Hall of song: The 'Met,' 1883-1966; 1883: A new opera house is decreed

The following program was produced for national educational radio under a grant from the National Home Library Foundation by WVU our Boston. Boston University radio presents Hall of song the story of the Metropolitan Opera from 1893 to 1966. It was the will. You're the world. It will. Outlive. Your hosts are my own past and Deek music critic of The New York World. Tribune. And noton cross.

On April 16th 1966 the last performances of opera were given at the old Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 31st the grand finale was a gala farewell concert. Gathering together almost 100 of the great artists of the company's past and present rosters at times it seemed as if the concert would go on forever and at midnight the end still hadn't been reached. Finally though the last number on the program was sung and then at about 1:15 in the morning the stage filled with a grand array of metropolitan talent ranging from one singer who had made his debut in 1913 to another who arrived as recently as 1965. They all joined hands. The audience rose and as a few tears began to fall. They saying Old Lang Syne. Moments later the great gold curtain dropped for the last time that tonight that whole curtain seemed more golden than ever before even though we all knew that it had never been done.

The crowd left the auditorium pushed through the street and the doors closed not just on an empty Opera House but on a whole era of opera in a number of ways. That farewell concert was something of a throwback to the earlier days in the history of the house. The people in attendance on the night of April 16 had to mostly come to be seen and to display their jewelry and for the musical performance was incidental to the show going on in the boxes and the lobbies. Not to mention Sherry's bar and that was how it had been in 1983 when the house Saud's first opening night audience. As a matter of fact the main reason New York was about to have a new opera house in that year was that the city's existing theater had been declared inadequate at least from society's point of view in their memoirs. Lily Lehmann has revealed the incident which virtually lay the cornerstone on a particular evening one of the

millionaire ases did not receive the box which she intended to shine because another woman had anticipated the husband of the former took proper action and caused the Metropolitan to rise. The year was 1880 and the theatre in which the millionaire is found herself without her usual box was the Academy of Music on 14th Street. The lady was none other than Mrs. William H. Vanderbilt. Her husband the Commodore soon decided that the only way to avoid repetition of the incident was to build a new opera house one that could be controlled largely by himself his family and other members of his social set. It's hard to believe today but in 1880 the Vanderbilt's was still thought to be somewhat nouveau riche and the boxes at the Academy were tightly controlled by the inner circle of the New York society known as the Knickerbocker gentry or the FO Borg Saint-Germain said.

Vanderbilt and his attorney George H Warren approached the stockholders of the academy and asked that more boxes be installed for those who could not be sure of a place in the existing ones. The Academy offered to add 26 making a total of 56 but no more. This simply wasn't enough for Commodore Vanderbilt and his associates. A week later came the announcement that eight hundred thousand dollars had been subscribed toward building a new opera house among the investors were the two Roosevelts. The Iceland was the go to the Astor the Morgans the Warrens and the three Vanderbilt's the combined fortunes of all the subscribers. Total five hundred forty million dollars each of them gave ten thousand dollars to insure a box in the new theater. The next job was to find a location. The first site considered was appropriately enough on Vanderbilt Avenue opposite Grand Central Station. While a

lot was being chosen the founders invited four architectural firms to submit designs and sealed bids for the undertaking. The plan finally chosen was one drawn up by Josiah Cleve and Katie Katie was a noted New York architect who had already planned such buildings as of all things the American Museum of Natural History. The fact that he had never been inside an opera house might have been a drawback in the eyes of the Vanderbilt family had his plans not contain room for one hundred twenty two boxes. With that many boxes. How could anything be wrong. Almost at the same time as Katie's design was accepted it was learned that zoning restrictions would not permit a theater to be built on Vanderbilt Avenue. As a result the shareholders purchased the whole block at Broadway and thirty ninth Street which cost six hundred fifteen thousand dollars. Katie still built the opera house according to the plans prepared for Vanderbilt Avenue. Apparently not carrying that among other

