Bateman and Harrison Wednesday Popular Concert: 12th

Event Information

Venue(s):
Steinway Hall

Manager / Director:
H. L. [impressario] Bateman
Lafayette F. Harrison

Conductor(s):
Theodore Thomas [see also Thomas Orchestra]

Price: $1; $1.50 reserved

Event Type:
Orchestral

Performance Forces:
Instrumental, Vocal

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
8 January 2018

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

23 Jan 1867, 8:00 PM

Program Details

Some of the citations record this as the eleventh concert in the series; owing to an issue with scheduling on Mondays and Wednesdays, Music in Gotham counts this as the twelfth. For an explanation of this discrepancy, see the program details of Bateman and Harrison Wednesday Popular Concert: 1st on 11/12/66.

Several citations also note that this is the "last" concert; this indicates not that this is the last concert of the series (which included sixteen total performances), but rather the last in which Bateman's troupe was featured.

"Com'è gentil" was an encore.

Performers and/or Works Performed

2)
aka M'appari tutt’amor; My raptured gaze; Lionel’s air; Ah, so pure
Composer(s): Flotow
Participants:  Pasquale Brignoli
3)
aka Ernesto's serenade; Night is calm
Composer(s): Donizetti
5)
aka Di Luna’s aria; Tempest of the heart; Tutto è deserto; That ringing!
Composer(s): Verdi
Participants:  Signor Fortuna
6)
aka Bright ray of hope
Composer(s): Rossini
Participants:  Euphrosyne Parepa
7)
aka Ecstasy; Extase
Composer(s): Arditi
Participants:  Euphrosyne Parepa
8)
Composer(s): Muzio
9)
Composer(s): Rossini
Participants:  Signor Ferranti
10)
aka Midsummer night's dream, A; wedding march
Composer(s): Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Participants:  Sebastian Bach Mills
11)
aka Souvenir d'Haydn
Composer(s): Léonard
Participants:  Carl Rosa
12)
Composer(s): Unknown composer

Citations

1)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 19 January 1867, 7.
2)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 21 January 1867, 7.

"Positively the last night of the Bateman concerts."

3)
Advertisement: New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold, 22 January 1867.
4)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 23 January 1867.
5)
Announcement: New-York Times, 23 January 1867, 5.

"The Last Bateman Concert.--Our readers must not forget that the last of the Bateman concerts takes place to-night at Steinway Hall. The troupe is one of the fullest ever brought to thsi country, and in point of excellence cannot be surpassed anywhere. Mme. Parepa is in herself a host. Or Signor Brignoli we need say nothing. His position in the favor of the public has long been established, and cannot, even now, be assailed. Of the younger members of the troupe the remembrance is still fresh. Mr. Theodore Thomas presides in the orchestra--an orchestra by the way which he has drilled to absolute perfection."

6)
Review: New York Herald, 24 January 1867, 5.

“The last concert of the Bateman troupe was given last evening at Steinway Hall, in presence of an immense audience. The programme, which introduced artistes to whose merits we have alluded in previous notices, embraced no novel features. The vocal portion comprising none but Italian airs, English ballads being sung only in response to encores. Signor Brignoli gave the romanzas from Martha and I Lombardi. Signor Fortuna Verdi’s Il Balen, and Signor Feranti [sic] a Rossinian cavatina and the tarantella Invita alla danza [sic]. Mr. Mills played the Wedding March and Carl Rosa a Souvenir d’Haydn. Each of these artistes was heartily applauded. The orchestra was as proficient as usual.”

7)
Review: New York Post, 24 January 1867.

“The capacity of Steinway Hall was fully tested last evening, as we had expected. The announcement that the last of the Bateman concerts was to be given on this occasion was sufficient to call out one of the finest audiences we have ever seen. The artists seemed to feel an extra inspiration, and were received with an unwanted degree of enthusiasm, expressed is unanimous encores of nearly every piece. Parepa was in excellent voice, and sang ‘Bel Reggio’ [sic] from ‘Semiramide,’ in a duo with Brignoli, and Arditti’s [sic] ‘L’Estasi,’ a marvel of vocal execution, to say nothing of the delightful English ballads given in response to encores. Brignoli was in good singing humor, and did his best, which, in its way, is the best that can be done. Signor Ferranti was as irrepressible as ever, and delighted the audience with his vocal comicalities. Carl Rosa performed the ‘Souvenir d’Haydn’ with his usual accuracy, and more than his usual spirit. Mr. Mills’s mastery of the technique of the piano was never more apparent, but we think that he failed to give the spirit of the most stirring of all march movements—Mendelssohn’s ‘Wedding March.’”

