Die Meistersinger at the Metropolitan Opera House

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Event Type: Opera
Conductor: Anton Seidl
Performers: Metropolitan Opera House Chorus and Orchestra and soloists (see below)
Date and time: February 25, 1887 at 8 p.m.
Venue: Metropolitan Opera House

Program

Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg                                         Richard Wagner

Hans Sachs                        Emil Fischer
Eva                                     Auguste Seidl-Kraus
Walther von Stolzing           Max Alvary
Magdalene                          Marianne Brandt
David                                  Otto Kemlitz
Beckmesser                        Wilhelm Basch
Pogner                                Rudolph Von Milde
Kothner                               Georg Sieglitz
Vogelgesang                       Julius Meyer
Nachtigall E                         Emil Sänger
Ortel                                    Max Dörfler
Zorn                                    Mr. Hoppe
Moser                                  Mr. Verworner
Eisslinger                            Mr. Klaus
Foltz                                    Jean Doré
Schwarz                              Mr. Eiserbeck
Night Watchman                  Max Heinrich

Notes

This was the final and fifth performance of Die Meistersinger for the season.(1) It was also the last but one opera to be performed that season at the Metropolitan Opera House.(5) The performance was interrupted during the third Act for a presentation honoring Mr. Seidl, who was leaving the Metropolitan Opera and going to Berlin.(4) The New York Times noted that the hall was packed and that the audience was "distinctively German." The reviewer said that the presentation to Seidl "had very much to do with the presence of so large an audience."(5)

Soloists for each opera are recorded in the Metropolitan Opera archives.(1)

Advertisements

The New York Times carried an ad for the first performance of the opera on January 21, 1887(3), and multiple times thereafter, culminating in an ad on the day of the final performance, February 25, 1887. (2)

Reviews

Speaking of this final presentation of Die Meistersinger, The New York Times praised several of the soloists. Of Mr. Fischer, the review said he would be "identified for many years with the local public's memories of "Die Meistersinger." The review went on to say that Mr. Fischer's "Hans Sachs, as well as one of his minor efforts – his Sergeant Bombardon in Brüll's "Golden Cross" – will recall the rich voice and genial presence of the German basso even after the operas he has been seen in shall have dropped out of the repertoire." The reviewer praised Mr. Alvary's performance as being a "picturesque and artistic representation," and stated that Mr. Basch's portrayal of Breckmesser "claims praise for uncommon originality and dramatic vividness." Beyond that, the reviewer noted that the performance "differed in no material way from its forerunners." The New York Times reviewer then went on to discuss the presentation honoring Mr. Seidl, which was made in the middle of the third act of the opera.(5)

The Musical Courier focused exclusively on this presentation. Mr. Seidl was given a "magnificent 'loving-cup' made by the Gorham Company of this City." The cup incorporated imagery representing the operas Tristan and Isolde, Die Meistersinger, and Siegfried. The Courier wrote that "it is by all odds the finest thing of the kind ever made in this country, and will certainly open the eyes of European art circles as to the standing of American workmanship in silver." The cup was worth $1000 and was purchased by many of Mr. Seidl's acquaintances, including William Steinway, as he noted in the Diary. (4) Mr. Seidl was also given a "handsomely bound" copy of the Tristan and Isolde score.(5)
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Sources

1. Archives of the Metropolitan Opera, http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm
2. "Metropolitan Opera House," The New York Times, February 25, 1887, p. 7.
3. "Metropolitan Opera House: Grand Opera in German," The New York Times, January 21, 1887, p. 7.
4. "Opera in German," The Musical Courier, March 2, 1887, p. 137.
5. "The German Opera," The New York Times, February 26, 1887, p. 2.