things. The block on Vanderbilt Avenue was square. While thirty ninth Street one was rectangular. Soon after being awarded the contract Katie hired Louis to Copa bear a 24 year old Craftsman and engineer as his assistant and partner Baird was so encouraged by this that he immediately married his fiance and took off to Lake Mohawk on his honeymoon. Three urgent telegrams had to be sent to get him back to New York and his drawing board. Katie and Berg soon set to work and studied pictures of all the major European opera houses they have ventured Willie decided to model the new theatre after Covent Garden with a few features from La Scala tossed in to be sure good sightlines they made 700 drawings of the proposed seating arrangement in the end they wound up with almost exactly 700 seats whose view of the stage was obstructed.

Various delays made it impossible to complete the house by the target date of October 1882. Even after construction had begun there were rumors that the whole project might be scrapped. Rather than do that the shareholders took a mortgage with the Bowery Savings Bank and the work continued fireproofing was considered important in view of the disaster at the ring theatre in Vienna in 1881 and so the ceiling was made of iron and the stage was supported by a system of 4000 metal struts and braces. The large skylight was built so that it could fall open in case of fire and prevent a blaze from mushroom in a network of pipes fused with the soft solder served as a primitive sprinkler system which was fed by a large water tank. Finally a large fireproof screen was hung next to the curtain in order to allow for the required number of boxes. Katy's auditorium turned out to be what was then the largest in the world. The decoration of the interior was intrusted to

EPD Treadwell of Boston with a warning to avoid all tawdriness all garish display. The stage was adequate but Katie's ignorance of what actually goes on during an opera production caused him to overlook the need for adequate rehearsal space or storage areas for scenery. Now that the theater was at last nearing completion the stockholders weren't anxious to assume any new burdens. So no they decided to let someone else run the opera house for them. All they wanted was a professional who could keep the public entertained and hopefully make a profit. The man they chose for the job was Henry E. Abbey well-known entrepreneur and manager of Concert Artists. His musical background consisted of having played cornet in the high school band back in Akron Ohio. His musical adviser for this venture was Modise GRO who had considerable experience in producing operettas and

musical comedy. Ten years later graue himself was to take over the helm at the Met but for the moment the first company to play in the new house would be the Henry Abbey Italian opera company. So with a management engaged the shareholders saw their new theatre for the first time on May 24th 1893 when they met to assign the boxes location went by chance as Miss Walton drew a name from one hat and Miss Townsend drew a box number from another. Everyone was very happy and eagerly awaiting the opening night. The date chosen for the great event was October 22nd 1893 as the time of the performance drew near the whole neighborhood of the metropolitan was alive with excitement. Employees in the building just across 40th Street stayed just late to hold opening night parties and the workers in the lumber yard on the next block camped at convenient

bars to await the arrival of the elegant first nighters at Broadway and Forty second Street. The saloons of the Hotel St. Cloud and the Metropole were packed with groups headed for the opera. One block downtown at the hotel Normandie. There were sounds of last minute vocalizing as the singers staying there prepared to leave for their dressing rooms. The opera being given was of COS and I was found most sung in a talian in a day yeah. This was to prove a tried and true choice for many and metropolitan occasions. The well-known Swedish soprano Christine Nielsen was Marguerite with a tallow company as follows and track on of our as Mephistopheles. So if I shout she sang See below and just epidural Penta was Valentine the maestro was August the NACA of Covent Garden the opening night confusion was made more difficult because of some strong competition from two other events

going on that same evening despite the fact that Colonel James Mapleson the impresario of the Academy had snorted when he saw the new opera house and labeled it the yellow brewery. He still wasn't going to run the risk of losing any of his patrons to the Uptown Theater as a result. He scheduled his own opening for the same date presenting Christine Middleton's arch rival at telco guest and her most famous role and mean and so now some of the new Metropolitan subscribers were also traditional supporters of the academy and they were faced with a real dilemma as to which opening to attend to add to the complications. The national poll show opened that night too. This event was of enough importance to attract the attention of the opera set a number of patrons were unable to resolve the conflict of interest and so made the rounds of all three functions. Luckily Abby had hit upon a good formula for

