Strakosch Italian Opera: Lohengrin

Brief.

Brief; cast with roles.

“When Max Strakosch brought Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’ to the American stage for the first time, in Italian, toward the end of last year’s season, we claimed that he had done a great service to art, but a great disservice to himself and to his Italians. What we meant by this was that with the triumph of the Swan Knight on the New York stage, the confines of the usual permanent repertoire of the Italian opera—to which the public was accustomed, and which was so convenient for the singers—had been broken. Strakosch showed the American—who was already familiar with Wagner’s orchestral works, thanks to Bergmann and Thomas—that Wagner could also share the operatic stage alongside Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Flotow, etc. In such (musically) young minds, the reaction was inevitable: people liked ‘Lohengrin’ even better than they do the ‘Troubadour’ and the ‘Traviata.’ Strakosch thus felt obliged to present ‘Lohengrin’ again this season. None of Strakosch’s new artists, not even Albani, succeeded in bringing about yesterday what the first performance of ‘Lohengrin’ did: a packed, sold-out house. We hardly need to discuss the work itself again, as last season all of the newspapers offered columns of reviews, critiques, essays, etc. This time we will focus on the performance. Fräulein Albani is certainly not the pale, moonlit Elsa that Nilsson created; she is, perhaps, too lively and passionate in the role, though she gives a more natural interpretation of the part. She is far behind her predecessor [Nilsson] in singing, which is evident in the Lied and Duet with Ortrud and especially in the great love duet in the last act. Still, her performance was rightly met by the audience’s applause. Carpi’s ‘Lohengrin’ has many beautiful moments; his high chest notes, which he sings with ease and power, are very useful to him in the part. These almost destroyed the voice of his predecessor, Campanini. He cannot compare himself to Campanini in acting and, to a certain extent, spiritualization [Durchgeistigung]. The other parts are entrusted to the same artists who sang them last year. The chorus and orchestra are strong and up to the task, but nevertheless yesterday’s performance was not without some little uncertainties. The opera will be given again on Friday.”

“At last, in the closing week of the season, we have a performance which deserves the most attentive listening and the most serious consideration. The operas of the past eight weeks—‘Aida’ perhaps excepted—have been the trifling amusements of an evening, and there has been nothing in the manner of their presentation, nor often much in the merit of the principal artists, to call for more than a passing mention. A representation of ‘Lohengrin,’ however, is something of a very different character; and that the public understood the importance of the occasion was apparent from the fact that the audience was the largest and most brilliant of the season. There has been no falling off in the lively interest aroused by this great work last year, and the incredulous are beginning to believe that even without the aid of the exceptional dramatic talents of Nilsson and Campanini, Wagner can be made agreeable and comprehensible to the multitude. The performance, barring some few hitches, and mistakes for which we were hardly prepared, was a very good one, although it naturally fell somewhat below the memorable representations of last season. Miss Albani’s Elsa was less romantic and ethereal than that of her predecessor in the rôle, and yet it was thoroughly sweet and charming. She sang the music beautifully, and in all the more striking passages, such as the ‘Sola ne’ miei prim’ anni,’ the duet in the bridal chamber, and the romanza on the balcony, she fulfilled the brightest expectations of her friends. She caught the true spirit of the drama, and interpreted the character of the heroine with intelligence and poetical delicacy. It would be hypercritical to find any fault with a performance which does her great honor. In the Lohengrin of Sig. Carpi there is also a great deal to praise. His action is dignified; his appearance is excellent; his singing is always correct; and his voice is well suited to the requirements of the part. It must be confessed, however, that he is far from filling the measure of the fine artist who preceded him. The Lohengrin of Sig. Campanini is one of the noblest personations to be seen at this day on any operatic stage, and it will be long before we [illegible] its rival. In the magnificent last scene of the opera especially, the inferiority of Sig. Carpi was unpleasantly manifest, and though there were no great faults to pick at, the impression was nevertheless left upon the audience that the tenor was overpowered by a role too great for him. We missed the knightly bearing, the gallant personal presence, the indescribable air of mystery, of devotion, and of tenderness, and the splendid elocution of the famous passage at the end, in which Lohengrin discloses his name and quality. Sig. Carpi was rather tame in this scene. But we should have called him a remarkably good Lohengrin if we had not seen Campanini.

Miss Cary and Sig. Del Puente resumed the characters of Ortrud and Frederick, in which both these artists are at their best. The King was Sig. Scolara, who was tolerable, and the Herald was Mr. Hall, who seemed to be very much out of place in an ungrateful and trying role. The chorus, orchestra, scenery, dresses, &c., were the same as last year, and Sig. Muzio of course was the conductor.”

