Grover German Opera: Zar and Zimmerman

Event Information

Venue(s):
Olympic Theatre

Manager / Director:
Leonard Grover

Event Type:
Opera

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
20 October 2016

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

16 Feb 1867, 8:00 PM

Program Details

Final performance of the season.

Performers and/or Works Performed

1)
Zar und Zimmermann; oder, Die beiden Peter
aka Czaar und Zimmermann; Tsar and Carpenter; Czar und Zimmermann
Composer(s): Lortzing
Text Author: Lortzing
Participants:  Grover German Opera Company;  Johanna Rotter (role: Marie);  Franz Himmer (role: Ben Bolt);  Wilhelm Formes (role: Peter);  Alphonse Urchs [Grover German Opera] (role: Admiral);  Wilhelm Groschel [tenor and conductor] (role: Ivanov);  Josef Chandon (role: Lord Syndam);  Mathilde Berger (role: Frau Braun)

Citations

1)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 16 February 1867, 1.
2)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 16 February 1867, 7.
3)
Advertisement: New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold, 16 February 1867.
4)
Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 16 February 1867.
5)
Article: New-Yorker Musik-Zeitung, 23 February 1867, 456.

The German opera at the Olympic Theater has moved into another ‘slumber’. This happened undeservedly so, because the performances were the best we have ever experienced in New York. The repertoire was also a good one: Tell, Tannhäuser, Lustige Weiber, Czar und Zimmermann. (…) We wished that another attempt to revive the German opera would be made. Maybe the German audience would wake up and realize that a very good opera company exists among us.

6)
Article: New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold, 24 February 1867, 4.

The Italian Opera ensemble, just as the German Opera ensemble, has “died”. Both companies carried the seed of death in them when they started out. Both were ill-managed. The German performances were not sufficiently rehearsed and prepared, and some of the performers could not live up to the demands of their parts. The blame is entirely on the impresario, for some of the performers were quite accomplished and experienced. There was simply not enough time given to prepare, even for the best of them. Every night, a different opera was put on stage. More care was given to the versatility of the repertoire than to the rehearsals. The audience, which was more supportive in the beginning, got smaller and smaller. Therefore the revenue was not profitable enough to support the ensemble.