Maretzek Italian Opera: Roberto Devereux - Opening Night of the Season

“Medori is expected to return to New York about the 1st of September. She is engaged by Mr. Maretzek, who has secured our Academy of Music for the whole of next season. He will have, we are assured, the same troupe which proved so successful during last season, and will also engage some of our most popular native artists. At present, Mazzoleni, Bellini and Biachi are, we believe, enjoying the bracing atmosphere of Staten Island, at which place Mr. Maretzek has been bedridden for some time. He is, however, we are happy to hear, recovering from his severe indisposition.”

“We are assured that next season we shall have ample opportunities for the enjoyment of opera. In the first place Mr. Maretzek will, early in the fall, open the Academy of Music for a long operatic campaign. Mme. Medori will return to us ready for the achivements [sic] of fresh triumphs. Mazzoleni, Bellini and Biachi are engaged, while we hear that some of our favorite native artists will lend their talent toward increasing the effectiveness of the Maretzek troupe. Petrella, the composer of ‘Ione,’ which opera was so eminently successful here last season, intends, it is said, visiting New York next winter, and it is added that he will write an opera expressly for the artists under engagement to Mr. Maretzek. By the aid of their undoubted talent ‘Ione’ was made most popular here. Any new work of the maestro’s will be sure to receive ample justice if entrusted to them.

Mazzoleni is, we hear, to appear next season in ‘Zampa,’ ‘Robert le Diable,’ and in the ‘Huguenots,’ also in other roles which he has never sung in New York.”

“Maretzek’s season at the Academy of Music will commence immediately on the termination of the American Institute Fair which is held in that building during the month of September. The impresario is already making preparations for the campaign. Mme. Medori will return in time for the opening, and it is said that Petrella, the composer of ‘Ione,’ has at her own solicitation accepted Mr. Maretzek’s invitation to write a new opera for the Academy and visit America expressly for its production. It is only the leading opera houses of Europe that have works written expressly for them; but Mr. Maretzek sees no reason why the metropolis of America should be behind either London or Paris in this particular. Nor do we; but—will it pay at present prices, especially as orchestra-players have added twenty-five per cent to their rates?”

“Maretzek, whose health has been seriously assailed during the past two months, has sufficiently recovered to visit the City. The preparations for his forthcoming season are being carried on with great spirit. Mme. Medori will return to America early in the Fall; indeed, Mr. Maretzek secured her passage yesterday. The composer of ‘Ione’ will probably accompany her. He is, at [illeg] events, heartily pleased with the reception of his work in America, and only needs the nod from Maretzek to compose a new one expressly for the Academy of Music. One of the earliest productions of Mr. Maretzek’s season will be Gounod’s opera of ‘Faust’ – the latest and most successful revival in London, and overwhelmingly popular wherever brought out. In reserve also he has Verdi’s opera of ‘La Forza del Destino.’ We shall undoubtedly have a season of great activity and success. It will commence immediately after the close of the American Institute Fair – about the first or second week of October.”

“The approaching Opera season here will be marked by an interesting event. Among the artists engaged abroad is Mdlle. Lisa Harsi [sic], who will make her début at our Academy in the fall. She is only sixteen years of age, and is said to be so divine a singer as to put Adelina Patti completely in the shade; but to break the charm of Patti, Mdlle. Harri [sic] must be an extraordinary person. William Cassell, the tenor, and Morensi, are also announced among the artists who will appear here during the opera season.”

“Two opera companies will divide the honors of the lyric drama this year. Mr. Maretzek heads the Italian troupe, as usual, and Mr. Anschutz will bring out a German company with a number of operas never played here. The Academy of Music will open under Maretzek’s management on the 5th of October, with Medori, Mazzolini [sic], Sulzer, Bellini and Biachi in ‘Robert le Diable.’ The choruses will be greatly strengthened; they needed a tonic. Mr. Anschutz will begin his season in November, with ‘Faust and Marguerite.’ His company are now on the way to this city from Hamburg.”

“The director, Max Maretzek, announces that having perfected all preliminary arrangements, he will open the Academy of Music, for the regular season of Italian opera, on Monday, October 5, 1863. His programme, which we give below, promises a most brilliant season. The manager says:—In presenting an artistic corps of remarkable talent, an ensemble perfect in every department, and a repertoire extensive and almost entirely new, the director looks confidently to the public for support, and solicits that liberal patronage without which the lyric drama can nowhere prosper. To render the several representations truly excellent in all respects no labor or expense will be spared; but, to properly discharge all the responsibilities and fulfill all the conditions incidental to so vast an undertaking, more than common managerial energy and artistic resources are needed, while to insure positive success the generous assistance of the patrons of art is absolutely requisite. In referring to the arrangements made for the approaching season, the director congratulates himself upon being able to announce the positive reengagement of Madame G. Medori, whose powerful voice, dramatic genius and thorough comprehension of lyric art have combined to win for her, both in Europe and America, triumphs so conspicuous as to clearly establish her right to be considered the truly legitimate successor of Pasta and Grisi.

The engagements for the season are as follows:—Prime donne soprano, Madame Giuseppina Medori; Mlle. Clara Louise Kellogg, also, having entirely recovered from the illness which prevented her from fulfilling her contract with the director of her Majesty theatre [sic], London, last summer, has entered upon a farewell engagement with the management of the Academy of Music, prior to her departure for Europe; Madame Antoinietta [sic] Brignoli-Ortolani and Mlle. Laura Harri[s] (her first appearance); Prima donna contralto, Mlle. Henrietta Sulzer, comprimaria, Mlle. Fanny Stockton; first tenors, Signor Francisco Mazzoleni; Signor Giovanni Sbriglia and Signor W. Lotti; comprimario, Signor T. Rubio; first baritones, Signor Ferdinando Bellini and Signor G. Yppolito; first bassis [sic], Signor Annibale Biaschi and Domenico Colletti; comprimario, Signor W. Muller.

