Chapters of Opera / Being historical and critical observations and records concerning the lyric drama in New York from its earliest days down to the present time

by Henry Edward Krehbiel

APPENDIX I

THREE SEASONS AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE

Season 1908-1909

The twenty-fourth regular subscription season of grand opera at the Metropolitan Opera House began on November 16th, 1908, and ended on April 10th, 1909. The subscription was for one hundred regular performances in twenty weeks, on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, and Saturday afternoons. In their prospectus the directors, Messrs. Giulio Gatti-Casazza and Andreas Dippel, announced a change of plan in respect of the Saturday night performances which had been given for a number of years. Those at the reduced prices which had hitherto prevailed were to be limited to the first twelve and the last two weeks of the season; the others were to be at regular rates. From the end of February till April a series of special performances on Tuesday and Saturday nights was projected. Wagner's "Parsifal" was to be reserved for the customary holiday performances, and there were to be two performances of other works, the proceeds of which were to go into a pension and endowment fund, the establishment of which, it was hoped, would help to give greater permanency to the working forces of the institution. There was a promise of a large increase in the orchestra as well as the chorus, not only to give greater brilliancy to the local performances, but also to make possible a division of the company, with less injury than used to ensue, when it became necessary to give two performances on the same day—one in the Metropolitan Opera House and one in Philadelphia or Brooklyn as the case might be.

These plans were carried out practically to the letter, Mr. Gatti-Casazza reinforcing the Italian side of the house, and Mr. Dippel the German, with artists, scenery, and choristers, as each thought best, under the supervision of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of what became the Metropolitan Opera Company as soon as that style could be legally adopted. The management found it less easy to keep its word in reference to the repertory. Eight novelties were promised, viz.: D'Albert's "Tiefland," and Smetana's "The Bartered Bride" in German; Catalani's "La Wally," Puccini's "Le Villi," and Tschaikowsky's "Pique Dame" in Italian; Laparra's "Habanera" in French; Frederick Converse's "Pipe of Desire," and either Goldmark's "Cricket on the Hearth," or Humperdinck's "Königskinder" in English. Only the first four of these works was produced. A promise that three operas of first class importance—Massenet's "Manon," Mozart's "Nozze di Figaro," and Verdi's "Falstaff"—would be revived was brilliantly redeemed. To the subscription season of twenty weeks one week was added for Wagner's Nibelung drama and extra performances of "Aïda" and "Madama Butterfly," and Verdi's "Requiem," composed in honor of Manzoni, having been twice brilliantly performed in the series of Sunday night concerts which extended through the season, was repeated instead of an opera on the night of Good Friday. The extra performances, outside of those of the last week, were the holiday representations of "Parsifal" on Thanksgiving Day, New Year's Day, Lincoln's birthday, and Washington's birthday, and benefit performances for the French Hospital, the German Press Club, the Music School Settlement, and the Pension and Endowment Fund benefit. To the latter one of the Sunday night concerts was also devoted. At the operatic benefit performance, as also at a special representation at which Mme. Sembrich bade farewell to the operatic stage in America (on February 6th, 1909), the program was made up of excerpts from various operas—a fact which must be borne in mind (as must also the double bills at regular performances) when the following tabulated statement of the season's activities is studied. The table which now follows gives the list of all the operas performed in the order of their production and the number of representations given to each in the entire season of twenty-one weeks:

