GREAT
OPERA NIGHTS
This is
a page of opera and concert programmes from nights of which we could
all say...
I
wish we were there.
My
particular favourite would be the night in Milan in 1901 when
Chaliapin and Caruso sang Mefistofele under the baton of Toscanini
and in the presence of the composer, Boito!
Some of
the cast-lists were incredible and were certainly packed full of
names which we know today only on the labels of highly desirable
records.
These
programmes remind us, however, that these great singers were once
real, living, flesh-and-blood artists.
(NB This
page is full of pictures and may take some time to
load)
BUCKINGHAM PALACE
One
often forgets that singers earned their living not only in
Opera-Houses and Concert-Halls. Indeed, they could probably make more
money entertaining live in the drawing rooms of the rich and
priveleged. Top of the list was royalty in whichever country in which
the singers happened to be. The Czar and especially Queen Victoria
were among the biggest music-lovers who gave their favourite artists
not only money but expensive jewellery too!. (Victoria, remember, had
been friends with Mendelssohn).
One
always dreams that at least some of these people had bought a
Phonograph and naturally turned on the recording apparatus when their
famous guests began to sing. Maybe, somewhere, in some attic
somewhere!...
Evening Concert, 1st July, 1892.
Nellie
Melba and Ernest Van Dyck.
Inside
the beautifully embossed programme, the extra slip of paper makes it
seem all the more real.
Concert, 24th February, 1899.
Maria
Galvany.
The year
of this press release is not given, but 1899 seems a reasonable
guess.
Evening Concert, 30th June 1899.
Emma
Albani, David Bispham, Emma Nevada and Fernando De Lucia.
...and
at 6, Carlton House Terrace on 27th June 1900, as you can see, an
orchestra under Mr. (later Sir) Landon Ronald, 5 years before he was
Patti's accompanist on her records made in Wales, supported Fernando
De Lucia, Pol Plancon and Lilian Blauvelt of the Golden Era and the
still young American contralto Louise Homer.
COVENT
GARDEN
Royal
Gala, 11th June, 1907.
MADAMA
BUTTERFLY (Act 1) with Emmy Destinn, Enrico Caruso, Antonio Scotti,
Vanni-Marcoux and Gabrielle Lejeune-Gilibert.
LA
BOHEME (Act 1) with Nellie Melba, Enrico Caruso, Mario Sammarco,
Charles Gilibert and Vanni-Marcoux.
DIE
MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG (Act 3) with Frieda Hempel, Karl
Jorn, Anton Van Rooy.
The
conductors were Campanini and Richter.
LUCIA
DI LAMMERMOOR, 15th November, 1907.
Luisa
Tetrazzini, Giuseppe De Luca & Fernando Carpi.
This was
the season in which Tetrazzini's virtuoso Lucia caused a sensation at
Covent Garden. Overnight, she became the first serious threat to
Melba's supremacy there for well over a decade.
LUCIA
DI LAMMERMOOR, 19th May, 1909.
Marie
Louise Edvina, Vanni-Marcoux and Charles Fontaine.
LA
BOHEME, 26th June, 1909.
Maria
Kousnetzova, Giovanni Zenatello, Vanni-Marcoux, Antonio Scotti and
Charles Gilibert.
Just one
of the stellar casts available before World War One.
LA
TOSCA, 16th May, 1919.
Marie-Louise Edvina, Ulysses Lappas and Robert
Couzinou.
LOUISE, 25th June, 1919.
Marie-Louise Edvina And Fernand Ansseau.
(NB The
young ballerina is Ninette De Valois!)
TURANDOT, 5th July, 1928.
This
performance followed the historic night, 4th July 1928, when HMV had
recorded the great Feodor Chaliapin live in excerpts of Boris
Godounov. They couldn't do the same for Eva Turner, for she was
signed to Columbia. Indeed, she had just recorded her definitive
recording of In Questa Reggia for Columbia in London one month
previously.
LA
TRAVIATA, 18th June, 1930.
Rosa
Ponselle, Giovanni Inghilleri and Angelo Minghetti.
(Rosa
Ponselle in one of her rare performances in London).
CARMEN, 10th June, 1935.
The
inimitable Carmen of Conchita Supervia only a year before her death
in childbirth.
RIGOLETTO, 28th April, 1936.
Giacomo
Lauri-Volpi, Alexander De Sved & Margherita Perras.
LA
TOSCA, 11th May, 1936.
Giacomo
Lauri-Volpi, Alexander De Sved & Gina Cigna.
LA
BOHEME, 15th June, 1938.
Beniamino Gigli & Lisa Perli.
LA
TOSCA, 15th May, 1939.
Beniamino Gigli, Mario Basiola & Gina
Cigna.
One of
the last season performances before World War Two.
SUNDAY CONCERT, 21st September, 1947.
Richard
Tauber, Elisabeth Schwartzkopf etc.
