Strakosch Italian Opera: Aida

For Feb. 18 (Ash Wednesday), Lucia di Lammermoor.

For Feb. 20, Lucia di Lammermoor.

The company's return to New York. 

Includes reprint from the Boston Journal regarding the company’s Boston appearances.

Miss Nilsson’s indisposition; postponed from Friday, Feb. 20 until Monday, Feb. 23.

Substitution of Aida for Lucia di Lammermoor. 

Cast and scene listing. 

“Mr. Strakosch has been tolerably successful with his Italian Opera Company in the provinces. He has made some money, but is still unfortunately behindhand. His losses so far are not over $20,000 since he began last fall.”

“The Spring season of Italian opera at the Academy was entered upon last evening, when a very fine performance of ‘Aida’ was given. Verdi’s newest opera is, in point of early popularity at all events, at least the equal of his better known works, and unlike most of the composer’s achievements, many of its numbers grow upon one continually. We hardly think, to be candid, that the martial music improves upon acquaintance, and some of the measures in which ‘local coloring’ is attempted are really more bizarre than illustrative; there are, however, many charming passages whereof the melodies and their sensuous setting captivate the ear afresh at every hearing. The third act of ‘Aida’ is especially rich in this respect, and an indescribable charm dwells in nearly every bar from the sigh-like ‘O, cieli azure,’ until the defiant ‘Sacerdote, io resto a te.’ It is not necessary, however, to write anew of a work which we dealt with in detail during its first run, and which has had so many recitals as to be familiar to most persons interested in Italian opera. The task of reviewing the representation is lightened by similar reasons, for the artists, last night, were the créateurs, to use a French word for which there is no exact equivalent, of the personages introduced to Amerian audiences several months ago. If Signor Campanini has really been ill, his illness has left no traces, and his personation of Radames was vocally and histrionically as impressive as ever. We have had so much opéra comique business upon the stage that we half fancy that many of the spectators expect of the Egyptian warrior the antics of Guglielmo in ‘Mignon.’ We are, for our part, exceedingly glad that Signor Campanini has not sought to clothe a modern dandy in the garb of the Egyptians, and that something of rough vigor informs his portrayal of Aida’s lover. The little romance in the first act offers Radames his single chance to be sentimental, and once past this portion of the action, Signor Campanini’s singing and acting are full of fire and force. His efforts were, of course, particularly effective in the third act, and the duet, in which the grief aroused in the Egyptian at the thought of the exile proposed by Aida, the fervor of the lover’s vows, and the passion of the allegro, in which the resolve of Radames and Aida to fly is expressed with the happiest appreciation of a climax, awoke applause as loud and as prolonged as has ever resounded within the walls of the Academy. Miss Cary, whom ‘Aida’ of all operas done this year, has proven to be not merely the gifted and industrious songstress long ago prized by the American public, but an artist of sensibility and ever-increasing skill in her art, shared with Signor Campanini the honors of the evening. Amneris is a difficult rôle, and the character is an unsympathetic one into the bargain. Miss Cary makes light of its difficulties, and shows herself capable of endowing the personage with all its requisite qualities. Nothing could be better than her first duet with Aida, when she makes herself mistress of the Ethiopian’s secret and overwhelms the slave with the threat of her wrath; and her final interview with Radames is to be cited as marked by variety of accent and decided power. The remaining rôles in ‘Aida’ were assigned, last evening, as hitherto, to Mlle. Torriani, M. Maurel, and Signor Scolara. Mlle. Torriani’s picture of Aida is a very meritorious performance, and the air in the first act, and ‘O, cieli assuri’ in the third are to be referred to as excellent specimens of honest and earnest singing. Signor Del Puente was to have impersonated Amonasro, but, on account of sickness, the ‘ferocious and indomitable warrior’ of the text was embodied by M. Maurel, for whom, indeed, we would not willingly accept a substitute. Although M. Maurel was not in his best form, the personage did not suffer at his hands, and was colored with quite as much breadth of touch and science of contrast as on the night of Amonasro’s first appearance. After the duet with Aida in the third act, the baritone was recalled. Signor Scolara delivered the lines of the King with his wonted eloquence. Of the choral and orchestra department in ‘Aida,’ and of its mise en scène, it would be superfluous at present to speak; Verdi himself could scarcely wish anything more satisfactory.”