“’Lohengrin’ was represented at the Academy of Music last evening. No opera sung this season has attracted so large an audience as that gathered to enjoy Wagner’s now familiar work, and none has been listened to with equal interest and reverence. ‘Lohengrin’ certainly gains strength with each recital. Its most intricate passages become clearer and clearer, and the many-sidedness of its beauties is more and more apparent, as repetition begets a closer acquaintance with the score. It is not indeed an achievement of which the tuneful portions will go to the hand-organs, but a grand lyric drama, during the performance of which inattention or indifference to a single incident is impossible. We were particularly glad that yesterday’s assemblage should have been numerous, for the fact showed that the success of ‘Lohengrin’ last year was not wholly the consequence of a caprice on the part of the public. Satisfied that the desire to hear the opera anew was genuine, Mr. Strakosch has once more placed it upon the stage with great care. The principal artists of his company appear in it, and the stage attire is of the most appropriate kind. Mlle. Albani impersonates Elsa… [lists cast]. Mlle. Albani’s portrayal of Elsa is a more sympathetic and less dramatic effort than was Mme. Nilsson’s, to whom, as the créatrice of the character, we cannot help referring. Mme. Nilsson was very poetical, very impulsive, and, now and then, her acting was very powerful; Mlle. Albani is more maidenly, and naïveté and tenderness are her chief traits. Vocally, the merits of the two performers offset each other; nothing could be more charming than Mlle. Albani’s singing of the first and second verses of the couplets commencing ‘Sola nel prim’ anni miei;’ nor could more exquisite tones or a purer style be wished than were admired in Elsa’s air, ‘Aurette, a cui si spesso;’ but in the ecstatic finale of the first act—‘Lodar l’umano accento’—to which the volume of Mlle. Albani’s voice is not equal; and particularly in the delicious but trying duet in the third act, where the breadth and timbre of Mme. Nilsson’s lower notes, added to her remarkably impassioned delivery, were wont to produce a deep impression, the younger prima donna’s predecessor unquestionably had the advantage. Signor Carpi’s noble voice sounds well in the music allotted to the Knight of the Grail. We believe that Signor Carpi, like Mlle. Albani, never filled the rôle before essaying it last night, and, hence, his labors may be set down as specially creditable to him. Mr. Strakosch’s gifted tenor does not depict Lohengrin with the studied elegance apparent to Signor Campanini’s personation, but he recites his numbers with unvarying charm of tone and purity of elocution, and his bearing is both graceful and dignified. Signor Carpi sang delightfully his farewell to the swan, and with his thorough command of sostenuto he endowed the brief but telling phrases to Elsa, in the first and second acts, with their anticipated effectiveness; he also rendered his share of the duo with much charm of voice and reading; the final recitative was less satisfactory, and, had it been as perfect as Signor Campanini’s, as Signor Carpi interpreted it the performer would still be amenable to the charge of cutting out some of the choicest measures of the opera. Signor Del Puente’s Telramondo needs no fresh comment, nor does Miss Cary’s Ortruda; both are honest representations of decidedly disagreeable individuals, Ortruda being more disagreeable than ever, on the occasion we write of, because of her excessive vocal shrillness. We must not omit to mention that Signor Scolara declaims the lines of the king with unimpeachable majesty, and that the chorus and orchestra will surely be, to-morrow—when ‘Lohengrin’ is to be executed for the second and last time—in excellent condition. All the singers were summoned before the curtain after the second and third acts, yesterday, and Mlle. Albani retired laden with flowers.”

“’Lohengrin was brought out last evening at the opera, renewing the interest that it excited last winter. In several respects the cast was the same as that with which it was then played—notably the roles of Ortrud and Frederick, which Miss Cary and Del Puente fill, and which could not have better interpreters.

Scolara was the King, a character to which he did far better justice than did Signor Nannetti, its former representative.

Mlle. Albani was of course the Elsa. This exacting and thoroughly poetic role called upon all her powers both as a singer and as an actress. It certainly is a part the weight of which no second-rate artist can sustain, and it furnished a fitting test by which the powers of this young prima donna could be measured. It is to her credit that she was able to give a presentation of the part marked throughout by refinement and grace, and sufficiently vigorous to maintain the interest of a very large audience to the close. Signor Carpi also sang the part of Lohengrin with better effect than any of his previous impersonations had prepared us to expect. He falsified all of Wagner’s theories, however, by holding his high notes whenever the opportunity was afforded him for the purpose of making a personal effect at the sacrifice of the musical intentions of the composer. This cheap notoriety Wagner never intended his singers to obtain. They were to subordinate themselves to the situation, and this Campanini, who took the character on the occasion of its former presentation, always did.”