Negotiations are pending with another celebrated artist, and as soon as arrived at the result will be duly announced. A numerous orchestra, a largely augmented chorus and a corps de ballet have been selected, with especial care, from the best talent in the city, and thorough efficiency in each department has been secured. Conductors, Max Maretzek and Jaime Nuno; leader, Mr. Ernst Grill: chorus master, Mr. Hartman; stage manager, Mr. Amati Dabreuil; prompter, Signor L. Biondi; maître de ballet, Signor D. Ronzani.

The following is the brilliant repertoire announced for the season:—‘Ione,’ Petrella; ‘I Due Foscari,’ Verdi; ‘Lucrezia Borgia,’ Donizetti; ‘Rigoletto,’ Verdi; ‘Robert le Diable,’ Meyerbeer; ‘Huguenots,’ Meyerbeer; ‘La Figlia del Regimento,’ ‘Il Poliuto’ and ‘Maria di Rohan,’ Donizetti; ‘La Sonnambula,’ Bellini; ‘Don Giovanni,’ Mozart; ‘Norma’ and ‘I Puritani,’ Bellini; ‘Il Trovatore,’ Verdi; ‘Martha,’ Flotow; ‘La Favorita,’ Donizetti; ‘La Zingaray,’ [sic] Balfe; ‘Ernani’ and ‘Un Ballo in Maschera,’ Verdi; ‘Lucia di Lammermoor,’ Donizetti.

The Director also intends reviving early in the season Donizetti’s famous opera of ‘Roberto Devereux,’ in which Madame Medori will appear as Queen Elizabeth, and Signor Mazzoleni as Count Essex, both parts so exceedingly well adapted to the vocal and dramatic qualities of these incomparable artists. Soon after will follow another very interesting revival—namely, that of Verdi’s celebrated opera of ‘Macbeth,’ founded on Shakespere’s [sic] tragedy, in which the part of Lady Macbeth will be personated by Madame Medori, and that of Macbeth by the eminent baritone, Signor Bellini. Among operas new to the American stage, the director is determined to produce Peri’s fine Biblical opera of ‘Judith,’ with new costumes, scenery and appointments, and the following powerful cast:—Judith, Madame G. Medori; Abramina, Mlle. F. Stockton; Jonathan, Signor F. Mazzoleni; Holofernes, Signor F. Bellini; Eliakim, the high priest, Signor A. Biacchi.

Also, Gounod’s new opera, entitled ‘Faust,’ which created such an extraordinary furor in both opera houses in London during the last season, and has been performed in Paris over three hundred successive nights, a success hitherto unknown in the annals of the lyric drama. This opera will be brought out with great splendor in every department; and the following unrivalled cast:—Maragretha, Mlle. Clara Louise Kellogg; Siebel, Mlle Henrietta Sulzer; Faust, Signor F. Mazzoleni; Mephistopheles, Signor A. Biacchi; Valentin, Signor A. Yppolito. Arrangements are also pending for the production of an entirely new opera, written expressly for the Academy of Music, the particulars of which will be duly announced.

The regular opera nights will be Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. An extra performance will be given every Saturday, thus:—Upon the first and third Saturdays of the month grand matinees are to be given, and upon the second and fourth Saturdays grand evening lyric representations will be had.

Notwithstanding the vast and costly array of principal artists, the large increase of salaries in every department, without exception, exacted from the management, the higher prices of every necessary article in dresses, appointments and scenery, the director, relying on the patronage of the public at large, has decided to maintain the customary standard prices of admission—viz: General admission, $1; secured seats, extra, 50 cents; family circle, 50 cents; amphitheatre [sic], 25 cents; private boxes, according to size and location, from $6 to $20. Important changes and great improvements have been made in the private boxes in the first tier, so as to conduce to the greater comfort and add to the satisfaction of the box habitues and subscribers.

The former subscribers for private boxes and secured seats and the public generally are respectfully notified that subscriptions will be received for a series of not more than twelve nights, each subscriber to have the privilege of choosing his location for any ensuing series of twelve nights, on making application at a stated time; the subscriptions payable in advance. The office for subscriptions will be open at the Academy of Music on and after the 24th of September, 1863, from eight A. M. to four P. M. The several offices for the sale of tickets for each operatic representation will open at their respective places on the 1st of October.”

“Academy of Music—The Approaching Season—Concerts.  Mr. Maretzek having recovered from a protracted and distressing illness, is happily again at work making preparations for the season at the Academy of Music, which will commence on the 5^th of October.  The Manager has issued a circular which announces that the following artists are engaged, whose reputations are familiar to the musical public:” Includes names of company. 

“Mr. Maretzek announces his operatic programme with an array of pieces that promises a fruitful season. Miss Kellogg is added to the company—a fact which will gladden the hearts of many thousands of that lady’s friends. A new candidate for lyric honors, Miss Harris, is also announced. Gounod’s ‘Faust’ and the new ‘Judith’ are the novelties. A production of Mr. Fry’s ‘Esmeralda’ is also hinted at.” 