Opera First performance Times

"Aïda" ……………………. November 16 ………. 8
"Die Walküre" ……………… November 18 ………. 5
"Madama Butterfly" …………. November 19 ………. 8
"La Traviata" ……………… November 20 ………. 5
"Tosca" …………………… November 21 ………. 6
"La Bohème" ……………….. November 21 ………. 7
"Tiefland" ………………… November 23 ………. 4
"Parsifal" ………………… November 26 ………. 5
"Rigoletto" ……………….. November 28 ………. 3
"Carmen" ………………….. December 3 ……….. 6
"Faust" …………………… December 5 ……….. 7
"Götterdämmerung" ………….. December 10 ………. 5
"Le Villi" ………………… December 17 ………. 5
"Cavalleria Rusticana" ……… December 17 ………. 7
"Lucia di Lammermoor" ………. December 19 ………. 2
"Il Trovatore" …………….. December 21 ………. 5
"Tristan und Isolde" ……….. December 23 ………. 4
"L'Elisir d'Amore" …………. December 25 ………. 2
"Pagliacci" ……………….. December 26 ………. 5
"La Wally" ………………… January 6 ………… 4
"Le Nozze di Figaro" ……….. January 13 ……….. 6
"Die Meistersinger" ………… January 22 ……….. 5
"Manon" …………………… February 3 ……….. 6
"Tannhäuser" ………………. February 5 ……….. 7
"The Bartered Bride" ……….. February 19 ………. 6
"Fidelio" …………………. February 20 ………. 1
"Falstaff" ………………… March 20 …………. 3
"Don Pasquale" …………….. March 24 …………. 1
"Il Barbiere di Siviglia" …… March 25 …………. 2
"Siegfried" ……………….. March 27 …………. 2
"Das Rheingold" ……………. April 5 ………….. 1

SUMMARY

Subscription weeks …………………………………… 20
Extra week …………………………………………… 1
Regular performances (afternoons and evenings) …………. 120
Special representations of the dramas in "Der Ring" ………. 4
Special benefit and holiday performances ……………….. 10
Italian operas in the repertory ……………………….. 17
German operas in the repertory ………………………… 10
French operas in the repertory …………………………. 3
Bohemian opera in the repertory ………………………… 1
German representations ……………………………….. 45
Italian representations ………………………………. 79
French representations ……………………………….. 19
Oratorial performance on opera night ……………………. 1
Double bills ………………………………………… 11
Mixed bills ………………………………………….. 2
Novelties produced ……………………………………. 4

To arrive at the sum of the company's activities there must be added fifteen performances given in the new Academy of Music in the Borough of Brooklyn; twenty-four performances in the Academy of Music, Philadelphia; and four performances in the Lyric Theater, Baltimore. Brooklyn and Baltimore were privileged to hear "Hänsel und Gretel," which was denied to the Borough of Manhattan.

There was an unusual number of artists new to New York in the company. With Giulio Gatti-Casazza, the Italian General Manager, came Arturo Toscanini, who, though an Italian, chose Wagner's "Götterdämmerung" as the opera in which to make a striking demonstration of his extraordinary abilities as a conductor. It was he, too, who prepared the revival of "Falstaff" and the production of the two Italian novelties, "Le Villi" and "La Wally." His assistant in the Italian department was Signor Spetrino, to whom was intrusted the Italian and French operas of lighter caliber. Of the two German conductors, Mr. Mahler and Mr. Hertz, neither was a newcomer. The former brought about the revival of "Le Nozze di Figaro" and the production of "The Bartered Bride," two of the most signal successes of the season. Mr. Hertz placed "Tiefland" on the stage and added to his long Wagnerian record the first performance heard in America of an unabridged "Meistersinger." Singers new to the Metropolitan Opera House Company were Miss Emmy Destinn (whose engagement had been effected by Mr. Conried some two years before), Mmes. Alda, Gay, Di Pasquali, L'Huillier, Ranzenberg, and Flahaut; and Messrs. Amato (an admirable barytone), Grassi, Didur (a bass who had sung in previous seasons in Mr. Hammerstein's company), Hinckley, Feinhals, Schmedes, Jörn, and Quarti.

A painful and pitiful incident of the season was the vocal shipwreck suffered by Signor Caruso. After the first week of March he was unable to sing because of an affection of his vocal organs. At the last matinée of the subscription season and again on the following Wednesday evening, he made ill-advised efforts to resume his duties, but the consequences were distressful to the connoisseurs and seemed so threatening to his physician that it was deemed advisable to relieve him of his obligation to go West with the company.

