Mulder-Fabbri German Opera: Ivanhoe

“It would have been better had the management selected this opera [Ivanhoe] for the opening. There are some excellent elements in the company, which were not apparent in Nicolai’s work last night, and, judging from what we have heard in the Stadt Theatre, the performance of ‘Ivanhoe’ will be found satisfactory in the highest sense of the word. Mme. Fabbri is an accomplished lyric artist and is eminently fitted for large rôles in which dramatic talent of the La Grange order is requisite. Mme. Perl possesses a contralto voice of much power and high cultivation, and Mlle. Rosetti, who was suffering last night from the effects of a severe cold, has experience and ease in her profession. The baritone, Müller, would be a star in any troupe, and his voice will always be heard with pleasure. The young prima donna, Mlle. Elzer, has evinced talents of a high order in the role of Zerlina in ‘Don Giovanni’ and has a bright career before her. The main thing wanted for the company is a tenor. Likely this want will be supplied.”

“Amid the triumphs of a great author and the intoxication which the incense of a worshipping world brings to the mind of a Dickens, Scott or Bulwer there is one painful thought which robs the moment of half its pleasure. This is the terrible reflection that some inhuman librettist may seize upon the work which makes the author a sort of demi-god and torture it into the subject of an opera. The Inquisition of the Middle Ages or the pleasantries of the Comanches of the present day toward their prisoners are mild in comparison with the treatment an author receives at the hands of a librettist. Scott has not got off scot free in the instance of ‘Ivanhoe,’ yet the most striking scenes of the novel are grouped together in a very attractive manner. The opera opens with the attack on Cedric’s party by Bois De Guilbert, and closes, of course, with the death of the latter. The principal scene, the storming of the Castle of Front de Boeuf, could be made one of the most effective scenes in opera; but whether the fact of the engagement of the Fabbri troupe being only a week’s experiment, and the opera of ‘Marschner’ being only given once, the management was extremely chary in the matter of mise en scène and appointments. Although the music is very heavy, and is more meritorious in the instrumental than in the vocal parts, it is very probable that a manager might achieve a great success with it if placed on the stage in spectacular form. Among the artists who took part in the opera last night the best were Mme. Fabbri, Herr Müller, Carl Formes, and Herr Bernard, and the worst were the—well, we may say, the rest of the cast. The star of the evening was Müller, who eclipsed all his former triumphs in the rôle of the wicked and haughty Templar, Brian De Bois Guilbert, and sang and acted it in the most satisfactory manner. Mlle. Rosetti sang the music of Rowena commendably, and the persecuted Jewess found an impassioned and accomplished representative in Mme. Fabbri. The Friar Tuck of Carl Formes not making serious demands upon the voice, was a delicious piece of drollery and one of the features of the opera. Poor Weinlich had a hard time of it in the last act as Beaumanoir, and his voice underwent more suffering than did the unfortunate Jewess whom he denounced. Richard Coeur de Lion had a very slovenly representative, and Mr. Jaciezki surpassed his predecessor in the rôle of Wamba. The chorus and orchestra were excellent and were brought through the labyrinth of Marschner without a mishap under the direction of Professor Mülder. We are of the opinion that if the management of the Grand Opera House would entertain the subject seriously and endeavor to be as liberal towards German opera as the late manager was towards everything brought into the house, that these operas would draw and become a lucrative success. But this patchwork business will never do. The Grand Opera House is too magnificent for anything cheap on its stage to become a success, and people go there expecting to find the splendor of the auditorium eclipsed by the richness of the mise en scène. The upper part of the auditorium, especially the unrivalled dome, should be lighted on opera nights and not left in utter darkness, as on the two first representations of the Fabbri troupe.”