“Mr. Maretzek has issued his programme for the operatic season. In our article of Monday last we anticipated most of its leading features. The company is the same as last season, with the additions of Miss Kellogg and Miss Harris, (a débutante.) Mr. Maretzek’s repertoire is so extensive that we cannot help thinking he has playfully published the names of all the operas in his musical library instead of selecting the few that he intends to place on the stage. The novelties are Gounod’s ‘Faust’ and Peri’s ‘Judith;’ the principal revivals: Donizetti’s ‘Roberto Devereux,’ Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Due Foscari,’ and Balfe’s ‘Zingara.’ Negotiations are pending, says the Manager, for the production of an entirely new opera, written expressly for the Academy of Music, the particulars of which will be duly announced. We presume that Mr. W. H. Fay’s opera of ‘Esmeralda’ is the work thus gingerly referred to, although why there should be any further ‘negotiations’ about it we are at a loss to imagine. The work was written, accepted and promised last season. It is now clearly due, and instead of being placed at the fag end of the programme, and there glanced at askant, should, in our opinion, head the list, as the manager’s best and most hopeful effort. This, at all events, would be the mode of procedure in Europe, and we are convinced that an American community would not underrate a similar politeness to an American composer. If there is one thing in the world clearer than another at this awful moment of bloody conviction, it is that Americans cannot and will not be slighted. Without much effort, and with no outside encouragement, the arts of painting and of sculpture have hewn for themselves a path that already reaches to the best altitudes of Europe. In Letters there is hardly a field that has not blossomed anew beneath our suns. In the less creative arts of acting and singing, we could mention a score of names that are on the lip of half the critical world. Are we destitute then of all musical power? is [sic] this one gift so paltry that it must always be passed by in silence or contempt? Depend on it the day is not far distant when a thundering negative will be the answer. There is not a street in Europe that does not re-echo with American melodies; there is not a music-store in all the world that does not contain American music. But neither melody nor music came through the opera house. That channel is closed to Americans; it matters not how, or why; it is closed. We could mention the names of a half a dozen young men, who by natural fits and studious acquirements are capable of writing operas, and who, in fact, have operas already written in their portfolios, but the hope that inspired them with noble thoughts, and made them toil a labor of love, has long since been crushed within them. The pusillanimity of managers, the insolence of singers, the hostility of all the unaccountable parasites who gather like locusts on every branch, twig and leaf of musical management, have had their due and inevitable effect. Sensitive natures withdraw from a contest where the conditions are treachery not trial. Our composers prefer the drudgery of playing scales to the little folks, or hymns to the old ones, and on great occasions to mount Olympus on the swarthy back of a negro minstrel. It is droll—almost sad—to think that burnt cork is essential to the birth of American music; but it is, nevertheless, a fact. And having said this—much to our own comfort—we will add, by way of a final brick, that if the other arts to which we have made reference, had been subjected to the degrading conditions and intolerable sights that are imposed upon the composer of music, there would not be a picture, a statue or a book by an American in all the wide, wide world. It is a relief to turn once more to Mr. Maretzek’s programme. The season commences on the 5th of October; the prices of admission remain unchanged; subscribers can take boxes and seats for twelve nights at a time, with privilege of renewal. The conductors are the worthy manager himself and Señor Muno [sic]; the chorus will be under the charge of Mr. Hartmann, and Mr. Grill will lead the orchestra. (Oh! That phantom double-bass, the fourth of its family, will it come as of yore on the first night, and vanish like a guilty thing ere the month is old? Will the remaining bassi continue to say, fondly, ‘we are four,’ when in fact, and not in poetry, they are but three? Will that ‘Flying Dutchman’ of a fourth double bass be discovered—if at all—skirmishing over the smooth surface of Verdi, or buffeting with the turbulent harmonies of Meyerbeer? Or—horrible thought—shall we be called upon to stare wildly at a ghastly gap in the orchestra, where the last double bass went down, and whence the growls of a disconsolate progeny still rend the air and remind us of our loss?) The regular opera nights are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and on each Saturday there will be either a matinée or an evening performance. So much for the present. Engagements with other artists are in process of negotiation, and will be duly announced when completed. Nothing is said of Signor Petrella and the new opera, which, it was stated, he was writing for the Academy of Music.”

COMMENT: Fry’s opera Esmeralda, listed in Grove as Notre Dame of Paris, premiered at the American Academy of Music in Philadelphia on May 4, 1864.  John Graziano writes in Grove: “According to his brother Edward, Fry’s last opera, Notre Dame of Paris, was composed almost in its entirety between 22 January and 21 February 1862.  Its gala production at Philadelphia in 1864 was given by 350 performers under the direction of Theodore Thomas (making his début as an opera conductor), as a benefit performance for war wounded.”  Fry wrote the work in 1862 for the Maretzek Opera Company, and it was in negotiation to be performed in the 1863-1864 season, but it was never performed by Maretzek’s Company.  A New York Times review, May 6, 1864, of the Philadelphia premiere, says: “The fact that [Notre Dame of Paris] can be produced is therefore established.  There never could have been any real doubt on the subject, but one of our best managers had to return the manuscript, because some of his unamiable company declared that it contained impossibilities.”

Medori arrives in New York. She is “serenaded by the Italian community.”  She will appear before the public on Oct. 5.