“It is to be regretted that Mr. Strakosch was obliged to defer until the end of the season the production of Wagner’s grand opera, with Mlle. Albani and Signor Carpi for the first time in two of the principal rôles. Had the opera been brought out earlier the apathy of the operatic public might have been removed and something like real enthusiasm substituted. The Academy was crowded last night, the audience being the largest of the entire season. The deep attention paid to the music by a considerable proportion of the audience showed what a hold Wagner and his school has taken here. As we have on previous occasions explained the tendencies of this school and the results which must follow its adoption it is only necessary here to speak of the performance last night. As might be expected of so capable an artist, endowed with positive magnetism in voice, acting and appearance, the Elsa of Mlle. Albani was very charming. Her thorough vocal training was shown in the rôle in its brightest light. Through the devious mazes of Wagner’s music (and rare skill is required to find one’s way therein) Mlle. Albani never faltered an instant, and, always in time and true to the tone, her beautiful voice gave universal pleasure. Its thinness of volume in the lower notes, however, was felt in some passages where the surge of the orchestra threatened to swamp such a frail vocal bark. For the intense dramatic passion of Nilsson there was the tenderness, artlessness and unstudied grace that one would naturally associate with such a character as Elsa. These attributes were exhibited to the best possible advantage in the balcony scene of the second act and in the following duet with Ortrud. In the grand scene with Lohengrin in the bridal chamber, Mlle. Albani was no less successful than in the two we have mentioned. This is a terrible ordeal for a prima donna and a tenor, for it seems interminable, and there is scarcely a breathing space in it. A more liberal use of the scissors both in this and other parts of the opera might prove of advantage to the composer, the artists and the public. Miss Cary repeated last season’s remarkable success in the rôle of Ortrud. When it is taken into consideration that the part has been written for a mezzo-soprano like Lucca, and that some of the music is beyond the reach of Miss Cary’s voice, requiring skillful transpositions, as in the instance of the passionate cry of Ortrud when she contemplates revenge on Elsa in the second act, ‘Or Dei profani,’ the triumph of the favorite American contralto is all the greater. The long, declamatory duet in the beginning of the second act, between Ortrud and her husband, received much of its dramatic fire last night from Miss Cary. Sig. Carpi exceeded all anticipations by the splendid manner in which he sang the music of the title rôle. From the celebrated swan song, ‘Merce, merce, bel cigno gentil,’ to the farewell to Elsa, ‘Mipuo il San Graal se resto ancor,’ through the long, trying scenes which are calculated to wreck any tenor voice, Signor Carpi acquitted himself vocally in the most satisfactory manner. His acting was an improvement on his previous appearances in opera and was dignified and stately, although cold and apathetic at times. There was a refreshing ease and confidence in his singing, and every note was true and telling—a very unusual circumstance with a representative of the hero of Wagner’s opera, and one that would incline the hearer to pass over his histrionic defects. Del Puente again gained high commendation for his finished and spirited impersonation of Frederick of Telramund, and deserves to be classed with the three fine artists we have referred to. Signor Scolara undertook the role of the King, and although he sang the music correctly, he failed to produce any marked impression. The Orle of the Herald, so admirably filled by Herr Blum last season, was entrusted to a gentleman who contrived to make an utter fiasco with it. The chorus was in good condition, and as this department of the opera is of vital importance in Wagner’s work, the direction is entitled to praise for such happy results. The orchestra was very unsteady at times, and some of the brass instruments indulged in queer pranks, almost driving Signor Muzio frantic. To this indefatigable chef d’orchestre much credit is due for the general success of the representation. The opera was placed on the stage in the same sumptuous and gorgeous style as characterized in representations during the Nilsson season.” 

“At the Academy of Music, on Wednesday evening, Wagner’s grand opera ‘Lohengrin’ was performed for the first time this season. The house, being crowded with a brilliant assembly, presented an appearance which must have been highly encouraging to the management. That the revival of this greatly admired work was delayed so long is one of those strange decisions which it is difficult to understand. Though sure of attracting a large number of students and lovers of musical art, and engaging the attention of most persons of high culture, and therefore calculated to ensure success, it has been kept in reserve until the final week, while the well-worn Verdi operas, or comparatively insignificant works, have retained possession of the stage.

If, instead of being thus held in abeyance, it had been produced early in the season, great interest and enthusiasm would have been induced from the first.

One would naturally conclude that with such ample time and opportunities for preparation the magnificent opera ‘Lohengrin’ would have been presented in a style of it, if not in a faultless manner.

