Maretzek Italian Opera: Ernani

The fact that Maretzek had opened the season for his Italian opera three weeks earlier than usual, has affected attendance. The patrons among the high society of New York are just now returning from their summer spas and residences. Therefore the performances of last week were not as well attended as they deserved. (…)

“The opera of Ernani ws presented last evening. There was a fine audience to witness it, and the performance was after the usual model. It is Sig. BELLINI’S favorite, and he was as effective as of yore in it [role not identified].” 

“Verdi’s Ernani, though an old story to opera goers, has too much effective vitality to die out of the repertory. Accordingly, to keep the public amused while preparing more substantial and novel entertainments, Mr. Maretzek last evening presented the Italian master’s chief work—chief in the sense of being the best formed and most skillful of all his popular works. There are motives and movements in Ernani, (a trio, for instance, in the first act), with as little tragic meaning as any breakdown. These illustrate the falseness of a school based on a discord between sound and sense between the poet and the composer, and calculated to display the latter at the expense of everything else. The result of this is a melodramatic succession of melodies, irrelevantly sweet, or ‘full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’ We do not need, however, to be assured that Verdi is one of the ablest composers of his time (just as Dumas is one of the most attractive novelists), and, spite of much mannerism, has put the world under obligation for his genius—of which the finale to the first act of Ernani is a very fair specimen. It was officiently sung throughout, the truly musical bass of Signor Antonucci giving it undoubtedly its best tone. Madame Rosa’s Elvira was less satisfactory at its inception than afterward. Ernani involami is a painfully hackneyed sentiment, but it is still possible to refresh it with the elevation and sweetness which the composer intended. In the fine duet of Don Carlos and Elvira in the second act, both Madame Rosa and Signor Pancani created the best impression. Signor Orlandini’s dramatic baritone gracefully improved the opportunities of the part of Don Carlos in a very correct and efficient performance.”