“New and elegant theatre will be opened.” Roster

Roster

“Mr. Koch has made an elegant little theater at Terrace Garden. It is a neat, comfortable, cheerful place, gaily but tastefully decorated, brilliant with light and color, and having a stage of respectable dimensions pretty well supplied with scenery. The opera company which opened it last night is under the direction of Madame Louise Lichtmay. That lady took the role of Leonora in the German version of the ‘Trovatore,’ and Madame Clara Perl was the Azucena. Both artists are well known in New-York, and it is only necessary to say of their efforts on this occasion that they seemed to afford the greatest delight to a large and demonstrative audience. The male singers in the company, however, are all new. The tenor, Wilhelm Horn, has a clear, ringing, and withal rather sympathetic voice, and though his style is crude, his delivery in the softer passages somewhat uncertain, and his intonations not invariably true, he was decidedly successful in the robuster portions, and brilliantly so in the ‘Di quella pira.’ He took the high chest note in this piece (if it was not the genuine C it was, we presume, not more than a semitone below it) with charming ease, and was of course recalled after it. The baritone, Herr Fritz de la Fontaine, sings with expression, but has not a remarkable voice. Herr Gross made a favorable impression in the bass role of Ferrande. The orchestra, composed of good material, was under the direction of Carl Bergmann. The chorus was small, but perhaps sufficient for the place, and the stage appointments, if not brilliant, were as good as they usually are at the German opera in this city.”

“Last night, before a large audience, which included an American as well as a Teutonic element; the first performance in the new German theatre took place. The building, on 59th street and Third avenue, is neat, light and cheerful. It is a hall of the usual oblong shape, with a stage at one end, and is thus available for balls as well as for theatrical entertainments. Adjoining the handsome, well-lighted auditorium are large refreshment rooms, to which the foaming lager is by no means a stranger. The whole establishment has been built at an expense of $110,000, by Mr. Koch, who by his individual enterprise has put to shame the tardiness of those ‘prominent German citizens,’ who, for so long a time, have talked about erecting a first-class theatre in New York.

The Terrace Garden Theatre, though essentially a German institution, was opened last night with an Italian’s work. The ‘Trovatore,’ which all over the civilized world retains an extraordinary vitality, was selected for performance, and was received with decided satisfaction. Madame Lichtmay, the prima donna, sang in her effective style. Miss Clara Perl, an artist who is constantly improving and of whose superb performance in ‘Le Prophete’ we had occasion to speak last season, gave a nobly dramatic personation of the gypsy, Azucena. The new tenor, Wilhelm Horn, proved to be a young man with a sturdy, vigorous voice, which he uses with skill. In the great air of the third act he was enthusiastically encored, chiefly for having well taken and sustained a high note, corresponding to the ut de poitrine of the great traditional tenors. A baritone with the magnificent name of Fritz de la Fontaine was the Di Luna of the evening, and sang and acted like an experienced operatic artist.

Altogether the season of German opera was auspiciously opened.”

“There was quite an excitement in German circles last evening on occasion of the opening of Mr. John Koch’s new theatre, which occupies the greater part of the block bounded by Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth streets, Third and Lexington avenues. The theatre looked fresh, radiant and pretty; was lighted in a manner that made it more cheerful and more of the ballroom than what one is accustomed to see in a theatre, and showed the hand of an artist in all its details. The initial performance showed a notable lack of musical judgment in the selection of a purely Italian opera, which sung in any other language cannot achieve a success. In German, particularly, ‘Il Trovatore’ sounds anything but in accordance with the spirit of the composer. The cast was the following [see above]. The ladies made a genuine hit and repeated the success which crowned their efforts for a season at the Stadt Theatre. Miss Perl is one of the best representatives of the gypsy mother we have on the boards at present, and her pure contralto voice will always be heard with pleasure. Mme. Lichtmay’s abilities as a dramatic singer have been spoken of at length before in these columns. The new tenor cannot be considered as a success, as his method leads him to shouting, a very dangerous style of singing when the voice is naturally coarse. The representative of Di Luna is a basso, and therefore it was necessary to transpose much of his music. The ‘Il Balen’ was set down a minor third from the original key. In other respects Mr. De la Fontaine gave considerable satisfaction, as his voice is of good timbre and is well cultivated. The chorus is small in number, to suit the stage, but is well selected. The orchestra had the valuable services of Mr. Carl Bergmann as conductor and many threatened mishaps on the part of some of the performers were averted in time by the firmness and decision of this admirable chef d’orchestre. Mr. Bergmann might tell his company that quality as well as quantity in tone is a very desirable thing in singing. Light and shade seem to be foreign to the school of most German singers. The Terrace Garden Theatre is not like the Boston Coliseum and is more easily filled by a voice.”

List of company members and officers.