Birgfeld French Opera: La Grande duchesse de Gérolstein

At conclusion of review for 04/05/69 performance of La Périchole.

“The revival of ‘La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein’ by that most lively and charming of all stage princesses, Mlle. Tostée, under the auspices of James Offenbach-Erie-Fisk-Opera-Bouffe-Jr., was a grand success for the Grand Duchesse and all her suite, last evening, at the Fifth Avenue Theatre. The house was literally crowded by an audience drawn from the elite of fashion and society in the city, and the grand splurges of General Boom and his ‘piff-paff-pouff,’ the lovely duets of Fritz and Wanda, the exquisite acting of the Grand Duchesse and her most delightful delivery of manner, as well as the bows of Prince Poul, the awkwardness of Baron Puck, and all the many comicalities of the opera were enjoyed as much as if it were performed for the first time before a New York audience. Many of the solos and duets the audiences perseveringly applauded and insisted on being encored, and during the entire act, and at the close, the representatives of the principal characters, especially Mlle. Tostée, were enthusiastically called before the curtain and warmly applauded. The representation of this burlesque operetta, as it might be called, and its reception last evening, proved that Offenbach has, by the many repetitions in this city, lost but little, if any, of the charm with which he captured the public favor at the start. And the present arrangement at this theatre of changing the programme every day, and offering to the public nightly another of Offenbach’s works, will, by its variety, unquestionably prove a successful one.”