This
Sunday concert at Covent Garden was given only weeks before Tauber's
death from lung-cancer. He also performed Don Ottavio in an
astounding (and happily, recorded) performance of DON GIOVANNI, virtually on one lung. He
was not a member of the Vienna State Opera, but, aware of his health,
he was invited to sing his beloved Mozart with them one final time.
LA
TOSCA, 23rd June, 1951.
Ljuba
Welitsch, Marko Rothmuller and James Johnston.
The
beginning of the modern era.
DON
CARLOS, 22nd April, 1959.
Boris
Christoff, Jon Vickers, Gre Brouwenstijn, Grace Hoffman, Geraint
Evans and Michael Langdon.
This was
the famous Zeffirelli production. I went to one of these performances
with an even better cast, AND I attended a dress
rehearsal!
Tito
Gobbi sang instead of Geraint Evans and Nicola Zaccaria sang in place
of Michael Langdon. Both were superb!
Somewhere I have my signed programme. I'll post it
when I find it.
Gre
Brouwenstijn asked me (at the end of the 4-hour performance) how old
I was. When I said that I was 11, she told me that she had a child of
the same age and hoped that he or she (I can't remember which) was in
bed!
FALSTAFF, 14th October, 1961.
Tito
Gobbi, John Shaw, Luigi Alva, Regina Resnik and Mirella
Freni.
I saw
this performance. Gobbi was superb and very funny!
LA
TOSCA, 1st February, 1963.
Tito
Gobbi, Marie Collier and Charles Craig.
I went
to this performance rather than those involving Maria Callas, whose
singing I've never liked. Marie Collier, from Australia was really
very good in the part. Tragically, she was destined to die very
similarly to Tosca when she fell from a hotel window in London some
years later at the age of 45.
OTELLO, 17th April 1964.
Tito
Gobbi, James McCrackern and Raina Kabaivanska.
My
signed programme from virtually the last time I went to Covent
Garden. The standard of singing went into deep decline after this
period. The singing of James McCrackern, a Canadian, reminded me a
little of the Otello excerpts on record by Renato Zanelli in the
early 30s, or so I thought at the time.
THE ROYAL
ALBERT HALL
Morning Concert, 4th November.
Nellie
Melba and Ben Davies.
The year
not given on the programme. Somewhere around 1900 is my guess.
Afternoon Concert, 1st June, 1924.
Mattia
Battistini and Miss Salteni-Mochi.
This was
Battistini's final appearance in Gt. Britain.
Miss
Salteni-Mochi I know not. A Battistini pupil, perhaps.
Afternoon Farewell Concert, 12th November,
1933.
Luisa
Tetrazzini and Joseph Hislop.
In
actual fact, there was a second farewell concert given at The London
Palladium (see below).
THE LONDON
PALLADIUM
London's
premier Variety Theatre was also used as a Concert Hall from time to
time.
Sunday Afternoon Farewell Concert, 4th March,
1934.
Luisa
Tetrazzini.
Sunday Afternoon Farewell Concert, 21st March,
1937.
Feodor
Chaliapin.
This was
indeed Chaliapin's final appearance in London.
A year
later he died in Paris at 65, a victim of leukemia.
THE QUEEN'S
HALL
Before
it was bombed during World War Two, The Queen's Hall was one of
London's premier Concert Halls and the home-base of the conductor,
Sir Henry Wood.
Evening Orchestral Concert, 16th October,
1928.
Emmy
Destinn.
The
legendary Czech soprano Emmy Destinn had been referred to as Emy
Destinnova for a while, probably to ensure that nobody think her to
be German after World War One, but in 1928, she was back to her
normal stage-name. She'd sung her final London MADAMA BUTTERFLY
(perhaps her most famous role), in 1919. This, as far as I know, was
her final appearance in London, for she died at the age of 51 in
Czechoslovakia on 28th January, 1930.
THE STOLL
THEATRE
This
theatre still exists as a cinema, but during the early 1950s was the
venue for some ground-breaking Italian Opera seasons before Covent
Garden was as dominant as it is today and when privately funded opera
was still a possibility in London.
TOSCA, September 1953?
Kyra
Vayne, Tito Gobbi and Piero Miranda Ferraro.
This
programme is generic and thus does not show the exact date.
THE
METROPOLITAN
RIGOLETTO, 23rd November 1903.
Enrico
Caruso, Marcella Sembrich, Antonio Scotti, Marcel Journet.
The
Metropolitan was already presenting the cream of European singers. As
the programme states, this was the historic night of Caruso's debut
in the USA.
What a
cast! What a night!
LOHENGRIN, 23rd January 1905.
Emma
Eames and Heinrich Knote.
TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, 24th January 1906.
Lilian
Nordica, Louise Homer, Aloys Burgstaller and Anton Van Rooy.
LA
TRAVIATA, 14th February 1913.
Frieda
Hempel, Pasquale Amato and Umberto Magnez.
CYRANO, 4th April 1913.
Pasquale
Amato, Frances Alda, Riccardo Martin and Antonio
Pini-Corsi.