opening nights. The long opera was relieved by four link the intermissions which gave the patrons Apple the opportunity for socializing as they roamed through the house toasting opera and themselves with magnums of champagne. Much to the dismay of the dedicated opera lovers craning to see the stage from their not so choice seats in what was dubbed the peanut gallery. This social activity continued right through the performance and the arias were accompanied by popping caulks and slamming doors as the box holders visited their friends. After five and a half hours the curtain fell and the artist received the enthusiastic cheers of the elegant audience large bouquets of flowers were presented to each of the principals and Madame Nielsen received a gold wreath which one cynic noted might also have been used as a girdle. No one would have argued that it had been anything but I splendid evening with regard to the

music of an artistic side of the opening night however. All that glitters was definitely not golden in the next morning's Tribune. Henry E. Cray B.O. wrote that Kampen e long past his prime had sung poorly as Faust did Madame Nielsen although a very popular figure in the operatic world having sung the very first Marguerite at the Paris Opera was nevertheless past the first flush of youth. She appeared rather tired and their voice didn't really warm up until the Jewel Song in the second act. Little was said of the Mephistopheles Franco Navarro and it seemed at the most satisfactory performance had been turned in by Giuseppe Del Ponte that one time Mr. Craig Beale had very high praise though for the overall effect of the performance. Nothing was shirked he wrote and the highest skill and most delicate ingenuity seemed combined in constructing scenes of fascinating beauty and

almost perfect illusion. This probably came about because Henry Abbey although short on musical ability had an excellent sense of showmanship when it came to costuming the one thousand operas in the repertory for the first season. He went to no less a figure than the famous designer worth Paris. In fact Lehmann reported that Werth supplied every costume right down to the shoes and stocking. Not everyone found the house to be all that it should have been either. Henry do you think the critic of The Evening Post went to press the following morning with a statement from an artistic and musical point of view with a large number of boxes is a decided mistake Italo company viewed the situation from a performance standpoint when at the end of the season he told the Times reporter the reason why the performances fail largely have their proper effect is that the house is unfit for music. When Mr. Fabbri first spoke to me about plans for the new opera house I suggested that he should examine the new

customs that they had at Rome. It cost about $600000 to build but it is incomparably finer than your metropolitan. I should advise the directors of the Metropolitan to tear out the inside and rebuild. No half measures will do any good. When all the furor of the opening night had died away it was decided that the performance given on the second night of the season had been much more lasting musical importance. The opera was a dilemma and it marked the debut of a 25 year old gal. Soprano named Marcella. Same break had already made a great success in London at Covent Garden and their engagement by Abbe gives further proof of his ability to estimate the attraction of stars and their publicity value. Madam Sandberg herself was none too sure of how she might be received in New York. Abby was instructed therefore to deposit $30000 in her London bank account before she left England. But she could easily have forgotten this precaution against being stranded in

America. WJ Henderson wrote in The Times after her debut. No singer has ever won the recognition of a New York audience more easily. A week later on October 30th she made her second appearance at the house in the role of Elvira from Bellini Tommy. And we can still get a good impression of her ability in the part from this recording she made of the aria. Yes.

Oh. Yes. Now after the PIRA Tommy Sandberg went on to sing Viola day in the Traviata with as much success as she had claimed in her previous metropolitan ventures. For.

