Event Information
Venue(s):
Academy of Music
Conductor(s):
Carl Anschütz
Event Type:
Opera
Record Information
Status:
Published
Last Updated:
28 July 2014
Performance Date(s) and Time(s)
14 Dec 1863, Evening
Program Details
La Dame Blanche was originally scheduled for this evening but was cancelled because Johannsen was ill.
Performers and/or Works Performed
1)
aka Magic Flute;
Zauberflote
Composer(s): Mozart
Citations
1)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 10 December 1863, 9.
“Grand complimentary benefit.”
2)
Announcement: New York Herald, 14 December 1863, 1.
3)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 14 December 1863.
4)
Announcement: New York Post, 14 December 1863, 2.
5)
Announcement: New-York Times, 14 December 1863, 4.
“To-night Mr. Anschutz takes his benefit. The opportunity will we hope be improved, not only by our German friends, but by the American community. A musician who has done so much for German music ought certainly to be remembered on such an occasion by Germans.”
6)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 14 December 1863, 7.
“In consequence of the sudden indisposition of Mme. Johannsen, ‘La Dame Blanche’ cannot be given this evening, and instead ‘The Magic Flute’ . . . will be performed.”
7)
Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 14 December 1863.
8)
Advertisement: Courrier des États-Unis, 14 December 1863.
9)
Announcement: New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold, 14 December 1863, 8.
“Because of the sudden illness of Mad. Johannsen, The Lady in White is cancelled for tonight, and instead Mad. Friderici, Mlle. Canissa and Mlle. Lang (New York debut), Messrs. H. Habelmann, Steinecke and Weinlich will perform in Die Zauberflöte. Tonight’s performance will be a benefit for Mr. Anschütz.”
10)
Review: New York Herald, 15 December 1863, 1.
“Last evening Mr. Anschutz had a ‘complimentary benefit’ at the Academy of Music, upon which occasion Mozart’s ‘Zauberflöte,’ or ‘Magic Flute,’ was sung. This opera, like all the music of this renowned German master, is ever melodious, at times really grand. The instrumentation is admirable, the choruses equally fine. We are sorry to state that, spite of all this attraction, the house was the poorest of the season. Mr. Anschutz, who has done wonders for German art in this country, should have met wits more cordial sympathy and patronage from his countrymen. It is asserted that the German population in New York is counted by hundreds of thousands. The more shameful then is it that Mr. Anschutz’s benefit should have been such a sorry affair.
The performance was good. Mme. Frederici, as Pamina, sang her role very satisfactorily. Herr Habelmann was, as usual, quite successful. He sang and acted the role of Tamino with spirit, and was much applauded.”
11)
Review: New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold, 15 December 1863, 8.
“Last night’s Zauberflöte was not able to fill the house. The performance was bearable. New to us was Mlle. Lang, who had her debut as ‘Queen of the Night.’ We are wondering why Mr. Anschütz had not introduced her to the New York audience before. She possesses a pleasant high-soprano voice which she knows how to use well, although her range is limited. The difficult staccato figures of the aria in the 3rd act were sung exceptionally skillfully. The audience received her well, just as it did the other singers. The ‘Priest’s Chorus’ even had to be repeated.”