“The spring season of Italian opera opened last evening with the work upon which Verdi’s strongest claim to public admiration thus far rests—his ‘Aida.’

The presentation was a smoother and more perfect one than those previously given here, since the opera has had since that time the benefit of repeated performance until all works smoothly, and the most difficult portions are sung with certainty and precision.

The cast was the same as on the occasion of its first representation, though in the interim the character of Amonasro has been assumed by Signor Del Puente in other cities, and on one occasion at least M. Capoul has taken the part of Radames. It is almost needless to say that the opera gains by the parts being remitted to those who first sustained them.

Signor Campanini, in spite of recent trouble with his throat, with which the Western winds dealt roughly, sang his part with great power, earnestness, and fire, displaying again those fine manly traits that give character to whatever he does. Miss Cary, too, was in splendid voice. The praise that has been given to the performance of this lady, and also to that of that worthy artist, Mlle. Torriani, who so well sustains the role of Aida, is altogether deserved. In a word, the entire performance is one to be commended.”

“The Spring season at the Academy of Music opened last night with Verdi’s fine opera of ‘Aida’ produced with the same cast, the same scenery, and the same accessories which gave it such a brilliant effect in the earlier part of the Winter. Sig. Del Puente was announced for the rôle of Amonasro, but he was sick and unable to sing, and M. Maurel accordingly, to the great satisfaction of the audience, appeared in his original part. Considering that ‘Aida’ is no longer a novelty, the attendance was quite as large as could reasonably have been expected, but the house was not full, and it is evident that with a large number of those persons who cultivate the opera as a fashionable amusement, without much regard for the general merit of the performance, no attraction will compensate for the absence of Mme. Nilsson. ‘Aida’ was not sung with special smoothness last night, and the stage business was not as neatly managed as it has been before; but these slight defects were perhaps the natural result of the much traveling and knocking about which the company has been forced to endure, and will wear off after a second night. On the other hand, the principal artists of the cast return to us in excellent condition, and each received a cordial welcome on coming upon the scene. Sig. Campanini in particular, who has suffered severely from colds since he left New-York, seems to be now in his best voice, and last night he surpassed his former efforts in the character of Radames, singing his first aria, ‘Celeste Aida’ with more than his usual purity and sweetness, and making the entire rôle remarkable for precision, refinement, and spirit. Mlle. Torriani has always imbued her part with true sentiment and delicacy, and we missed none of the former charm in her personation last night, nor did Miss Cary fall below the high level of her first assumption of the character of Amneris. ‘Aida,’ taking it all in all, is more brilliantly performed than any other opera which has been placed upon the New-York stage for many years, and it will be long before we see anything equal to it—unless Mr. Strakosch should lavish money and taste and ingenuity in the same way upon ‘Lohengrin.’”

“Before a large and fashionable audience those members of Mr. Strakosch’s troupe who first introduced to us the oriental splendors of ‘Aida’ last night re-appeared before a metropolitan public. The performance of Verdi’s latest and greatest work was in every way satisfactory. The artists, it is true, were complaining of colds and of the fatigue consequent upon their recent travels, but they did not show in their voices the effects of these hardships. The usual salient points of the opera were duly recognized, but it was not until the third act that the enthusiasm became general. In this part of the opera the dramatic singing of Torriani, Maurel and Campanini thoroughly aroused the audience, and the applause was most vigorous. In the last act Miss Cary and Signor Nannetti, in the trial scene, displayed their best qualities.

The opera was altogether finely performed, though scarcely with that fire and spirit which have characterized some previous performances. The troupe have sung so frequently together in this opera that, naturally enough it is now always given with taste and smoothness. Its manifold beauties are becoming more familiar to our public, and the opera is taking its rank among the recognized favorites of the Italian repertoire. Whether it will ever attain the astonishing popularity of ‘Trovatore’ or ‘Ernani’ may be doubted; but it has certainly made its mark with the average audience; and in the estimation of musicians and critics has vastly enhanced the reputation of its composer.” 