A
now-forgotten opera, but what a cast! Even small-part singer, Lambert
Murphy went on to enjoy a successful recording career on Victor.
BORIS
GODOUNOV, 29th March, 1919.
Adamo
Didur, Jose Mardones, Angelo Bada and Margarete
Matzenauer.
The
conservative Americans had been shocked by Chaliapin before 1910. He
would not return (this time in triumph) until the1920s. Nevertheless,
a more than acceptable cast was available for this Moussorgsky
masterpiece.
IL
TROVATORE, 23rd April, 1927.
Giovanni
Martinelli, Rosa Ponselle, Mario Basiola and Léon
Rothier.
This was
an evening of The Metropolitan on tour, here in Washington, DC. They
sent one of their best casts to the nation's capital.
GIANNI SCHICCHI, 7th January, 1938.
Lawrence
Tibbett, Hilda Burke and George Cehanovsky.
This
part of Puccini's TRITTICO formed part of a double-feature in this late 30s
programme.
THE BOSTON
OPERA
LA
BOHEME, 11th November, 1909.
Florencio Constantino, Alice Nielsen, Jose Mardones,
Raymond Boulogne.
Just one
example of the fine casts available to opera-goers in Boston before
World War One. Many of the these fine Boston Opera artists recorded
for Columbia before the project folded. These records are easily
acquired and highly desirable.
THE CHICAGO
OPERA
LOUISE, 10th February 1926.
Mary
Garden, George Baklanov, Fernand Ansseau and Jose Mojica.
During
the 1920s, Mary Garden was virtually in charge of The Chicago Opera.
She booked the finest singers but almost bankrupted the opera-house
in so doing. Naturally, with her in charge, French opera was often on
the bill.
LA
SCALA
GUGLIELMO TELL, 1st March, 1930.
Giacomo
Lauri-Volpi, Benvenuto Franci, Tancredi Pasero, Lina Bruna Rasa,
Emilio Venturini, Salvatore Baccaloni.
La Scala
in Milano was still the peak of Italian opera as this superb cast
shows, despite the Wall Street Crash and its reverberations around
the world.
TEATRO
REALE
CARMEN, 9th August, 1939.
Gabrialle Besanzoni, Benvenuto Franci< Paolo
Civil, Licia Mero and Tito Gobbi.
A
fascinating night in Rome. A fine cast, Gabriella Besanzoni was
making a come-back, Tito Gobbi was still a supporting singer and
Benito Mussolini was in the audience...all on the eve of World War
Two.
OPERHAUS
DRESDEN
RIGOLETTO, 4th October, 1927.
Tino
Pattiera, Robert Burg and Julia Rohler.
During
the Weimar Republic in the later 20s, opera in Germany thrived and
had its own stars, particularly those who featured in the German
Verdi renaissance, such as the great tenor, Tino Pattiera.
TEATRO
COLON
LORELEY, 12 June, 1913.
Salomea
Kruscelnicka, Riccardo Stracciari and Rinaldo Grassi.
LA
TRAVIATA, 10th July, 1913.
Tito
Schipa, Riccardo Stracciari, Maria Barrientos.
If there
is any doubt that the Colon could match any of the best opera-houses
in the world for star-casts, then this programme is all the evidence
required!
RIGOLETTO, 13th July 1913.
Giuseppe
Anselmi, Riccardo Stracciari and Maria Barrientos.
Three
days later and another amazing cast!
LES
PECHEURS DE PERLES, 5th August, 1913.
Maria
Barrientos, Giuseppe Anselmi and Luigi Montesanto.
LES
HUGUENOTS, 19th July, 1916.
Rosa
Raisa, Giovanni Martinelli, Armand Crabbé and Marcel Journet.
FAUST, 21st June, 1921.
Giovanni
Martinelli, Ninon Vallin, Adamo Didur and Armand Crabbé.
OPÉRA
COMIQUE
LE
ROI D'YS, 10th February, 1906.
Edmond
Clément and Marie Thiéry.
WELLINGTON
TOWN HALL
There
may not have been air-travel in years gone by, but that did not
prevent the great stars of the day touring the world. Indeed, with
the more leisurely pace imposed by liner-travel, the resulting rest
did their voices no harm at all. Nevertheless, New Zealand was a
long way away!
Concert, 30th June, 1925.
Amelita
Galli-Curci.
Naturally, the various recording companies advertized in the
opera-programmes. Here's a typical example from a 1913 Metropolitan
Opera programme of 1913.
Advertisements were a trifle more discreet in the pre-World War One
programmes at Covent Garden. Here are four, respectively from Odeon,
Fonotipia, Pathé and The Gramophone Company. It's interesting
to look at the prices, (records were horrendously expensive
considering the cost of living at that time). Also, it's fascinating
to see which of the singers were seen as being the most commercial to
use as saleable names. Are the names we still remember today only
better-known because they happened to pick the most successful
record-company of their day...?
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