Same brick sang a total of nine roles in our first metropolitan season finishing with an excellent Zerlina in Don Giovanni on November 29. For the rest however the opening season was rather conventional both in the terms of the operas and the repertory and in the way in which they were performed. It should be noted too that all works were sung in the talian even Lohengrin. This was a common convention of the time since there was only a limited number of outstanding artists who had a broad multi-lingual background. The season boasted only two novelties Joconde and Mephistopheles which Craig Beale decided had been found fairly heavy going for audience and office alike. On the whole then

this first season in the history of the Metropolitan actually had more to do with the past of the Opera in New York than with its future. It merely reinforced the listening habits of an audience already accustomed to hearing a certain variety of operas in Italian and it was just because of this that Abby succeeded so well with the public. For the majority of those who frequented the opera house during the 18 83 84 season the singers on stage were expected to do little more than sing well with an occasional outburst of virtuosity of course. And keep the audience entertained by the melodies with which they were already familiar. Abby's general lack of daring did have a positive effect however despite the fact that such sing as a sin and Kompany were past the prime of their careers. They were never the less established personality with Colonel Mapleson roster at the Academy boasting such celebrities as Gerster and Adelina Patti would have been foolhardy for Abby to have trifled with unknowns This soon became the standard policy.

With August being introduced to New York through the academy and later on at Hammerstein's Manhattan opera house and then appearing at 31st only after their reputation had been established. Interestingly enough one of the singers who made her New York debut with the Mapleton company that season was Soprano named Lillian Norton Gower. She was hailed as the best of the Academy's artist next to Patti in 1891. She made her way uptown as the lily of the north. Lillian Nordica in this way the Metropolitan may have been deprived of such artist's talents for a bit too long but Abby's policy had the distinct advantage of firmly establishing the Metropolitan as a New York institution in its very first season and making it a real lure to foreign star. In the years to come this paid many dividends. Unfortunately there were no dividends being paid at the end of the first season having its contract agreements with the singers included along

which ran 54 road performances after this. He gave a spring season beginning on March 10th. This in addition to the extravagant costumes by worth and $1000 per performance fees to the leading singers put him $600000 in the red by the end of March. His original contract contained a guarantee of only $60000 against possible losses. The directors met the guarantee and then gave use of the theater for a benefit performance. This was probably the most remarkable show of the whole year. The program offered scenes from the crazy boys Trovatore Barber of Seville and they have been out to make the evening still more attractive. However they drew on the resources of his many theatrical adventures by presenting the fourth act of The Merchant of Venice featuring Sir Henry Irving as Shylock and Ellen Terry as Portia musically Hava. It was

Marcella who once more stole the show this time with a dazzling display of versatility as well as virtuosity before settling on the singing career center break had been an accomplished violinist and pianist much to the amazement of the audience and her colleagues the programme for the evening also announced that Madame Sandberg would perform the did their violin concerto following this. The audience clamoring for an encore and break obliged by sitting down at the piano and tossing off a Chopin mazurka. This created near pandemonium and more cries for an encore. After a hasty consultation with Maestro PNAC she returned to her usual matey and sang as young from when she had finished this three fold display of talent. The audience fairly exploded in applause and saw the first season of opera at the Metropolitan Opera House would come to an end and they made sixteen

thousand dollars for the benefit concert but he was still a long way from solvency. He approached the directors with an offer to run the opera for a second season without any sort of compensation if the stockholders would agree to absolve the losses of his initial venture. The director is still a little dazed by nearly 2 million dollars the new house would cost them thanked him for the offer and said goodbye. The season had ended as it began with a grand and glorious gala occasion. I think most of the audience on the night of April 21st 1884 probably lingered a while on their way out to take another look around at the glittering new home of opera in New York. And of course we lingered too. As we left the house last April only then it was like the last act of Vanessa. Let me look around once more. Who knows when I shall see this house again. But in 1984 everyone knew that they would be back very

soon again after all and that he was only beginning. Next week we'll investigate the many changes which took place at the Metropolitan under a new managerial regime. Until then this is Milton Cross on behalf of miles custom gig hoping that you'll be with us. Boston University Radio has presented Hall of song the story of the Metropolitan Opera from 1883 to 966 the series is created and produced by Richard Calhoun a grant from the National Home Library Foundation has made possible the production of these programs for national educational radio. This is the national

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