Season 1909-1910

This, the twenty-fifth subscription season at the Metropolitan Opera House, began on November 15th, 1909, and ended on April 2nd, 1910, and thus endured twenty weeks. But the twenty weeks of the local subscription by no means summed up the activities of the Metropolitan company; there was a subscription series of twenty representations in the Borough of Brooklyn, a subscription series of two representations each week during the continuance of the Metropolitan season at the New Theater in the Borough of Manhattan, many special performances, and subscription representations in Philadelphia and Baltimore which, though they did not belong to the local record must still be mentioned because of the influence which they exerted on the local performances. The first performance of the company took place in Brooklyn on November 8th, and before the season opened at the official home of the company representations had also been given in the distant cities mentioned which heard twenty performances each. There were also eleven performances in Boston, five in January and six in the last week of March. After all this there still remained before the company a Western tour and a visit to Atlanta, Ga. The season began with a proclamation of harmonious cooperation between the General Manager, Signor Gatti-Casazza, and the Administrative Manager, Mr. Dippel, and ended with what amounted to the dismissal of the latter, who solaced himself by accepting the directorship of the Chicago-Philadelphia Opera Company, which was called into existence after the principal financial backers of the Metropolitan Opera House had retired Mr. Hammerstein from the field by the purchase of the opera house which he had built in Philadelphia and paid him for abandoning grand opera at the Manhattan Opera House in New York, which had been the Metropolitan's rival for four years. The season of operas of a lighter character than those given at the Metropolitan Opera House which was undertaken at the New Theater, a beautiful playhouse built for high purposes by a body of gentlemen most of whom were interested in the larger institution, proved to be a disastrous failure for reasons which are not to be discussed here, but which were not wholly disconnected with the causes which, a year later, led to the abandonment of the New Theater to the same uses to which the other playhouses of the city are put.

The local season can be most clearly and succinctly set forth in tabular form, it being premised that apparent discrepancies between the number of meetings and the number of performances are to be explained by the fact that frequently two, and sometimes three, works were brought forward on one evening or afternoon. These double and triple bills came to be very numerous in the last month, when it was found that the Russian dancers, Mme. Pavlowa and M. Mordkin, exerted a greater attractive power than any opera or combination of singers:

SUBSCRIPTION SEASON AT THE METROPOLITAN

Opera First performance Times given

"La Gioconda" …………….. November 15 ……… 5
"Otello" …………………. November 17 ……… 6
"La Traviata" …………….. November 18 ……… 3
"Madama Butterfly" ………… November 19 ……… 6
"Lohengrin" ………………. November 20 ……… 6
"La Bohème" ………………. November 20 ……… 6
"Tosca" ………………….. November 22 ……… 6
* "Cavalleria Rusticana" …… November 24 ……… 7
* "Pagliacci" …………….. November 24 ……… 7
"Il Trovatore" ……………. November 25 ……… 6
"Tristan und Isolde" ………. November 27 ……… 5
"Aïda" …………………… December 3 ………. 6
"Tannhäuser" ……………… December 4 ………. 4
"Manon" ………………….. December 6 ………. 3
"Siegfried" ………………. December 16 ……… 2
"Orfeo ed Eurydice" ……….. December 23 ……… 5
"The Bartered Bride" ………. December 24 ……… 1
"Faust" ………………….. December 25 ……… 5
"Rigoletto" ………………. December 25 ……… 2
"Die Walküre" …………….. January 8 ……….. 3
"Il Barbiere di Siviglia" ….. January 15 ………. 3
"Germania" ……………….. January 22 ………. 5
"L'Elisir d'Amore" ………… January 27 ………. 1
* "Hänsel und Gretel" ……… January 29 ………. 1
"Don Pasquale" ……………. February 2 ………. 2
"Stradella" ………………. February 3 ………. 2
"Fra Diavolo" …………….. February 6 ………. 3
"Falstaff" ……………….. February 16 ……… 2
"Das Rheingold" …………… February 24 ……… 1
"Werther" ………………… February 28 ……… 2
* "Coppélia" (ballet) ……… February 28 ……… 4
"Götterdämmerung" …………. March 4 …………. 1
"Pique Dame" ……………… March 5 …………. 4
"Der Freischütz" ………….. March 11 ………… 2
* "The Pipe of Desire" …….. March 18 ………… 2
"Die Meistersinger" ……….. March 26 ………… 2
* "Hungary" (ballet) ………. March 31 ………… 2
"La Sonnambula" …………… April 2 …………. 1

* Performed only in double bills.

