Second Season: Fall 1895 - Spring 1896

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Although the first season succeeded financially,(61) Damrosch failed to deliver on his promise to meet the highest standards of German opera.(42) Steinway noted in his diary on February 26, 1895, “opera suffered by voices affected.” The financial success allowed him to continue with a second season,(61) but the artistic failures demanded a better troupe. Returning singers included Johanna Gadski, Max Alvary, Emil Fischer, and Conrad Behrens. Among the new performers, Katherine Klafsky, soprano, replaced Rosa Sucher,(42) who although famous, could no longer sing the demanding Wagnerian roles.(63) Riza Eibenschuetz, contralto, replaced Marie Brema who defected to the Metropolitan company.(37) Louise Mulder, Milka Ternina, and Dmitri Popovici completed the roster of primary performers,(42) while Katherine Klafsky's husband, Otto Lohse, left Hamburg(34) to be assistant conductor.(39)(50) Damrosch increased the number of soloists and chorus members, improved the orchestra, and bought new costumes and scenery.(61) He also expanded the repertoire to include Beethoven’s Fidelio, Weber’s Der Freischutz(39) and his own Scarlet Letter.(50)

Damrosch consulted with Steinway in the fall of 1895(Diary, 1895-10-07) before inaugurating the 1895-1896 season with an extensive four-month tour of 27 cities.(51) Before this tour, the ascendancy of Wagnerian opera had actually been limited. By 1890 The Ring Cycle had been heard by only a few thousand people in a small number of cities with large German populations ? Philadelphia, Boston, Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Louis ? since smaller touring companies were incapable of performing the lengthy, complex Wagnerian operas.(24, p. 244)(39) But in 1895 Damrosch’s company embarked on the longest and most important opera tour thus far in America.(51) The 200-member company traveled by special train consisting of four coaches, a parlor, sleeping car, and three baggage cars(58) that cost nearly $30,000.(40) They performed first in Cincinnati and Chicago in November; followed by St. Louis, Louisville, Nashville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis, and Omaha in December; Denver, Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Detroit, Toledo, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Washington in January; then two weeks in Boston plus Philadelphia, Albany, Springfield, Hartford, and New Haven in February, culminating in New York City, March 2-28.(51)

From the first announcement, audiences thronged to the opera company. Interest in the Atlanta engagement surpassed all others with single ticket sales beginning at 9:00 on December 10 for Lohengrin, Siegfried, making its Atlanta debut, and Tannhäuser.(18) No other event in the South had created such a sensation.(29) Ticket requests from the local area and surrounding states arrived daily. A letter from Rome, Georgia, requested 36 tickets with more to follow and one from Athens, Georgia included a large number of seats and a box. Sales from adjoining states included 41 tickets from Monteagle, Tennessee, plus others from Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama; Columbia, South Carolina; Florida; and as far away as Boston.(53)

Since the company inaugurated its second season on tour, several firsts occurred in these smaller locales. Damrosch’s Scarlet Letter premiered in Boston to thunderous applause, numerous recalls, a floral tribute, plus wonderful reviews from the Boston critics.(12) Mme. Milka Ternina made her U.S. debut in Boston, while Katherine Klavsky, Dimitri Popovici,(59) and Wilhelm Gruening made their American debuts in Cincinnati.(54)

Music lovers in small towns soon realized they were partaking in a once in a lifetime event.(20) Damrosch introduced Wagner to audiences throughout the South and Midwest where many heard these dramas for the first time.(23, p. 117 ) After hearing Siegfried and Die Meistersinger, Louisville declared itself a Wagnerian city. As one Louisville music critic observed, “Those who had never before heard Wagner’s music had become disciples, those who had been indifferent became warm advocates; many who thought little of Wagner theretofore had become converts.”(4) Crowds packed the halls in smaller towns and responded with such frenzy that Damrosch and the performers returned to the stage repeatedly. Women stood on their seats, wept, shouted, and cheered.(14) Numerous towns requested additional performances, but only those in New Orleans(22) and Denver(10) were successful in their requests.