“There was a glamour of the Pharoahs’ age of Niletic magnificence at the Academy last night. The Strakosch Italian Opera Company inaugurated the spring season of opera with Verdi’s remarkable work, ‘Aida.’ We have already criticised the musical merits of this opera at length and pointed out its strong points and its weaknesses. Its first production was the entering wedge into the Rip Van Winkle policy which has so long characterized the management of Italian opera in this city. The brilliancy and historical accuracy of the mise en scène, rivalling the best efforts of dramatic managers who have heretofore claimed the monopoly of grandeur of stage representation, mark an epoch in operatic management. The cities of Thebes and Memphis and the Oriental ‘Father of Waters’ are represented with lifelike effect, as they existed 4,000 years ago. The costumes are no less faithful to history. Signor Campanini looks as if he walked out of the Pyramids, divested of the mummy’s swaddling clothes, after a score or so of centuries’ refreshing slumber. Mlle. Torriani has the traditional costume of the Egyptian princess, such as Bruce or Beke would delight to dilate upon, and M. Maurel is the untamed Bedouin, whose very appearance one must associate with camels, burning sands and wandering tribes. A very charming princess is Miss Cary, whose dress combines the seductive attractions of a Cleopatra and Bayadère with the dignity of a Zenobia. Signor Nannetti’s high priest differs little from the traditional appearance, whether Egyptian, Druidic or Hindoo, of this important personage in grand opera.

The performance last evening was signalized by many points of excellence, such as marked the first representations of the opera. Mlle. Torriani repeated her very commendable impersonation of the title rôle, and, considering the fact that she had more real hard work than any of the other characters, and that the music of her part called for unwonted exertions, as far as her voice was concerned, her success is sufficient to stamp her as an artist of a very high order of talent. The first aria of the prima donna in the second scene of the first act, in which the struggle between love and duty is vividly portrayed; the stormy and passionate duet in the second act with the Egyptian princess, the exciting scenes with father and lover in the third act, and the last memorable scene in the tombs beneath the temple, in which the love of the slave princess is sealed in death, were rendered by Mlle. Torriani with a degree of power and vocal effect that calls for commendation.

Miss Cary supplemented her former success in the trying rôle of Amneris by a wealth of vocal power, keen appreciation of the varied demands of the composer and an amount of dramatic excellence in illustrating the baleful effects of jealousy that made her one of the principal attractions of the opera.

But to Signor Campanini, despite the fact that he was laboring under an almost uncontrollable hoarseness, belongs the chief share of last night’s honors. The music is very brilliant, but at the same time very fatiguing to the tenor. Especially in the third act is this perceptible. The rôle of Radames may be considered as the best of Campanini’s operatic impersonations in this city.

M. Maurel proved himself again one of the most accomplished barytones that have appeared for many years on our operatic boards. The duet with Aida in the third act, on the banks of the Nile, owed much of its effect to the sonority and beauty of his voice, the finish and intelligence of his school of singing and his dramatic talent. There may be an absence of the cloying sweetness of melody of Verdi’s former works in this opera, but in the adaptation of musical thoughts to the demands of the various situations of the libretto a very high place in the lyric répertoire must be accorded to it. It is eminently dramatic music, a sort of cross between Meyerbeer and Wagner. The numerous reminiscences of other composers which we pointed out at its first representation are used with reference to the exigencies of each scene, and although some may cavil at this new departure of Verdi none can deny the manifestation of power, if not absolute genius, shown in this, his latest work. The subject of the opera necessarily calls for quaint melodies and strange instrumentation, but the impress of a master mind is over all. One consolation is that the music of Verdi in this opera can never find its way into the lawless hands of organ grinders or parlor pianists. It is of too elevated a tone to be degraded in such a manner.”

“’Aida’ was sung at the Academy of Music last evening, in presence of an audience quite large, when the condition of affairs out of doors is borne in mind. The cast was unchanged; it still comprises, we ought to mention, Signor Nannetti, whose fine voice and dignified delivery should have been alluded to, but, by an accidental omission, were unnoticed in Tuesday’s reference to the revival of ‘Aida’ on Monday night.” 

