Evening star., 1901-11-18
A FAMOUS IMPRESARIO.
Death of Col. James H. MapIesOn Il
London.


The death of James Henry MapleSon in
London Friday removes one who was at
one time a famous impresario. 1t is be-
lieved that he introduced to the public more
great singers in Italian opera than any
other one man. He was for years mana
ger of one of the leading theaters in Lon
don, having previously been singer and a
member of theatrical orchestra. Between
two of his seasons In 1S49 he took on a
tour in the provinces a concert COM
pany composed Of the famous soprano,
Henrietta Sontag; the tenor Calzorari, the
baritone Belletti who came to this coun-
try with Jenny Lind; the celebrated basso
Lablache and the pianist Thalberg. In
1861 he took the management of the Hay
market Theater in London and opened
with Tietjens. Alboni Guiglini and Dele
Sedie in III Trovatore," Ardfti conducting.
He lost FL, 900 in the season, and deter
mined to continue management till he got
even" and then stop. In his memoirs, pub
lisned in 1888, he said: Il have been en-
deavoring to get straight during the last
thirty years, and still hope to do So
In 1867 he brought out Christine Nilsson
in London, and she met with instant and
America with a company, including Ger
ster, Hauk, Trebell Valleria, Campanini,
Frapoli Galassi. Del Puente and Arditi. He
opened his season at the Academy Of
X l.
this season were Lucia" la Somnam-
bula,' Carmen" Faust 'Trovatore," +"
I'll Flauto Magico.'' 'Puritani." Figaro"
"Rgoletto," Don Giovanni, La Trav-
ran Robert" I'll Talismano,' Les Hu-
guenots' and Der Freischutz."
Colonel Mapleson carried on London sea-
sons in these years, the dates in London
being the early summer and those in Amer
ica being in the fall. His company appeared
| in Boston, Philadelphia. Chicago and other
large towns. In July, 1850, he produced in
London Boito's "Mefistofele," with Nilsson.
Trebelli, Nannetti and Campanini. The
same work was repeated here in the fall,
with Valleria, Cary, Novara and Campa-
mini. In that season, also, Gerster sang
Elsa in ''Lohengrin," and Aida was per-
formed The company also appeared in an
opera festival in Cincinnati Ravelli
made his first appearance here that year.
The season of 1881 the colonel opened with
'Lohengrin,' the company containing most
of the old favorites.
Colonel Map!eson engaged Patti for the
following season, when she made an i'm
| mense hit as Lucia. Later Nine. ScaIchi
| Joined the company, and with Patti created
| a furore in Semiramide-" In 1888 the
Metropolitan Opera House was opened and
Colonel Mapleson found a strong opposition
| against him. He had to bid against Mr.
Abbey for Mime. PATHS services, and ran
| the salary up to 5000 a night. The next
| year his principal new singer was Emma
Nevada, but the beginning Of German
| opera was a heavy blow to him. His last
season in America was that of 1856, when
his principal artists were Minnie Hauk, LII
| liam Nordica, Alma Fohstrom, Nine La
| blache, Ravelli. Gianinni, De Anna, Del
Puente, Cherubini and Vaschetti. He pro-
duced Massenet's "Manon," but the season
was disastrous failure. He gave concerts
in England. and In 1888 had a season of
opera at the Covent Garden. Nine Leh-
mann made her London debut under him,
Since then his labors were of comparative
] ly unimportant sort in the English prov
inces-"