“A vigorous prosecution of the Italian opera war will commence at the Academy of Music on the 5th of October, under the guidance of Max Maretzek, the hero of a hundred operatic skirmishes. He has Medori, for sure; Kellogg, our American prima donna; Ortolani; Lisa Harri [sic]—probably this means Lizzie Harris; Salzer [sic], and Fanny Stockton; he has, also, Mazzoleni, Sbriglia, and Lotti, well-disposed tenors; and the baritones Bellini and Yppolito; and the bassos Biachi and Colletti; all these delicate and robustuous singers to be backed up with a frightful array of chorus singers and orchestra chaps—enough of the latter, we hear, to drown every note uttered upon the stage. We are promised the best productions of Mozart, Meyerbeer, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Flotow, and Balfe. We are to have ‘Macbetto,’ with Bellini as Macbetto, and somebody else as Macduffo. Then Peri’s great opera of ‘Judith’ is threatened, and ‘Faust’ is also to be tackled. Oh, we are promised rare doings at the Academy this fall. All that bothers us are the veteran choristers and the loud-mouth chaps in the orchestra. They do make a horrid din when Max signals to them to lay down to it, and give it forte fits. We can always tell by the working of the mouths of the singers that they are doing something, but la! the orchestral crash drowns every other sound. Have ‘em tamed down a little, Max……Grau is recruiting for his regiment, too, and it is hinted that Signoras Lorini and Morensi will sing the glad tidings for Grau, aided and abetted by Brignoli, Susini, Amodio, and probably Formsy [sic]…..Anschutz, with his German brigade, will be on hand at the proper time to strike the cymbals, and sound the gewgaw, whatever that is, but the names of the leading people have not yet transpired. We await the crash of all these operatic marauders with fear and trembling.”

Begins with list of operas planned for the Maretzek season.

“Tomorrow morning the office for subscriptions will be open at the Academy of Music, and we hope the public will respond literally to the manager’s announcement of the fact. In all European cities, where opera is regarded as a necessary institution, subscriptions are made which extend over the whole season, thus enabling a manager to secure beforehand the most renowned artists. There is obtained by the yearly subscriptions an income upon which a manager can count and make his arrangements accordingly. In New York, where there is so much wealth, and a growing taste for music, subscriptions for a three or four months’ season of opera should be readily secured. We could thus count upon an uninterrupted season, and both the public and the management would gain thereby. We are aware that up to the present time there have been in many instances and fallings off from promise on the part of the speculating managers who have given spasmodic operatic seasons at our Academy but this is the fate of all new enterprises, and it must also be borne in mind that but a short time since the New York public had but a limited taste for opera. All that is changed now, and there can be no reason why this city should not have as regular and well sustained an operatic season as either London or Paris.”

“Special Notice of Season Subscribers.  The former subscribers for private boxes and secured seats, and the public generally, are respectfully notified that subscriptions will be received for a series of not more than twelve nights—each subscriber to have the privilege of choosing his location for any ensuing series of twelve nights on making application at a stated time.”

“Mr. Maretzek publishes the formal announcement of the arrangements for his opera season. The Academy of Music will be opened with ‘Roberto Devereux’ on Monday evening, October 5th; the leading characters to be sustained by Madame Medori as Queen Elizabeth, Mlle. Henrietta Sulzer as Lady Nottingham, Signor Mazzoleni as Roberto, and Bellini as the Duke of Nottingham. The choruses have been largely increased, and for the orchestra it is enough to say that Max Maretzek leads. The management announce that ‘Rigoletto,’ ‘Norma,’ ‘Ione,’ ‘Judith,’ ‘Macbeth,’ Gounod’s ‘Faust,’ ‘Don Giovanni,’ and ‘Lucrezia Borgia’ will follow ‘Roberto Devereux’ in rapid succession during the season. The ticket offices will open on the 1st of October but season subscriptions will be received at the Academy on and after tomorrow (Thursday). Subscribers are notified that the first season is limited to twelve nights, but each subscriber to private boxes or secured seats will have the privilege of choice for any ensuing series of twelve nights, on making application at a time to be hereafter designated. The long fast of New York has so whetted its musical appetite that Mr. Maretzek is sure of a prosperous season, even had his enterprise in the engagement of good artists and the selection of good operas been less extensive than this.”

“We take pleasure in announcing that since the opening of the subscription lists at the Academy of Music the public have testified in the most liberal manner their determination to support the management this season. The box office has been crowded by applicants, and the list already promises largely nightly receipts. This is gratifying to Maretzek, who is earnest in his intentions of giving grand operatic performances, such as will rival those of Paris or London. On Monday evening next will take place the inauguration of the festive season in New York, and beyond all doubt the occasion will be most brilliant. The opera to be produced, ‘Roberto Devereux,’ is in active rehearsal, and will, we feel assured, produce a sensation. All the artists [lists participating singers] are in fine voice, and quite ready to begin the season.”

“The sale of boxes and season tickets for the coming season of Italian opera prospers so well, that it is confidently expected there will be from this source a regular subscription of several hundred dollars for each night of the first series of performances.  The probable amount varies according to the particular individual connected with the Academy of Music that one happens to speak to, and his degree of hopefulness at the moment of estimating it, but there is no doubt that the subscription will be exceptional in its largeness.  The boxes are eagerly subscribed for, and we hear already of parties who have procured their seasons seats in the balcony and parquette.  The managers golden vision of a subscription of fifteen hundred dollars a night, will, it is more than expected, be realized under Mr. Maretzek’s management, in which case we may expect to hear of a halo round that gentleman’s pocket, if not of a nimbus over his head. . . . ‘Roberto Devereux’ is selected for the opening night, and as the American Institute has closed its Fair, the rehearsals will be commenced at once.  We are glad to learn that Miss Clara Louise Kellogg has entirely recovered from her recent severe attack of indisposition, and will make her rentrée early in the season.”