“Despite the storm there was a good attendance at the repetition of ‘Aida’ last night. The singers showed a few evidences of fatigue. Torriani, Cary, Campanini, Maurel and Nannetti, however, were all warmly applauded. There was, indeed, greater enthusiasm than on the first night of the season. In the third act, as usual, the interest of the opera culminated. With all our admiration for this noble production of Verdi, we cannot but admit that the last act is lacking in exciting moments. The duet of the dying lovers imprisoned beneath the temple is very tender and beautiful; but it has undoubtedly occurred to many that the composer might have made more of the situation. There was offered to him a special opportunity for that picturesque contrast of which, in ‘Rigoletto’ particularly, he has shown himself such a master. On the other hand, the quiet and tender pathos of the close of this opera leaves an impression on the mind of the listener which is peculiarly charming in its tender melancholy.”

“The long, weary tour of the West, generally fatal to the majority of opera singers, has left its marks on the Strakosch Italian opera company. There was quite a perceptible lassitude in the impersonations of some of the principal singers—notably Campanini—last evening, which detracted much from the éclat of the memory of the first representation. Signor Campanini has proved himself an artist of no ordinary calibre in those rôles where tone and vigor were demanded, which he essayed last fall in this city, but he comes back considerably weakened by the adverse influences of our variable climate. The nervous strength and éclatant brilliancy of tone which characterized his earlier efforts in the rôle of Radames seemed last evening to have dwindled down surprisingly. Yet the impress of the artist was in every measure of his music, and conscientiousness and intelligence marked his impersonation. Mlle. Torriani’s voice seems also to have suffered from the terrible ordeal it has undergone during the late tour of the company, for it failed to grasp the salient parts of the music.

Three of the characters were represented without a flaw. Nothing could be more beautiful or attractive than the Amneris of Miss Cary, whose well cultivated, sympathetic voice has gained, this season, in power and effectiveness. She interprets the trial scene, in the last act, in which she is the only one on the stage, and which makes considerable demands in a dramatic and musical point of view, with extraordinary spirit and élan. M. Maurel’s impersonation of the King of Ethiopia is one of those rare operatic creations that fasten themselves at once upon the public mind, and become popular not only with the crowd, but also with the dilettanti. In the third act, on the banks of the blue Nile, he bore away the chief share of the honors. Signor Nannetti, as the high priest, Ramfis, has little to do or sing in the opera, but that little is artistically rendered. The chorus and orchestra were not in as complete trim and accord as when the opera was first produced, the long trumpets in the march being particularly offensive and out of tune, but the influence of a good leader like Signor Muzio was felt to a considerable degree. The opera is a clever and artistic mélange of the ideas of Gluck, Meyerbeer and Wagner, with a spice of the Verdi of olden time and Donizetti thrown in, and the manner in which it is represented, albeit, cannot compare with the munificence of the Khedive at Cairo, marks a disposition to place operatic representations on the level of dramatic revivals at Wallack’s and Daly’s theatres. To-night the company appear…The house last evening was by no means commensurate with the merits of the opera.”

“March 2.--The Strakosch Italian Opera Troupe, after an extensive and successful tour through the principal cities of the United States, has returned to New York, and the spring season of Opera, which began at the Academy on Monday evening, Feb. 23, promises to be well patronized. The opera selected for the opening night was Aida, a work which draws well, owing to the strong local coloring of the drama and the admirable manner in which the leading roles are taken. There is, however, little in the music of Aida to catch the popular ear. Mlle. Torriani in the title rôle is unexceptionable, both in her singing and acting. Miss Cary as Amneris renders the music with fidelity and grace, although her acting might be improved, and the same may be said of Sig. Campanini in his impersonation of Radames. Maurel as Amonasro is admirable in every particular, while Signors Nannetti and Scolara as King and Chief-priest are all that is required.

On Wednesday the Academy was well filled, but not crowded, and Aida was again represented.”