SUMMARY

Weeks in the season …………………………………. 20
Subscription performances …………………………… 120
Number of operas produced ……………………………. 36
German operas ………………………………………. 11
Bohemian opera ………………………………………. 1
Russian opera ……………………………………….. 1
English opera ……………………………………….. 1
Italian operas ……………………………………… 18
French operas ……………………………………….. 4
German performances …………………………………. 34
French performances …………………………………. 13
Italian performances ………………………………… 79
English performances …………………………………. 2
Double bills (including ballets and divertissements) ……. 23
Number of ballets ……………………………………. 2
Performances of complete ballets ………………………. 6

EXTRA REPRESENTATIONS AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE

"Parsifal," Thanksgiving matinée, November 25.
"Hänsel und Gretel," special matinées, December 21 and 28.
"La Bohème," benefit of Italian charities, January 4.
"Manon," benefit of French charities, January 18.
"Das Rheingold," serial matinées of "Der Ring," January 24.
"Die Walküre," serial matinées of "Der Ring," January 27.
"Siegfried," serial matinées of "Der Ring," January 28.
"Götterdämmerung," serial matinées of "Der Ring," February 1.
"Stradella," benefit of German Press Club, February 15.
"Vienna Waltzes," ballet, benefit of German Press Club, February 15.
"Parsifal," special matinée on Washington's birthday, February 22.
"La Gioconda," benefit of Italian charities, February 22.
Mixed bill, benefit of Opera House Pension Fund, March 1
"Aïda" and ballet divertissement, benefit of the Legal Aid Society, March 15.
"Hänsel und Gretel" and "Coppélia," ballet, special matinée, March 15.
"Parsifal," Good Friday matinée, March 25.

SUMMARY

Total number of extra performances …………………. 16
German operas …………………………………….. 7
German representations ……………………………. 11
French opera ……………………………………… 1
French representation ……………………………… 1
Italian operas ……………………………………. 3
Italian representations ……………………………. 3
Miscellaneous program ……………………………… 1
Double bills (operas, ballets, and divertissements) …… 5

PERFORMANCES AT THE NEW THEATER

Opera First performance Times

"Werther" ………………………….. November 16 ….. 4
"The Bartered Bride" ………………… November 17 ….. 2
"Il Barbiere di Siviglia" ……………. November 25 ….. 3
"Czar und Zimmermann" ……………….. November 30 ….. 4
* "Il Maestro di Capella" ……………. December 9 …… 3
"Cavalleria Rusticana" ………………. December 9 …… 3
"La Fille de Madame Angot" …………… December 14 ….. 4
"Don Pasquale" ……………………… December 23 ….. 3
* "Le Histoire de Pierrot" (pantomime) … December 28 ….. 4
* "Pagliacci" ………………………. January 6 ……. 2
"Fra Diavolo" ………………………. January 11 …… 2
"Manon" ……………………………. February 3 …… 1
"L'Elisir d'Amore" ………………….. February 4 …… 1
"L'Attaque du Moulin" ……………….. February 8 …… 4
"La Bohème" ………………………… February 17 ….. 2
"Stradella" ………………………… February 22 ….. 1
"Madama Butterfly" ………………….. March 4 ……… 1
"Tosca" ……………………………. March 22 …….. 1
"La Sonnambula" …………………….. March 23 …….. 1
* "The Awakening of Woman" (ballet) …… March 31 …….. 1
* "The Pipe of Desire" ………………. March 31 …….. 1
* "Hungary" (ballet) ………………… March 31 …….. 1
* "Coppélia" (ballet) ……………….. April 1 ……… 1

* In double bills only.

SUMMARY

Number of performances ………………………….. 40
Number of operas produced ……………………….. 19
German operas …………………………………… 2
Bohemian opera ………………………………….. 1
English opera …………………………………… 1
Italian operas ………………………………….. 9
French operas …………………………………… 6
German representations …………………………… 7
French representations ………………………….. 15
Italian representations …………………………. 20
English representation …………………………… 1
Double bills (including ballets and divertissements) .. 15
Pantomime ………………………………………. 1
Ballets ………………………………………… 3

