New-York tribune., 1908-09-27
XIII

,,.--slsx- - a. than Mr. Abbey had been He
was quiet undemonsirative. alert and Wholly
Willing 10 let the public dictate the course OF the
establishment Outv-ardly he was always calm
,-hane rsitber communicative secretive
SAT behind MIN during all the years OF his DIVIDED
ana undivided directership. and never failed OF
pleasant greeting, no matter what the expression
pf The Tribune had been the morning o. the
day =. accepted congra tuations with q Thank
YOU which had cordislity in its timbre- and let
the subject fall al once He met expressions Of
coincidence in the unperturbed and unef-
fuxire manner. Only n al the years during
which we sat neishbors ] recall that he vol
rutee-ed remark Indicative either satisfaction
o. disappointment II the night Of the
first performance % Reyeris "salamnbo." in the
season ieoo-'oI. He appeared IN his place early
znc extended mis- gioved hand In his ordinary
manner. but this time his eyes took survey OF
rhe audience room the while Then. still half
turned he remarked without touch Of feeling IN
the tone OF his voice: Encouraging. isn't II?
Some say the public novelties he had
expended e large the production, eno the
public had hin with half house
y the public cared little for things, II may
occasionally have disturbed the solitary musings
OF Mr. Grau. but II only emphasized his public
exhibitions OF willingness 10 give the people the
old things which he liked A strongly popular
Savo-ire had e safe hold on = long tenure OF ser
VICE under Airr Changes there had 10 be from
wear 10 year. long the public manifested
q desire listen high class singer and there
that singer re-enEaged- Hence there came
70 n the Metropolitan II the higher ranks
something like the theatrical stock companies Of
earlier generation New singers there heo
he from time 70 time hut year after year (tne
serious interruption Is not yeD the subscribers
were assured before one season was ended that
II they would stiIl be privileged 10 hear
Mines Senbrfch. Eanes. Nordica. schumann-
Eeink. Ternina, Homer and Cuntn he retired from
his active stage career Jean de Reszke and
- dc Van -e--E To3-1a
Scott PlsncoR, Journet. Ca1pznar1 Edhlmann,
RIsphan and Albert Reiss. The presence of
these artists of the first rank naturally deter
mined the character Of the repertory. which was
also cut 10 q pattern. since the public always
wanted TO hear the artists whom they admired in
the roles il which they were most admirable
The German contingent made the WaEneriar list
inevitable. Just Nine. Seub-ich made inevi-
table the operas Of TIE horid Italian school and
Nine Earnes the TWO favortte operas Of Coryrcd
These circumstances simplify the presentation ~
tte significant incidents OF the remainder of this
history have only 10 take Of tn. en-
trance Of q few stars into the Metropolitan sys-
TEN and the first production Of e few operas
so-ne Of which came only speedily 10 deos--
others Of which have remained IN the establish
r1ent's repe-torv
FIRST then, as 70 the American debuts New
cou1ers q the first rank there were none among
TIE ladies IL the IsoIeoo: the tenor Alvarez
elecoeo ms entrance on the Metropolitan stage on
ire opening night OF the season December 1s ir
Gounoos & ROMEO et Juliette'': sgnor Scott ba-v-
tone who has remained prime favo-fte ever since
il Don Giovanni December -: Fritz Fried
richs, whose IN New York was tnconstde-a-
bic compared with that which he had won IN Bay
Teuth in his famous character Of Beckrnesse- in
Die Mefstersinger,' January p 1900 The sub
sc-iption q fifteen weeks consisted WITH all
tne extra performances OF lo4 performances. Il
vas full Of disappoin1nents because Of the illness
of singers. and many performances were shpxhod
because O. evils that have remained With the in
stitution in spite OF many protests on the part Of
press and public and promises OF reform on the
Part e the management Several times the com
penT was divided that performances might be
stTen simultaneously II New York and Philadel-
phia- Even when this done the efficiency
e Ihe forces was sapped by wearisome midnight
Journeys - and from the latter city. which pre-
vented adequate rehsarsa1s Nerer1heless there
vas supplemental season % tvo weeks Herr
Eofrath Ernst Won schuch. director OF the opera
a Dresden, WIS visitor and conducted tEo per
fo--asnces % 'rLohengrin'' and four concerts No
operas produced
Before the regular subscription season 1000
Ire Metropolitan Opera House was the soene Of an
ambitious effort % hebilitete opera in English
which made by Henry " Savage II co-opera-
toa with Maurice Greu- Mr.. Savage had some
years before established his Castle Square Opera
Company. organized n Boston. in the American
Theatre TIE repeTto-y ot the company was com
posed largely OF operettss a. first but gradually
operas Of large dimensions serious import
sdded After the season Is9e-IsoD he entered into
arrangement with CraU 70 occupy the Metropoli-
tan Opera House from October ! TO December Is,
1sca and under the title Metropolitan English Grand
Opera Company the two managers issued z pros
pectus which contained the names OF nearly ali the
singers then known fsvorably 70 the English opera
EtzEe in America Many ot them had also sung
tte Ce-l Rosa Opera Company. % England and
there 6 better command oF routine IN the
Esnizatiou than had been known in English per
fo-uances hitherto The repe-ro-y quite
preten1ious THAI OF the company Of foreign
that il did include the dramas OF Wagner.
Instead however comprised some light operas
operettas and specifically English works. The
promises Of the prospectus were fulfilled 10 the
letter respect both singers and operas and
though the enterprise proved 10 be less successful
than had been those % NJ. Savage q previous
years Cprobabiy because OF The cir ot aristoc-
rscy which Il wore without being able
sumo the social importance which belonged only
the foreign exotic. Is deserving OF
tended record Some OF the names Of the singers
stznd q prominently the English record as in
the American. and unexpected laurels have been
wound round the b-ovvs OF some OF them still
more foreign fields In the list Inzeborg
Bznstrorn. Grace Van studdttord Fanchon Thornp-
scr. Rita Elsndi. Mae Cressy. Grace Golden, Jo-
sephine Ludwig, zelie de Jussan Elsa Marry.
Louise MessIinger. Frieda Slender, Phooe stra-
kosch, Minnie Tracey, Barron Berthald F J.
Boyle. Philip B-ozeI. Forrest Carr. Lloyd d'Au-
bisne Harry Davies Harry HAmlin. Homer Lind
william Nertens. Cheuncey Moore. wintred COZ
william Paul. Leaapriere Pr-ngle. William Pruette
Francis Rogers Joseph ?. Sheehsn, Leslie Walker
William r wegener and Clarence Nhitehl. The
conductors were A. Seppiln and Richard EckhoId
The operas performed were Faust .'Tannhzuser.'
.-Nirnon" Carmen rTrovatore.' ''LohenErtn," ="
ADA" The Boherlian Cir" -'Travista.' Romeo
and juliet" "Cavalleria Rustcsna." 'Pasliacci." :"
Martha" The Nzkado' and Go-1ns Thornss's
..Esraer4los-" This last ope-A- e novelty Il
fca was bro1sh forward Novc-aber Is. uoe, with
she following cistrhutaou Of parts: Rmsr1ida-