Opera, exiled from [neglected at] the Academy by the sewing machines and the phenomenal vegetables brought in by the American Institute, will not take full possession of the theater until Monday, Oct. 5.  Lists all the operas for the season.  Novelties include Gounod’s Faust and another two or three new operas.  Maretzek is the conductor of the year.  Medori is the main star.

“The sale of boxes and season tickets for the coming season of Italian opera prospers so well, that it is confidently expected there will be from this source a regular subscription of several hundred dollars for each night of the first series of performances. The probable amount varies according to the particular individual connected with the Academy of Music that one happens to speak to, and his degree of hopefulness at the moment of estimating it, but there is no doubt that the subscription will be exceptional in its largeness. The boxes are eagerly subscribed for, and we hear already of the parties who have procured their season seats in the balcony and parquette. The manager’s golden vision of a subscription of fifteen hundred dollars a night, will, it is more than expected, be realized under Mr. Maretzek’s management, in which case we may expect to hear of a halo round that gentleman’s pocket, if not of a nimbus over his head. In fact there is no reason why a large subscription should not always be secured. A good, reliable and energetic management is all that the public demands; with this and the certainty that the season will be carried out, there is no doubt that subscribers would always flock in, simply because they have the pick of the house, and are thereby greatly favored without having to pay anything extra for it. There is much confidence in Mr. Maretzek, and although he has hardly made any stir in the way of advertising, and has only just opened his box sheet, we are not surprised to hear that the rush of subscribers is greater than was ever known before, and that from this source alone the season will be insured from disaster, and rendered one of the most brilliant on record. ‘Roberto Devereux’ is selected for the opening night, and as the American Institute has closed its Fair the rehearsals will be commenced at once. We are glad to learn that Miss Clara Louise Kellogg has entirely recovered from her recent severe attack of indisposition, and will make her rentrée early in the season.

“ACADEMY OF MUSIC.—The general sale of reserved seats for the opening night of the Italian Opera season will commence at all the ticket offices and at the Academy of Music this morning. There will, of course, be a tremendous rush for the good places, and people who want to keep out of the hands of speculators will do well to apply early. To protect the public, as far as possible, from the operations of the latter gentry, Mr. Maretzek announces that tickets of admission with reserved seats can be procured for any of the four performances of the coming week; they are as follows: On Monday and Wednesday, ‘Roberto Devereux,’ on Friday, ‘Rigoletto,’ and on Saturday, (evening,) ‘Norma.’”

“[W]anted: ladies for the ballet at the Academy of Music.  Apply at F. Rullman’s opera agency, East 14^th St.”

“Maretzek’s Opera troupe are to open at the New York Academy next Monday evening, in Roberto Devereux, the principal parts by Mme. Medori, Mlle. Sulzer, Signors Mazzoleni and Bellini. During the week, Rigoletto and Norma are to follow.”

Repertory for series: Rigoletto, Norma, Ione, Judith, MacBeth, Faust, Don Giovanni, Lucrezia Borgia, and others.  Ticket prices same as before.

“A large and fashionable audience will grace the Academy to-night.”

“The regular Fall season of Italian Opera commences tonight, under the able direction of Mr. Max Maretzek.  A comparatively unknown opera will be revived for the occasion—‘Robert Devereux’—receiving from the management the full honors of new scenery and costumes and a distribution which we are certain cannot be greatly exceeded in any opera house of the world.  It would be difficult to find two rôles that are more admirably adapted to the great powers of Mme. Medori and Signor Mazzoleni than those of Elizabeth and Robert Devereux.  Not only does the music suit their voices, but the dramatic opportunities are very great, and will afford ample scope for good acting.  The mezzo-soprano and baritone parts are also admirable.  Indeed, there are not many operas in the Italian repertoire where the vocal quartette is better provided for.”

“Special Notice: Most positively no free admissions, except those sent to the public press.”

“To-night the Academy will open, according to promise, with the strains of the music; miraculous charms and transcendental boot-jacks and all the pomp of industry having been removed; and, still more, several mechanical stage-improvements have been made in advance. The rush for seats has been great, and all the interested parties feel content at the brilliant prospect. The director, Mr. Maretzek, has recovered his health and ability to wield the baton.”

This evening, the re-opening of the Irving Place hall, with Robert Devereux.

“The Academy of Music never presented a more brilliant appearance than last evening, the first of the operatic season. Every place in the house was taken, while hundreds of persons were crowded behind the rows of seats in the balcony. The ladies made a most beautiful display of toilets, while it was noticeable that the male portion of the audience were more generally in evening dress than was the case last winter—a fact which proves that with us the opera is becoming more and more fashionable.

A warm reception was extended to the artists as they made their appearances.

We will not dwell upon the plot of the opera, as we have already given it in full on a previous occasion. We shall merely endeavor to point out the morceaux which were most successful. Before doing so, however, we wish to notice with praise the efficiency of the chorus and orchestra. In both of these departments there were evidences of a more than ordinary care on the part of the management; the mise en scene was also worthy of commendation, evincing the determination on the part of Maretzek to do all in his power to render the season most brilliant.

In the first act the duo between the Queen (Medori) and Essex (Mazzoleni) was encored. It was admirably sung, as was also the duo between Essex and Sara (Mlle. Sulzer).

In the second act the exquisite trio sung by Elizabeth Essex and the Duke of Nottingham (Bellini) was received with great applause. This was decidedly the gem of the opera. The second finale was also most admirably rendered.