It is no compliment to the great composer Wagner to select one of his art-works and produce it incompletely. These productions are entitled to respect when once they have been selected for performance, and no one should assume to alter or curtail them in such a way that their complete organic structure is mutilated. No doubt all German Italian operas are difficult to perform when compared with those by Verdi, Bellini and other writers of the simple Italian school, yet they are attainable (even those by Wagner, as was proved last season), and therefore the subscribers were justified in anticipating, if not an ideal performance of  ‘Lohengrin,’ at least a technically correct one, especially as great pains have been taken to duly impress them with the statement that the company was complete in all its departments, and that the necessary rehearsals were taking place.

For the satisfactory exhibition of the Wagnerian opera, all the performers should be fully competent to execute whatever is demanded of them with tolerable ease and certainty, for an error committed in one department may embarrass and possibly mislead all the other departments.

The music of ‘Lohengrin’ has been so frequently performed with most unerring certainty of execution and grandeur of effect at orchestral concerts that it has become quite familiar to ordinary New York audiences. Those listeners accustomed to hear the best music well presented will be content with nothing less, though they will patronize with the utmost liberality and commend in no measured way whatever fulfills their requirements.

Mlle. Emma Albani has made the part of Elsa a special and conscientious study. In many respects it is an original impersonation. She acts with scrupulous fidelity to the composer’s directions and with an earnestness which of itself cannot fail to gain admiration. It is much to be regretted that she will not now perform the part several times that by experience it may be made as satisfactory as she and her well-wishers desire; but even then, unless all the other associated parts are so reliable that complete confidence may be reposed in their able co-operation to the desired end, the result may be vitiated.

The choruses were curtailed and sung indifferently; in many instances the voice fell below the pitch, and failed to produce a satisfactory quality or fullness of tone, even in those parts which are comparatively easy to comprehend, remember and deliver. The orchestra, also, was occasionally at fault, particularly the brass instruments; and in the elaborate concerted pieces the prompter was often heard attempting the impossible.

Miss Cary sang and acted well, if not better, than at the first performance of ‘Lohengrin’ last season. Her Ortrud is completely satisfactory.

Signor Carpi has accomplished all the difficulties of the work as far as the music itself is concerned, and therefore his Lohengrin will soon become a finished performance. He is naturally eminently well fitted to sustain the part.

Signor Scolara’s Henry was successful, and Signor Del Puente’s Frederick was equally good. But it was evident that the special powers of each individual member of the company were not fully exhibited, on account of the want of satisfactory preconcerted arrangements.”

“’Lohengrin’ was sung for the second time at the Academy of Music, last evening, in presence of an audience that filled the seats, aisles and standing-room generally of the spacious building. The assemblage, as represented by the returns of the box office as well as gauged by the eye, was the largest gathered this season. It was also one of the most enthusiastic, and while Wagner’s splendid work was listened to with the exceptional reverence already noted as a feature of the performances of which his music is the subject, applause was uncommonly frequent, spontaneous, and unanimous. Yesterday’s recital was free from the slight imperfections of Wednesday’s, and left, in respect of the ensemble, nothing to be desired. With regard to the manner in which the principal rôles are assumed, we see no occasion to modify the opinion expressed twenty-four hours ago. While Mlle. Albani’s wholly unaffected style and perfect method of song stamp all her efforts with considerable originality, and the sunny girlishness of her own portrayal of Elsa has a novelty and charm of its own. Signor Carpi’s Lohengrin is a conscientious and studied picture, and Signor Del Puente’s labors, and those of Miss Cary, are as acceptable this year as last, the lady’s singing, by the way, being a good deal more effective last night—though it was decidedly flat in the scene where Ortruda awaits Elsa’s descent from the balcony—on account of a tendency to use with moderation instead of forcing her voice. The recalls were numerous as ever, and the floral tributes as liberal. A little more Wagner, and a little less Verdi and Marchetti, this Fall, would have been profitable to the public and to the management.”

“The regular fall season of the Italian opera closed last evening, on the twenty-seventh subscription night, before an overwhelming audience, with a very fine performance of ‘Lohengrin.’ Mlle. Emma Albani confirmed the good impression she created on Wednesday, and presented a portrait of the heroine of Wagner’s opera charming in its delineation of pure love and holy faith, vocally perfect even in passages in which there was a strong temptation to exaggerate, and conscientiously earnest in every scene. The Lohengrin of Carpi was as noble a vocal performance as on the first evening, and was vocally devoid of dramatic [illegible]. Miss Cary and Del Puente gave effect to the rôles of Ortrud and Telramund, and the chorus and orchestra were generally satisfactory. A few escapades on the part of the latter, especially among the brass instruments, and some unsteadiness in the concerted music with the former were observable.”