character laboriously before they attempt to play it, and, once settling the points and effects they intend to produce, adhere to them with such rigorous fidelity that the public cannot be distracted by seeing the same artist in the same part exhibit every night a different character, as if all their performances were but a series of unfinished experiments. There is another initial merit about these French actors; they appear to remember that the faces before them are fresh each night, and that it is not necessary to vary the original conception of their parts for fear of fatiguing the public; and they also remember that if there be some auditors who have come a second time, it is because they desire to see again what they saw before.

We now have in New-York the German, Italian, French, English and American styles of acting. Of all these it is certain that the French, for absorption in the scene, and vivacity without extravagance, and naturalness without tameness, takes the lead.

The merit and chief fault of the Italian is its declamatory nature, which, in every representation save that of RISTORI alone, is at most times wearisome and often unnatural. The leading idea of the German school, and that which makes it distasteful to Americans, is its prosiness and rigidity. The samples of native English acting that we have here are proofs that the good actresses and actors of Great Britain never leave it. Absolutely, in comparison with the praise which the best American artists receive abroad, the faint commendation that we are able to bestow on imported English performers is mortifying. The latter seem to be of no school, and to be untaught in elocution even—the first necessity of the actor and actress.

There is no reason why American artists of both sexes should not be in the foremost rank of the profession. The spirit of American men and women of every period in life is vivacious, picturesque and strong. The first principles of comedy lie in the breasts of nearly every girl and youth in New-York City. Private theatricals among them exhibit this unmistakably. The consistency with which every class of amusement is patronized proves it.

This little discussion, however, has led us from our intention, which was simply to mention that these very excellent French performances—performances which exhibit the spirit of a superior school, although the performers may not be in the first class of that school—are enjoyed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays hereafter.”

24)

Review: Courrier des États-Unis, 30 September 1867.

THEATRES. –“The success of the third performance of La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein was as brilliant as the coolest friends of French opera could desire. The American public flocked in a great crowd, and let itself be beguiled by its comical eccentricities. Offenbach’s airs are already so popular that the music-sellers can’t satisfy the demand.”

25)

Review: Courrier des États-Unis, 03 October 1867.

“Let’s talk about the pretty dance in La Grande-Duchesse, which is truly not too tempestuous, and is on the contrary perfectly decent. Mlle Tostée would have discovered the cancan for the fashionable world, if the fashionable world had ever consented to forswear their hypocrisy and to shake off the leaden [priestly] skull cap under which they love to make things perish from boredom. The graceful festoons that the Grand Duchess, Prince Paul, Boum and Puck trace at the end of the second act are regularly encored. No one really is so righteously high and mighty as to have the right to be offended.

In brief, the success of Offenbach’s work is prodigious, and surpasses all hopes. At the Stock Exchange, in the hotels, in the restaurants, the Grande-Duchesse has become almost the only subject of conversation. The performers are most popular, and they’re called by the names that they’re dressed up in at the theater. You don’t say: “I saw Mlle Tostée,” but “The Grande Duchesse was on Broadway at such-and-such time yesterday. She is staying at the pension of M. so-and-so, at the corner of Waverly Place and McDougall.” You wouldn’t understand someone who expressed it this way: “The famous intercontinental boatman, M. Bennet junior, was presented to Mlle Tostée.” You have to say: “The mamamouchi who is second in command at the Herald was presented to the Grande Duchesse.” You don’t say: “M. Guffroy went for a walk wearing a sack coat,” but: “Fritz seemed chilled yesterday morning.” Moreover, you say “I met Boum; at first I took him for General Sheridan, but Boum’s much more intelligent appearance undeceived me.” And so forth, for the other artists. They would have to play other roles in order for the public to agree to change their names.

Except for an honorable Mexican who has taken it upon himself to give lessons in good taste to Parisians, the Grande-Duchesse hasn’t found a single critic, and as the Herald declares, it’s an unprecedented success. M. Bateman holds the goose with golden eggs in his hands, and it’s more than enough repayment for his efforts and his abilities.”

