New-York tribune., 1908-08-30


a,,-~s which i have printed sho"lhe -.
The Hsa'es WI % +be Metropolitan Opera
20 ln - onera account year after year "u
~. German reriod do not tel the "i. oI,,o,,
~. e,anc,sl condition into which tie NJ. -, -rb,s
o~,.ra House Company UiIniteoD hao a.. 80 on
condition had much 20 do with crea'ii..e =. q g or,cv
49, ,s-4 q, the stockholders for a change "a po ,,
- ' -, r-.-roan season cost the stockholders onis
-. ,x, no above the amount realized froHi '''0
ho, assessment which wss 4 oeIie'e' So.
,,,-ar of the sum that has rhieu 20
80, - se,entv stockholders. and IN We" oi
-, ,o.s ,,a5s tv Mr.. Abbey the year previous inns
6sdc,t was a trihe scarcely worth ... -,
-, ~o,,.,b in nopular interest as inolcaIeo Ds
The support Of the subscriptions for 'iie -,
,s>oa1 wss promising; but the stochhOi"ei'
..,ves were not all prompt in meeting Iie 81
e., IN .beir own organization. BY Isse Uhe1e
ne an arrornt Of unpaid assessments
=. ys of this 81 III cancelled by 1ie so-
c,,.-tion of two boxes by the company. pu' 'iie
b.lance sheet at the end Of the last Sefilah Saii
SIN showed So ele due from stockholoers oh dr.
...ssnoent account. The floating debt at ths Iline
.mountea to ss4 g. The prices of admission mao
b~.n greatly reduced in the German years ana
the capacity Of house represented IN money was
not more than 80 per centum of what II is To-Day
The demands Of singers were growing sreateT year
after year and were not lessened, as may easily
he IMAGINED by the thrifty complacency or those
f,evn,sn managers who granted furloughs 10 their
singers in consideration of share OF their Aneri-
ran earnings. Under the circumstances IL is NOT
to be wondered at that Mr. Abbey's agreement TO
give Italian and French opera at his own risk was
sYrriug especially to those who had never sym
,,s.bized with the serious tendency of German
opera
The contract OF the directors for opera in the
eesson of lsal-'92 made with Henry e. Abbey
ard Maurice Grau. who figured in all the announce
lnents as the managers With them was associated
se silent partner MIR. John b. Schoeffel Of Boston,
who had shared in ali of Mr.. Abbeys daring the
atrical ventures since lS75. and consequently also
ia the unfortunate Of 1SS3-S when Maurice
C4rau acted as manager al salary Of $1,000 Mr.
Atbeys mind was not closed I'd the lessons OF the
German seasons few days after he had signed
the contract he told me that he had had PROJECT
in contemplation TO bring Materna, Winkelmann
Scaria and others TO America for @agnerlan opera
before Mr. Thomas had brought them for concert
work; that he looked upon German opera as more
advantageous 10 the manager not only account
OF its smaller costliness, but also because It en-
abled 6 manager adjust his singers 10 a reper-
tory instead Of the repertory 10 the singers But
ne had speculated successfully with Patti under
the farewell" device. the managerial virus was
again in his veins and he cherished foolish be-
lief that, Of the results of the German
regime. he would be able to exact different service
from the artists of Italian and French opera than
they had been wont to give. On this point he was
econ painfully dislusionized Had ii not been for
the presence I'm his company Of Nine. Lehman
AZ Iassalle and the brothers Jean ana Edouard de
Reszke, whose instincts and training kept them out
of the old Italian rut, his performances would never
have gotten away from the old burdy-gurdy lise
AS it was, when he wanted 10 give 'LAfricane," ."
In order to present NJ Lassalle in OF the most
effective roles. though he lad Emma Eames, Marie
Van Zandt, A!bani the sisters Giulia and Sophia
aSavogli. Pettigiani and Lillian Nordica in his
company (the last hired specially for the pur-
pose) he obliged to ask Nine. Lehman to
learn the part of Selika She did So but the
strain combined with other things. broke down her
health and she useless TO her manager for the
second half Of the She had been engaged
lure for the German element among the city s
opera patrons and it also offered pro-
piafory sacrifices in the shape of performances in
Italian Of '.Fidelio.' THE Flying Dutchman" and
die Meistersinger" under the direction of Atr.
Seidl. After the lesson mad been stiE more thor
oughly learned a German contingent added to
the Italian and French, and German opera was
ADDED TO the list, making it completely poyglot
as il has been since But before then many
financial Affections We're In for the enterprise
MI Abbey began his season on December H. 1891
after having given opera five weeks in Chfce 60
In his colnpsny. besides the sopranos just named
Were Nine Scalchi and Jane de Tigne, contraltos;
Jean de Reszke. Paul Kalisch, n. Montario and a
younger brother Of Gianini. tenors; Msrtapoura
Magni-Colette. Lassale and Camera barytones:
Edouard de Reszke, Ninche and Serbolini, basses
and Carbone. bufo AS conductor Eianesi known
from the season Of 1SsS-'Ss. returned. The sub
scription season came q close on March > and
presented thirtyrine subscription evening perform
anoes thirteen matinees three extra evenings and
one extra afternoonn ALL ffty-six representations
The list of operas contained NOT a single novelty
tniess Gluck's -Orfeo,' which had been heard in
New York in 1866. and Mascagnis 'sCavalleria
Rustcana, which had been performed by two COM
1anes In English earlier in The season. were changed
into novelties by the Italian text But under
such a classification Wagner's comic opera would
aiso have 10 be set down q novelty The list in
cluded ten operas in tle repertories of the Ger
man companies which had occupied the opera house
between the two administrations Of MIR Abbey In
ssmuch a departure was sienalzed b- this
season. present herewith table Of performances
IN the subscription season. with the extra represen-
Fafions mentioned:
cAea~- performance.
rheulA