In the third act the aria in the prison scene was much applauded, as was the last rondeau sung by Mme. Medori, which is undoubtedly one of the most successful pieces of tragic composition ever produced on the lyric stage. It required all of Medori’s great dramatic power to render justice to this morceau.

The opera was a success. It will be repeated on Wednesday evening.”

“Opening of the Opera Season – The Age of Shoddy.”  Long article about amusements in the city, with the opening paragraph about the opera.  “The house was of course overcrowded, and the display of costly dresses and magnificent diamonds was almost unprecedented.”

“It is evidently the turn of the tide with Mr. Max Maretzek. Since the early days of the Astor Place Opera House he has catered for the public with a juster appreciation of their musical necessities than they possessed in regard to his wants, and in spite of all his efforts and the preliminary laudations of his artists, it was his fate to come out of a campaign shorn of all but reputation. In short, Mr. Maretzek has had reason to consider himself an ill-used man, upon whom the lovers of the opera depended for musical manna that never failed to fall in showers at the appointed time, but who never received any personal pecuniary benefit from his liberal and expensive enterprises. There may have been seasons when the opera did not thoroughly drain his resources or strand him, but they were exceptions if they existed at all. No sooner, however, did he recover from one crushing blow than he rose to go at his work again. With irrepressible vivacity and unconquerable determination, he has labored on, season after season, doing for the New York public what it could never have done for itself, and, as with all the people in the world who stick to their trade, the tide at last turns in his favor. His merits begin to be appreciated and the great conductor has better reason to speak well of others’ conduct.

The crowded audience which witnessed the performance of ‘Roberto Devereux’ at the Academy of Music last evening was partly composed of old frequenters of the opera and partly of a new class to whom the attractions of an opera season are novel. Nevertheless, so heavy is the subscription list for the winter, and so hearty the approbation expressed by old and new comers alike, that the absolute success of Mr. Maretzek’s season is already beyond question. ‘Roberto’ has been so long shelved that its performance last evening had a certain degree of novelty and freshness. It is the old story of the Queen Elizabeth and Essex, and the betrayal of the royal heart by the aforesaid faithless lord—a plot sufficiently simple yet powerful enough to tax the resources of the composer to give its passion full scope and of the singer to portray its emotional characteristics. Madame Medori as the Queen (although her dress was anything but Elizabethan) made a tremendous hit in the duo with Essex (Mazzoleni) and in the trio with Essex and Nottingham (Bellini.) The rapid transition from womanly affection to queenly rage, and the mingling of the emotions of love and fury which follow the discovery of the earl’s perfidy and the unintended tragedy of his death, gave Madame Medori a magnificent opportunity for the display of musical and dramatic powers, which were at times severely taxed by her effort to interpret Donizetti with conscientious fidelity. It is unnecessary to add that she made no failure, but rather achieved a triumph—especially in the passages to which we have already alluded. In the duet with Mazzoleni, in the first act, the encore was loud and warm. Bellini, laboring under indisposition, did not appear to advantage, scarcely doing justice to his fine powers. Mlle. Sulzer, as Lady Nottingham, has a great deal of dramatic force, but her voice is hardly equal to the exigencies of her part; her representation, however, was accurate and her manner impressive. Mr. Maretzek’s chorus and orchestra are not called upon for very heavy labor in this opera, but what little they had do to [sic] was well done. Both are strong, well-drilled, and up to their work. A word should be said, too, in praise of the wardrobe and scenery. The costumes were rich and appropriate, and the scene-painter has the eye of an artist and the pencil of a skillful workman.”

“Mr. Maretzek’s opening night was as brilliant as the most sanguine of managers could have expected or desired. The house was completely crowded, and the opera of ‘Roberto Devereux’ passed off with éclat. The manager is to be congratulated on these results. He has endeavored—and we hope with permanent success—to reform the old method of conducting matters. Instead of deluging the City with puffs of indifferent singers, he has engaged a first-class company, and left to the public the task of deciding upon their respective merits. The experiment, so far, has been singularly successful. All Mr. Maretzek’s artists have been received with tumultuous favor, and although there was no preliminary flourish of trumpets anent the opening night, and not even a ghost to arrest the public attention, the house was, as we have previously stated, completely filled.

‘Roberto Devereux,’ the opera played last night, although new to the present generation of opera-goers, will be remembered by the habitués of the old Astor-place Opera-house, where it was produced, and by the loungers in that most delightful, provoking and inconvenient of lyric establishments, Castle Garden—where it was subsequently revived. Like almost all the operas of the true Italian repertoire, it was brought out originally by M. Maretzek, and it comes back to us naturally under his bâton. We have already published the plot, and it is only necessary to add that the story is singularly dramatic, and leads to a series of situations that could hardly be improved. Compared with the libretti of Verdi’s operas, ‘Roberto’ is a masterpiece of style. Donizetti seems to have been fully conscious of his opportunity, and has set the words to music that will rank favorably with the best that his muse has given to the world. Those happy and dramatic combinations of voice for which, more than for orchestral treatment, this composer is famous are found here in great profusion. The concerted pieces are singularly meritorious, and whilst delighting the popular ear by a fluent vein of melody, are constructed with such ingenuity that they satisfy the more exacting taste of the musician. So much of the music has retained its popularity that the least punctual of opera-goers will be astonished to find that he is already familiar with some of the leading morceaux. But if there is not freshness, there is assuredly much graceful ease and melodic fluency in the score. Although many of the scenes display unusual powers of concentration, there is never any visible effort in obtaining the sought-for result. The right mood is struck at once, and expends itself naturally in the situation that has evoked it. Donizetti in all his works displays this commanding characteristic of true genius. The material which he supplies to the artist is so simple, touching and to the point, that the artist, if he have [sic] dramatic talent, can always mold it to the fashion of his own fancy, and so present it in a new dress. How many versions have we seen of Lucia, Lucrezia, Leonore, Maria, and how seldom do we hear of a great artist making a great success in any save these works. The rôles in ‘Roberto Devereux’ are capable of any amount of dramatic expansion; they are all first-class acting parts, and are thus happily adapted to Mr. Maretzek’s company. Mme. Medori, who made her rentree in the rôle of Elizabeth, has seized two emotional saliencies of the character with great strength—love and revenge. The first is of a petulant and distrustful kind, stormy as an April day, yet sometimes as bright; the other is a transient feeling, very fierce whilst it lasts, but soon over; it gives way after the death of Roberto to a rage which is truly grand, and which culminates in the fierce rondo with which the opera concludes. In all the scenes with the hero, Mme. Medori’s acting was marked by a dignified elaboration of these phases, but in the rondo she was completely overwhelming. Vocally, too, we have no recollection of ever having heard the lady to greater advantage. Her voice has gained in freshness, whilst its power and volume are as tremendous as heretofore. We need scarcely add that her reception was in the highest degree enthusiastic.