THE BROOKLYN SEASON

Opera Date of Performance

"Manon" …………………………………. November 8
"Tannhäuser" …………………………….. November 15
"Madama Butterfly" ……………………….. November 22
"Tosca" …………………………………. November 29
"Lohengrin" ……………………………… December 6
"Martha" ………………………………… December 13
"Il Trovatore" …………………………… December 20
"Il Maestro di Capella" and "Pagliacci" …….. January 3
"Aïda" ………………………………….. January 17
"Faust" …………………………………. January 27
"Fra Diavolo" ……………………………. January 31
"Stradella" and divertissement …………….. February 7
"L'Attaque du Moulin" …………………….. February 13
"La Bohème" ……………………………… February 21
"Otello" ………………………………… February 28
"La Gioconda" ……………………………. March 7
"Il Barbiere" and divertissement …………… March 14
"Rigoletto" ……………………………… March 21
"Der Freischütz" …………………………. March 29
"Madama Butterfly" and "Hungary" (ballet) …… April 4

There was an extra performance of "Hänsel und Gretel," and ballet divertissement on Christmas day. New York was never before in its history so overburdened with opera. The following table offers an analytical summary of the entire season:

Subscription performances ……………………………… 160
Total performances ……………………………………. 197
Operas produced ……………………………………….. 41
German operas produced …………………………………. 13
Italian operas produced ………………………………… 18
French operas produced ………………………………….. 7
Bohemian opera produced …………………………………. 1
Russian opera produced ………………………………….. 1
English opera produced ………………………………….. 1
German representations …………………………………. 56
Italian representations ……………………………….. 115
French representations …………………………………. 23
Double bills (including ballets and divertissements) ………. 48
Performances of complete ballets ………………………… 12

"The Awakening of Woman" and "Hungary" have been treated as ballets in this record simply for the sake of convenience. They were, in fact, a testimonium paupertatis to the feature which had aroused the greatest interest during the dying weeks of the season. The public wanted to see the two Russians dance; the management cared so little for artistic integrity that it did not trouble itself to keep its promises even as to the ballet. "Vienna Waltzes," which had figured in the prospectus, was performed but once, and then only because it was demanded by the German Press Club for its annual benefit. "Die Puppenfee," "Sylvia," "Les Sylphides," and "Chopin," though on the program, were not given, short divertissements after long operas being made to take their place. Operatic novelties promised but not given were: Leo Blech's "Versiegelt," Goetzl's "Les Précieuses Ridicules," Goldmark's "Cricket on the Hearth," Humperdinck's "Königskinder," Laparra's "La Habanera," Lehar's "Amour des Tziganes," Leroux's "Le Chemineau," Maillart's "Les Dragons des Villars," Offenbach's "Les Contes d'Hoffmann," Rossini's "Il Signor Bruschino," Suppé's "Schöne Galatea," and Wolf-Ferrari's "Le Donne Curiose." The works which had a first production in New York were Franchetti's "Germania;" Tschaikowsky's "Pique Dame," Converse's "Pipe of Desire," and Bruneau's "L'Attaque du Moulin." In familiar operas the public was permitted to see new impersonations of Elsa, Floria Tosca, and Santuzza by Mme. Fremstad, and of Floria Tosca by Miss Farrar. Notable achievements from an artistic point of view were the representations of "Tristan und Isolde" and "Die Meistersinger," under the direction of Signor Toscanini, and "Pique Dame," under Herr Mahler.