8)
Review: New-York Times, 24 January 1867, 5.

Steinway Hall.—The Bateman troupe gave its last performance at this establishment last evening. The hall was entirely crowded. Long before the time of commencement there was a tussle between the drivers of private carriages and the overburdened drivers of the cars, both of whom seemed to think that the right of way belonged to them. A policeman happily settled the difficulty. The programme of the concert was not remarkable for its freshness. On the contrary it was singularly curious for the reproduction of everything that has been done before. Nevertheless, it displayed anew the qualities of the artists composing the troupe. Of these, separately and collectively, we have frequently spoken. It is only necessary to say that they were received with the greatest possible favor. Mme. Parepa was in admirable voice. Her cavatina from ‘Semiramide’ was a model of phrasing and execution. It won, like every other piece, an encore. Signor Brignoli sang the unusual romanza of ‘M’appari’ from ‘Martha.’ He sang it well and was loudly applauded. Embarrassed by this singular effort, he marched off the stage before the orchestra has finished the last bars with which this extremely complicated and difficult piece terminated. The difficulty of the piece can only be ascertained, indeed, by the fact that it is sung in every minstrel hall in the country. Why Mr. Brignoli marched off the way he did, we know not. It was intended either as an affront to the audience or the conductor. In either case it was improper. The days are past, we trust, when a singer can insult both the one and the other. After the romanza Signor Brignoli sang as an encore a singularly fresh serenade from the opera called ‘Don Pasquale.’ Mr. Hatton was kind enough to assist on this occasion. He played with a large and generous musical vision, and without notes. Between the two it was a pity that Donizetti was not present. In the second part, Signor Brignoli introduced a new romanza called ‘La mia Letisia.’ The piece is derived from an early opera of Verdi. And is known to every enthusiast of the hand-organ persuasion. He sang it—as he sings everything—well. Mr. Carl Rosa and Mr. J. S. Mills played superbly. The programme in every respect was paltry and stupid, and we trust will not in any way be repeated.”

9)
Review: New-York Daily Tribune, 24 January 1867.

“—Yesterday evening the last of Mr. Bateman’s brilliant series of concerts took place a Steinway Hall. Madame Parepa sang the elaborate cavatina, ‘Bell Raggio,’ in Rossini’s Semiramide, with her accustomed ease and success; and Ferranti’s very animated delivery of the buffo passage, ‘Mici Ranipoli,’ in the same composer’s ‘Cinderella,’ was warmly appreciated. Mr. Carl Rosa’s violin solo, ‘Souvenir of Haydn,’ had merits which we were glad to observe, received their due share of applause. ‘M’Appari,’ from Martha, a romance noted less for strength than for sweetness, was appropriately sung by Signor Brignoli, whose voice and style show no particle of progress, but nevertheless retain the early witchery of their success in singing favorite airs and the most admired passages. At the close of Mr. Bateman’s season it is pertinent to recognize the excellent management which has brought together a select troupe of favorite and able artists, and given us so many concerts popular in the best sense of the word. Madame Parepa is undoubtedly one of the most gifted vocalists that have of late years rules in the concert hall; Signor Brignoli, most dulcet of tenors, is, to say the best and worst of him, very popular; Ferranti’s live buffo talent is an acquisition; and of Fortuna’s educated voice, and the instrumental ability of Carl Rosa and Mr. S.B. Mills may we speak with general compliment. Especially worthy of mention is the musical director of the troupe, Mr. J. L. Hatton, whom few will recognize as one of the most popular of English composers. The Bateman concerts have made good their profession of popularity, and though not so much deserving of praise, upon the whole, as more thoughtful and less successful entertainments of music, thousands will welcome their renewal eagerly.”