Signor Mazzoleni is so thorough an artist that it is difficult to decide which most to praise, his singing or his acting. The true art-feeling and intelligence that pervade his impersonation of Roberto leave little to be desired. It seemed to us that the gentleman was in rare voice last evening, and that nothing interfered with the easy use which he made of his remarkable organ. He toyed, in fact, with vocal difficulties, and in one particular feat, the use of the crescendo, literally electrified the audience, pouring out an ever increasing flood of sound as though it came from an inexhaustible source. There are few tenors in the world who possess so much fullness in the lower and middle part of their voices. It is this, combined with the executive skill of the first class, that enables Signor Mazzoleni to produce some of his best effects—the crescendo among others. The dramatic features of the rôle, we need scarcely say, were seized with the most complete success.

It will be seen from what we have said, that the opera depends almost entirely on the concerted music. The balance was not quite just last evening, in consequence of the very severe and palpable indisposition of the baritone, Signor Bellini. The drawback was irreparable, and the effect was to cast over the performance a degree of tameness which does not belong to the music, and which we are sure will disappear on the next representation. Mlle. Sulzer, as the Duchess, sang with much fervor, but the rôle is a little too much for her powers.

The opera has been placed on the stage in a satisfactory manner; the dresses, in particular, were excellent. Mr. Maretzek, on his entrance, was received with a hearty round of applause, and the orchestra and chorus (they have not much to do in this opera) were very good.”

            We begin this accounting between the first and the second act, consequently reserving a general impression of the evening for the last lines.

            To view it, a long time before the curtain rose the hall was everything that the management and the artists could wish for. From the orchestra to the ceiling, the audience rose tier upon tier, in serried ranks, and the parquet, the balcony, the boxes, the dress circle sparkled with fresh faces as much as with opulent dress. It was easy to see that the reopening of the opera was welcomed like a veritable holiday, after the long privation of summer.

            Roberto Devereux doesn’t have an overture, strictly speaking: this type of preface of a musical drama, which ordinarily permits [you] to appreciate its general outline, is missing from the critique. The first piece of importance is the aria with which Elizabeth opens the action. Mme Medori sang it as always, with an extreme skill for nuances; but she couldn’t give it the importance, the punch, that the audience demands and that the score doesn’t have. The duet that follows almost immediately, between her and Essex, more accentuated and carried off by the two artists with unalloyed warmth, was the first signal of success. It obtained an encore deserved both by the composer and by the singers. The cavatina that pressed on immediately after the baritone’s entrance didn’t have as fortunate a fate, thanks to the state of illness that paralyzed M. Bellini completely. The act ended sparklingly enough with a duet, between Mme Sulzer and M. Mazzoleni.

            The second act is quite short. Properly speaking, it’s composed of two scenes: a duet between the contralto and the baritone, then a trio crowned by the finale. Both once again felt the effects of the illness of M. Bellini, who rendered his partners powerless. The trio, however, had some beautiful glories, thanks to Mme Medori, who put her accustomed glow and soul into it.

            It’s she again who almost singlehandedly filled the last act. Thus the work, which threatened to take on a dragging pace, was restored in her hands like an unsteady steed, under the impetus of a horseman who is sure of himself. Thanks to her communicative warmth, the somewhat languishing evening was brilliantly revived.

            The general effect wasn’t, nevertheless, one must say, that of those triumphant performances which we’ve been accustomed to associate with the name of Mme Medori. The reason traces back, for the most part, to the score, which, by the side of beauties of the first order, has a kind of indecisive character, which adds again to what it has of antiquated [style], from the point of view of current taste. This particularity has made the uncertainty with which the New York audience always confronts an opera that it hasn’t had time to become familiar with, more conspicuous.

            Aside from this ill-defined impression that the work itself has left, there’s undeniably a renewal, as total, as complete as ever, of the personal success of Mme Medori. She has, moreover, earned once again the enthusiasm that the audience has displayed toward her for the way in which she has discharged, from one end to the other, her exhausting role. We also owe a passing word to her costumes, both for their rare elegance and for their historical accuracy. Mazzoleni also has a right to warm praises, for the way in which he sang a role which presented some great difficulties for a voice of his particular nature. Mme Sulzer always has that conscientious accuracy but also the slight coldness that characterizes her.

            As for Bellini, he wasn’t himself.