SEASON 1910-1911

The twenty-sixth season at the Metropolitan began on November 14th, and ended on April 15th, thus embracing twenty-two weeks. When the public was invited to subscribe for the season in the summer, performances were promised in French, Italian, German, and English. In the preceding two years there had been talk of producing Goldmark's "Heimchen am Heerd" ("The Cricket on the Hearth") and Humperdinck's "Königskinder" in English, and so there was again this; but on his return from Europe in the fall Signor Gatti put a quietus on it immediately by proclaiming that the project was impracticable. Nevertheless, in midseason he announced an opera in English by an American composer (Arthur Nevin's "Twilight"), and withdrew it, although the public had been told to expect it. Meanwhile a somewhat singular combination of circumstances led to a partial fulfilment of the promise in the prospectus. Mr. Dippel, who had undertaken the management of the Chicago Opera Company (renamed the Philadelphia-Chicago Company after the Chicago season was over and that in Philadelphia begun), had carried with him from New York the purpose to give opera in the vernacular. He was encouraged in this by Mr. Clarence Mackay and Mr. Otto Kahn, the chief backers of the Chicago institution, but the Chicago season was not long enough to enable him to bring it to fruition. For his second season at the Manhattan Opera House, Mr. Hammerstein had promised to produce an English opera "by our American composer, Victor Herbert" (see p. 372). This opera, entitled "Natoma," had been offered to Signor Gatti-Casazza, and an act of it tried with orchestra on the stage of the Metropolitan; but the director did not care to produce it. It was then offered to Mr. Dippel, who accepted it, and produced it first in Philadelphia and then at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, where the Philadelphia-Chicago company gave a subscription series of French operas on Tuesdays from January to April. To this incident there is a pendant of more serious purport. The Directors of the Metropolitan Opera Company had met what seemed to them a challenge on the part of Mr. Hammerstein by offering a prize of $10,000 for the best opera in English by a native-born American composer. The time allowed for the competition was two years and the last day for the reception of scores September 15th, 1910. On May 2nd the jury of award, composed of Alfred Hertz, Walter Damrosch, George W. Chadwick, and Charles Martin Loeffler, announced that the successful opera was a three-act musical tragedy entitled "Mona," of which the words were written by Brian Hooker, the music by Professor Horatio Parker of Yale University.

The change of plan occasioned by the abandonment of the representations at the New Theater and in Baltimore, the latter city being left to the ministrations of Mr. Dippel's organization, brought with it a large reduction of the Metropolitan forces, but the smaller company nevertheless gave eight performances in Philadelphia and fourteen in Brooklyn besides those called for by the subscription and special representations in New York. Support on occasions had been promised by the affiliated companies in Chicago and Boston, but the little that was offered was not very graciously received by the New York public. Mme. Melba sang once in "Rigoletto," and once again in "Traviata," one of the two performances being in the regular subscription list. Then she was announced as ill, and departed for England. Mlle. Lipowska sang a few times, as also did Signor Constantino (who had been a member of Mr. Hammerstein's company and was now the principal tenor in Boston), but the public was indifferent to these performances of the old Verdi operas.

Interesting incidents were the visits of Signor Puccini and Herr Humperdinck to superintend the rehearsals and witness the first performances on any stage of their operas, "La Fanciulla del West" and "Königskinder," the latter of which was sung in the original German instead of the promised English. For the Italian opera the management had arranged two special performances at double prices; these were popular failures in spite of the interest excited by Mr. David Belasco's play "The Girl of the Golden West," on which the opera was based. The presence of the Russian dancers, who had won much favor in the preceding season, was particularly fortunate in the closing weeks of the season, when another failure of Signor Caruso's voice threatened disaster. Mme. Pavlowa and her companion, M. Mordkin, supported by a very mediocre troupe of dancers, had discovered themselves to their admirers before the opera season opened. They then took part in the Metropolitan entertainments until the end of the first week of January. Thereupon they departed, but came back very opportunely for the second fortnight of March.

The rest of the story may be read out of the following table and remarks. There were twenty-two weeks of opera with subscription performances on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, and Saturday afternoons. At these performances operas were given as follows:

REGULAR METROPOLITAN SUBSCRIPTION PERFORMANCES

Opera First Performance Times
"Armide" …………………………. November 14 ……. 3
"Tannhäuser" ……………………… November 16 ……. 5
"Aïda" …………………………… November 17 ……. 6
"Die Walküre" …………………….. November 18 ……. 4
"Madama Butterfly" ………………… November 19 ……. 5
"La Bohème" ………………………. November 21 ……. 5
"La Gioconda" …………………….. November 23 ……. 6
"Rigoletto" ………………………. November 24 ……. 3
"Cavalleria Rusticana" (double bill) … November 25 ……. 5
"Pagliacci" (double bill) ………….. November 25 ……. 7
"Lohengrin" ………………………. November 28 ……. 5
"Il Trovatore" ……………………. December 1 …….. 5
"Faust" ………………………….. December 10 ……. 4
"Orfeo ed Eurydice" ……………….. December 10 ……. 5
"La Fanciulla del West" ……………. December 26 ……. 7
"Königskinder" ……………………. December 28 ……. 7
"Tristan und Isolde" ………………. January 4 ……… 4
"Roméo et Juliette" ……………….. January 13 …….. 2
"Siegfried" ………………………. January 14 …….. 1
"Die Meistersinger" ……………….. January 20 …….. 4
"Germania" ……………………….. February 1 …….. 2
"La Traviata" …………………….. February 2 …….. 2
"Tosca" ………………………….. February 8 …….. 5
"Die Verkaufte Braut" ……………… February 15 ……. 4
"Otello" …………………………. February 27 ……. 5
"Ariane et Barbe-Bleue" ……………. March 29 ………. 4
"Hänsel und Gretel" (double bill) …… April 6 ……….. 2