Minnesota audiences exalted in Wagner's dramas. After hearing Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, and Siegfried,(16) hundreds from Minneapolis traveled the short distance to St. Paul the following week(25) to hear Fidelio, Die Walküre, Tannhaüser, and Die Meistersinger, attracting the largest audiences ever in that city. People had been discussing the repertoire and eagerly awaiting these performances for weeks.(55) Management denied hundreds during a snowstorm while many more filled the aisles, having exhausted standing room by 7:30.(11)(48) The following week the company returned to Minneapolis to present a concert of orchestral and vocal works by Beethoven, Wagner, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Arditi, and Gluck.(25)

Audience knowledge and participation increased throughout the week in most towns. A St. Louis critic described audiences in that city as a “half century behind in musical matters…. Either the greater part of our public don’t know melody when they hear it, or else they still remain in that state of musical barbarism of which the organ grinder is the virtuoso.”(33) St. Louis audiences filled the theater to less than half capacity for the first production of Lohengrin,(33) but as in other towns, enthusiasm and knowledge of Wagner’s works intensified throughout the week and critics predicted that future performances would have greater attendance(21) to enjoy a “feast for the eyes, ears and soul.”(31) Excitement in Cincinnati,(54) New Orleans,(41) and St. Louis (64) spread so rapidly that Damrosch accepted retainers to return the following year. Cincinnati audiences heard their first extensive productions of Wagner(54) while St Louis organized a Wagner Society.(64) After hearing Damrosch's company audiences demanded higher standards as they had far too often suffered substandard performances.(20) Opera conditions changed. No longer was it a matter of what audiences must endure but what they would willingly accept.(42) Appreciation for Wagner surged so intensely that Damrosch predicted America would soon become one of the most receptive Wagnerian countries.(15)

The opera company proved to be the highlight of the social season as many postponed or set aside other events.(31) The operas thus became social as well as musical events.(11) One hundred people greeted Damrosch and company at the German Club in Indianapolis for an evening’s entertainment.(8) The German Art and Literary Society of Chicago hosted a Wagner night in the company’s honor, members listening to Damrosch lecture about the composer and soloists performing vocal selections.(60) Nashville(5) and Minneapolis(26) delayed the last train of their Rapid Transit System to allow those in outlying areas to attend. In Baltimore, Johns Hopkins students delighted in performing non-singing roles.(62) When Damrosch brought his distinguished company to Washington DC, his wife’s hometown,(56) their friends attended to show their support. Mrs. Grover Cleveland, Mrs. U.S. Grant, Secretary of War, Daniel Lamont, and Speaker Thomas Reed were among those in the audience.(36)

Realizing the many audience members had little knowledge of opera, Damrosch became one of the first opera directors to enter the lecture circuit.(43) He presented free, 90-minute seminars in the afternoons,(26)(46) initiating audiences into the beautiful world of Wagner’s music.(43) In Louisville schoolgirls appreciated the opportunity to attend the lectures.(4) Even in the small city of Omaha, 700 crowded the hall to hear Damrosch speak.(27) In Philadelphia audiences took notes and studied the librettos to absorb all of his teaching.(52) His lectures resembled virtual opera rehearsals.(31) He patiently explained the plots and themes(26) and the connections between the legends and operas while he accompanied himself on piano.(13)(19)(27) He sang the musical motifs and explained how Wagner worked them into the operas.(11) The Detroit music critic admitted that even though he had read many volumes about Wagner over the years, he learned even more from Damrosch.(13) With new insights the audience doubly enjoyed the performances.(7) The Minneapolis music critic proclaimed that in addition to everything else, Damrosch had demonstrated “that brains are required to listen properly to Wagner’s music.”(16)

Back in New York the company acquiesced to performing at the Academy of Music,(49) a smaller venue by 800 seats ? 2,700 at the Academy of Music compared to 3,500 at the Metropolitan.(32, p. 559-560; 545-546) Abbey and Grau denied Damrosch the opera house to thwart any competition with their own season of German opera under the direction of Anton Seidl.(23, p. 116)(49) The New York Times praised Abbey and Grau for preserving German opera sung in German at New York’s leading opera house.(57) Beginning on November 11 the Metropolitan company presented 25 performances of six operas, all of which were in the Damrosch Opera Company’s repertoire: five Wagner dramas, Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Tannhäuser, Die Walküre and Die Meistersinger, plus Beethoven’s Fidelio. Critics praised the Metropolitan performances(37) especially Tristan und Isolde, “the best ever performance in New York,” according to The New York Times.(57) The Metropolitan company toured the country in February and March therefore not competing directly with Damrosch’s season.(37)