“Only rarely has there been a more perfect performance presented to the audience as the one yesterday.  Because of the rareness of such an event, it is so valuable and asks to be recognized by the audience.  Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux opened Maretzek’s opera season last night.  It does not belong to the best works of the Italian composer and although it has many sweet and charming melodies and a gripping plot, it has never stayed in the repertoire for long, not even in Italy.  The extensive recitatives and the simple and monotonous instrumentations are the main flaws of this work. Nevertheless, the audience was very enthusiastic and frequently broke out in spontaneous applause, which speaks for the excellence of the performance.

Mad. Medori’s singing and acting was exceptional; her allegro and con brio parts were of an igniting effect while she was deeply touching in the slower vocal sections. We see her performance of the ‘Elisabeth’ as the most beautiful fruit of the golden tree of noble artistic singing and feel honored to be allowed to pick it. The duet with ‘Roberto’ in the first act we find especially noteworthy. Mr. Mazzoleni as ‘Roberto Devereux’ proved to be a worthy counterpart. The naturally noble and aristocratic sound of his voice in connection with his sensitivity for fine nuances and emphasis in the cantilena are very effective. This effect can only be produced with an authenticity of the warmest emotion and the most soulful art expressed by an opera singer par excellence. Ms. Sulzer also deserves our praise. In some passages she showed herself quite skillful and has most perfect vocal techniques. Unfortunately Signor Bellini was so hoarse that we are not able to give any evaluation on his performance as the ‘Duke of Nottingham’. The choir and orchestra were as usual flawless. Compliments also to the costumes.

"Monday, Oct. 12, 1863.

The past week was one ever to be remembered by the ‘oldest inhabitants’ and the last ‘survivors of the war of 1812,’ for it witnessed the debut in state of the shoddy aristocracy, with all their imperfections and brilliants upon their heads. The occasion which drew together this assemblage of newly-hatched aristocrats was the re-opening of the Academy of Music, for the season of 1863-4, under the direction of Maretzek the bold. What shall we say of this mass meeting of happy-go-luckies, these gatherers of the loaves and fishes, and ye pickers up of crumbs of comfort that fall from the well-filled coffers of ye ‘portly Abraham,’ as one of the shoddy aristocracy, ‘all a blowin’ and a growin’,’ very inappropriately called our long President a short time ago? What shall we say of the shoddy show? We went to hear the opera, but we hope never to eat another plate of hash if we didn’t forget all about the moment we got inside the big building. The first shoddy woman that met our ardent, spirited gaze was a gal who, but a few years ago, sat next to us at the table, and ate hash with us at Mrs. Simmons’ twenty-shilling boarding house. (You could get board for that price in those days.) Well, there, you should have seen her at the opera! Oh! it was pizen. She was attired in the loftiest height of the current fashion, and ornaments did bedeck her person from ‘stem to starn,’ [sic] as an old salt expressed it. And such airs! She just laid off, as if she was used to it. Guess who she was with, too. Why, old Stevens, that used to buy up dark lights and dubious livers for dog feed. His profession got him a contract to gather all the fat and grease that accumulated along the quiet banks of the Potomac when our army held high revel there, and he now revels in his own mansion up on Murray Hill. He looked a little awkward in his white kids, but she brazened it out, and did divers fashionable things heretofore only supposed to be done by the legitimates. This was the first pair we came across; there were hundreds of others like unto them, however, cutting a might swell and damaging the prospects of the old codfish brand. The shoddy women were dressed and undressed in the more costly moire [sic] antics, etc.; the more antic the ladies, the moire [sic] ‘anticker’ their scanty covering; diamonds did flash on the bosoms and arms of those flashy women; and there were rings on their fingers, and, for aught we know, bells on the toes of those shoddy belles, if we might judge by the way they kept their clappers going. It was a dazzling sight that our freshly-flodged [sic] shoddy hens presented, and one that men of strong passions might look upon with awe, and wonder where they got all the things. ‘Flashed all their arms so bare,’ close by the breastworks there, which heaved back the silks so rare, and brought to view many a pair of soft mounds of shoddy. We ne’er beheld such sights in such profusion. Max himself was astounded at the gorgeous display, and once or twice threw the whole orchestra out of tune by his untimely efforts to go one eye on the audience and the other on his music. The people of shoddy applauded everything and everybody; even the gentleman who came on to carry off the table was rapturously applauded, being mistaken for the high-toned tenor, and he bowed his thanks ten or eleven times before the shoddy applause ceased. About the performance on the stage we can’t say much; we don’t [microfilm cuts off here].

…was attired in anything but the Elizabethan costume, but this was a circumstance not at all unusual in opera circles. Consistency is unknown on the operatic stage. It is a little singular that with such a selection of popular operas at command, and such able and finished artists as Maretzek has to interpret them, he does not give the public what he knows will prove acceptable. Meyerbeer’s ‘Dionorah’ would be an attractive card. But the opera habitués must have something new to talk about or they would never go near the place. Miss Flora Smythe wants to quote the new opera to show her talk in such matters, and Albert McJones desires something new to hum to his fashionable friends, and comment on this and that aria and cavatina as something ‘demnably [sic] delicious, you know.’ In fact, the parquet and balcony at the Academy of Music, on opera nights, contain fewer lovers of music and a less appreciative crowd of operatic habitués than any city in the world can turn out, except, perhaps, London, the English metropolis being next in order. In Paris, Milan, and Havana, the people go to the opera for the sake of music—here, they go to the Academy as they go to Grace Church, because ‘it’s the thing to do, you know.’”