Article on German opera

“The season of German Opera is almost over. Only two more performances and the company will travel to other cities, where they will be received warmly and with less criticism than they experienced here. The fate accorded to the opera here was not enviable, and The difficulties the company had here were unfortunate, numerous, and partly insurmountable. There were episodes of considerable mismanagement in the beginning of the season; mutiny in the personnel, which led to cancellations; and interruptions of performances due to other circumstances. These situations alone could have closed down an entire opera enterprise. The second part of the season went surprisingly well, however, evidence that the German Opera—if managed skillfully—has as much of a ‘nourishing ground’ here as it would elsewhere. The performance of Faust, which in some parts exceeded the Italian version, was a turning point, and from then on the evenings became increasingly successful. Fidelio, which was first performed in front of an almost empty house, drew more and more people for the following performances. In the latter, Mr. Hermans, of Her Majesty’s Theatre, London, debuted; in England and Germany, he had a grand reputation already. He played and sang ‘Rocco’ as it had never been done here before. His voice has quite a considerable range as well good volume and a lovely quality; in addition he is a cultured singer with an understanding of that which he portrays. Except for an inappropriate ornamentation in the first act, we knew that his ‘Rocco’ was irreproachable – and the audience rewarded him with huge applause. Other singers in that performance, Mrs Johannsen and Mr. Himmer, for example, also deserve some credit. Only the singer who played Marzelline was an exception, animatedly reminding us that the strengths of a singer lie fallow here, but who, in this role and so many others, has frequently charmed opera audiences.”