26)

Review: New York Clipper, 05 October 1867, 206.

“One of the most fashionable and crowded audiences, as well as enjoyable performances, that we have witnessed for a long time, was that of Tuesday evening, Sept. 24th, at the French Theatre, when the French Opera Troupe, brought to this country by H. L. Bateman from Paris, made its bow in Offenbach’s comic opera in three acts of ‘The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein.’ We never saw a more brilliant array of lovely faces, more enthusiasm, and a greater lavishness of applause. Long before the curtain rose every seat in the house, including the gallery, was occupied, and the aisles in the parquet so blocked up with standees that there was considerable confusion for some time, caused by the standees obstructing the view of those seated. The spectators in the front of the house were asking and receiving an advance of from one dollar and a half to two dollars on the parquet seats. The opera is one of the best of its class heard in this city for a long time. It is an opera where there is no fault to be found with the libretto; where we have a lively, witty plot; where the persons are no machines, but real characters; where the episodes are natural consequences of the main action; full of comic incidents; studded with a spirited and racy dialogue; in a word, a good libretto, for which good music has been written, and not the usual amount of barcarole, arie, duetti, &c., to which the words have been made to measure, ‘warranted to fit,’ like a fashionable dress coat. The interest begins with the rise of the curtain, and every scene forms a link in the chain of the situations. It is really one of the most pleasing comic operas ever written, and the person who is not charmed with the melodies had better make his will at once. M’lle Tostee really astonished everybody with her grace, taste and bravura. Her voice is clear, pure and full. She was highly applauded throughout the entire performance, and at the close of the second act set the audience wild with enthusiasm in the ‘en dansant follement.’ She was ably seconded by Mons. Guffroy as Fritz, who is a good actor, as is Mons. Duchesne, who, as Gen. Boum, was very laughable. The rest of the support was excellent, and the chorus equal to any we have heard for some time. The musical skill and talent displayed by the orchestra well deserved the applause it met with. French opera will be continued on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings. The second performance was as largely attended as the first, and Mr. Bateman may be congratulated upon his great success.”

27)

: Strong, George Templeton. New-York Historical Society. The Diaries of George Templeton Strong, 1863-1869: Musical Excerpts from the MSs, transcribed by Mary Simonson. ed. by Christopher Bruhn., 09 October 1867.

“Last night with C.E.S. to hear La Grande Duchess de Gerolstein at the 14th St. French Theatre. The opera is lively nonsense, admirably well brought out, with the most delightful caricatures of the manners and customs of Court and Camp an hundred and fifty years ago. Offenbach’s music suits this extravagant burlesque. It is very pretty and not at all profound but considerably better than of most ‘Grand’ Operas of the Verdi school. This ‘Opera Bouffe’ Company draws great houses and is decidedly our most popular entertainment just now. Everybody knows ‘Voici le sabre de mon père’

‘Pif paf pouf, tara pau poum

Je suis moi, le General Boum!’”

28)

Review: New York Musical Gazette, November 1867, 5.

“We democratic Americans are enjoying a novel sensation in having a real live Duchess with us. Of this merry individual the Weekly Review says:--‘She still makes everybody happy—Mr. Bateman, of course included. She is one of the most winning creatures of the day, at least according to the statement of the treasurer of the theatre. She not only charms the people at night, but has even commenced to captivate them during the day. The Matinee, last Wednesday, was well attended. People laugh by sunshine as heartily a by gaslight. What a happy state of affairs! Let us hope it will last.’”

29)

Review: New York Musical Gazette, December 1867, 12.

“In spite of the drawback of a sick prima donna, the Duchess of Gerolstein has maintained its popularity with the public, as crowded houses of pleased audiences testify. Mr. Bateman’s French Dramatic Company has also been very successful.”