There were ten Saturday evening subscriptions at regular prices at which the following operas were given, viz.: "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci," "Madama Butterfly," "Il Trovatore," "Parsifal," "Lohengrin," "Thaïs" (Chicago Opera Company), "Aïda," "Königskinder," "Tannhäuser," and "Tosca." There were holiday, benefit, and special performances as follows:

EXTRA PERFORMANCES

Opera First Performance Times

"Parsifal" ………………………. November 24 …….. 3
"La Traviata" ……………………. November 29 …….. 1
"La Fanciulla del West" …………… December 10 …….. 2
"Cavalleria" and ballet …………… December 24 …….. 1
"Hänsel und Gretel" ………………. December 26 …….. 4
"Königskinder" …………………… December 31 …….. 3
"Aïda" ………………………….. January 7 ………. 1
"Rigoletto" ……………………… January 14 ……… 1
"Roméo et Juliette" ………………. January 21 ……… 1
"Die Meistersinger" ………………. January 28 ……… 1
"Das Rheingold" ………………….. February 2 ……… 1
"Madama Butterfly" ……………….. February 4 ……… 2
"Die Walküre" ……………………. February 9 ……… 1
"Siegfried" ……………………… February 13 …….. 1
"Götterdämmerung" ………………… February 22 …….. 1
"La Bohème" and ballet ……………. March 30 ……….. 1
Mixed bill ………………………. April 6 ………… 1

Twenty-six representations; sixteen operas.

There was also an extra subscription season by the Chicago Opera
Company, which made a showing as follows:

SUBSCRIPTION SEASON OF THE PHILADELPHIA-CHICAGO COMPANY

Opera First Performance Times

"Thaïs" …………………………………. January 24 ……. 1
"Louise" ………………………………… January 31 ……. 2
"Pelléas et Mélisande" ……………………. February 7 ……. 1
"Les Contes d'Hoffmann" …………………… February 14 …… 1
"Carmen" ………………………………… February 21 …… 1
"Natoma" (once in double bill) …………….. February 28 …… 3
"Il Segreto di Susanna" (in double bill) ……. March 14 ……… 2
"Le Jongleur de Notre Dame" (in double bill) … March 14 ……… 1
"Quo Vadis" ……………………………… April 4 ………. 1

Eleven evenings, one extra, nine operas, three double bills.

METROPOLITAN PERFORMANCES IN BROOKLYN

Opera First Performance Times

"Il Trovatore" ……………………. November 19 ……. 1
"Orfeo ed Eurydice" ……………….. November 26 ……. 1
"Tannhäuser" ……………………… December 3 …….. 1
"Cavalleria" (double bill) …………. January 3 ……… 1
"Pagliacci" (double bill) ………….. January 3 ……… 1
"Lohengrin" ………………………. January 17 …….. 1
"Königskinder" ……………………. January 24 …….. 1
"La Bohème" ………………………. January 31 …….. 1
"Rigoletto" ………………………. February 7 …….. 1
"Madama Butterfly" ………………… February 21 ……. 1
"Tosca" ………………………….. February 28 ……. 1
"Aïda" …………………………… March 7 ……….. 1
"Otello" …………………………. March 14 ………. 1
"La Fanciulla del West" ……………. March 18 ………. 1
"Parsifal" ……………………….. March 21 ………. 1

Fourteen representations, fifteen operas, one double bill.

The novelties produced in the season were Gluck's "Armide," Puccini's
"La Fanciulla del West," Humperdinck's "Königskinder," Dukas's "Ariane
et Barbe-Bleue," Herbert's "Natoma," Wolf-Ferrari's "Il Segreto di
Susanna," and Nouguet's "Quo Vadis."