Damrosch opened the New York season to a packed house with Beethoven’s Fidelio(28) to introduce Frau Klafsky to New York audiences.(45) William wrote of his experience: “then to Fidelio, Damrosch opera at Academy of Music, Klafsky is an excellent Fidelio, Gruening a good Florestan and Fischer also quite good. Chorus fair.”(Diary, 1896-03-02) William was again generous with ticket purchases of $1500,(Diary, 1896-01-22) many for friends, including Charles Held to whom he gave box seats for Die Meistersinger.(Diary,1896-03-07) In the smaller venue mobs jammed the lobbies and crowds overflowed into the streets. The operas comprised few frills and were judged vocally inferior to Grau’s troupe although Popovici's New York debut created a sensation.(45)

The second season proved so superior to the first that Damrosch extended for an additional week at reduced prices.(44) At the close of the season he addressed the audience stating that “A few years ago some people thought German opera was dead in New York but that is not so. It is alive and I hope will be heard for many years to come.” (47) After the season closed, Damrosch spoke again with William.(Diary, 1896-03-31)

Although a great artistic success, the second season plummeted into financial disaster. Smaller venues, lack of musical sophistication, and New York ticket prices throughout the South hindered sales.(40)(43) Even in smaller towns Klafsky continued to earn $800 per night, Gruening and the orchestra $600 per night, while salaries for the other soloists, chorus members, and travel expenses increased production costs.(9) In Nashville the performances required a full house to meet the $8,000 production costs, but competing events precluded so many sales(6) that one performance's receipts totaled only $700. With the exception of New Orleans, Damrosch regretted the Southern tour. He maintained that it was required as a replacement for the canceled San Francisco tour, but the Southern tour occurred before he discovered that cancellation upon arriving in Denver.(40) These obstacles, combined with the smaller venue and competing German season in New York, created a net loss of $43,000, although when combined with the first season Damrosch retained a $10,000 profit.(23, p. 122)

The Metropolitan also lost money, leaving Abbey and Grau with a $400,000 debt with $50,000 of that amount owed to William Steinway.(30) Seidl's partisans failed to deliver on their promise to fill the house if he were re-instated at the Metropolitan. Often the audiences were quite small.(2) Further, Abbey and Grau paid the singers enormous salaries.(1) On May 13, 1896, Damrosch signed a contract with Abbey and Grau to lease the Metropolitan and to exchange some of his artists for their French and Italian performers for the 1896-1897 season.(23, p. 122)(17) The two organizations also agreed that the Metropolitan would return to Italian and French opera(17)(38) and leave German opera to Damrosch's company. In return, Damrosch agreed to arrange his tour route so as not to compete in the same cities as the Metropolitan company.(17)

Several weeks later on June 8, Abbey and Grau signed a contract with the reorganization committee headed by William Steinway to pay their creditors.(Diary, 1896-07-08)(3) Steinway told the press that he had full confidence in Abbey and Grau to fulfill the contract as he knew them to be honest men(17) and many consents had already arrived.(Diary, 1896-06-12, 06-19, 06-21)(3) William also noted that the debt would have been less had they not been in competition with Damrosch for singers.(17) The two companies financial difficulties proved Steinway’s original assessment that New York could not support two German opera seasons.
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Third Season and Beyond: Fall 1896 - Spring 1898

Sources:

1. “The Abbey & Grau Failure,” The Musical Courier, June, 3, 1896, pp. 16-17.
2. “About Seidl,” The Musical Courier, April 22, 1896, p. 13.
3. “The Agreement,” The Musical Courier, June 17, 1896, pp. 24-25.
4. “Among The Gods,” The Louisville Courier Journal, December 10, 1895, p. 7.
5. “Amusements,” The Nashville American, December 11, 1895, p. 6.
6. “Amusements,” The Nashville American, December 13, 1895, p. 2.
7. “Amusements: The Lohengrin Lecture,” The Indianapolis Journal, January 18, 1896, p. 3.
8. “Amusements: Mr. Damrosch At The German House,” The Indianapolis Journal, January 18, 1896, p. 3.
9. “Amusements: Tannhauser,” The Indianapolis Journal, January 17, 1896, p. 3.
10. “Amusements: Tannhauser, Meistersinger,” The Rocky Mountain News, January 2, 1896, p. 4.
11. “Beethoven’s Only Opera, The St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 10, 1896, pp. 1-2.
12. “Boston’s Own Opera, The Boston Daily Globe, February 11, 1896, p. 1.
13. “The Church Of Our Father Crowded Yesterday,” The Detroit Free Press, January 21, 1896, p. 5.
14. “Cincinnati Opera,” The Musical Courier, November 27, 1895, p. 8.
15. “Close Of Wagner Season,” The Baltimore Sun, January 30, 1896, p. 7.
16. “Comes To An End,” The Minneapolis Tribune, January 9, 1896, p. 1-2.
17. “Confidence In The Opera Firm,” The New York Daily Tribune, June 12, 1896, p. 9.
18. “Damrosch As Director,” The Atlanta Constitution, December 10, 1895, p. 11.
19. “Damrosch Delights the Wagner Cult,” The New Orleans Picayune, December 18, 1895, p. 6.
20. “The Damrosch Opera Company: ‘Fidelio’ At The St. Charles Theatre,” The New Orleans Picayune, December 23, 1895, p. 10.
21. “Damrosch’s Success,” The Atlanta Constitution, December 13, 1895, p. 8.
22. “Damrosch Sunday Noon,” The New Orleans Picayune, December 19, 1895, p.9.
23. Damrosch, Walter, My Musical Life, New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1925.
24. Dizikes, John, Opera in America: A Cultural History, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
25. “Entertainments,” The Minneapolis Tribune, January 13, 1896, p. 4.
26. “A Feast Of Song,” The Minneapolis Tribune, January 6, 1896, p. 5.
27. “Festival of Wagner Opera: Walter Damrosch Lectures,” The Omaha World Herald, December 27, 1895, p. 1.
28. “German Opera in German,” The New York Times, March 3, 1896, p. 5.
29. “Grand Opera,” The Atlanta Constitution, December 4, 1895, p. 4.
30. “Henry E. Abbey's Failure,” The New York Times, May 24, 1896, p. 1.
31. “In The World Of Music,” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 8, 1895, p. 24.
32. King, Moses, King's Handbook of New York City, 1892, Boston: Moses King, 1892.
33. “Knight of The Grail, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 3, 1895, p. 4.
34. “Lohse, Otto,” The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1985, p. 1274.
35 “Meistersinger,” The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 16, 1895, p. 8.
36. “Die Meistersinger,” The Washington Post, February 2, 1896, p. 10.
37. “Metropolitan Archives 1895-1896,” www.metoperafamily.org/archives
38. “Metropolitan Archives 1896-1897,” www.metoperafamily.org/archives
39. “Mr. Damrosch and His Plans,” The Chicago Daily Tribune, November 18, 1895, p. 2.
40. “Mr. Damrosch’s Season,” The Musical Courier, March 4, 1896, pp. 27-28.
41. “Mr. Damrosch’s Success,” The Musical Courier, January 29, 1896, p. 33
42. “Music And Musicians,” The Chicago Daily Tribune, November 17, 1895, p. 42.
43. “Music In St. Louis,” The Musical Courier, December 11, 1895, p. 25.
44. “Notes Of Music,” The New York Times, March 22, 1896, p. 11.
45. “Opera Again in The Academy,” The New York Herald, March 3, 1895, p. 7.
46. “The Opera Comes Tonight,” The Atlanta Constitution, December 13, 1895, p. 5.
47. “Opera in New York,” The Musical Courier, April 1, 1896, p. 26.
48. “The Operatic Engagement,” The St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 12, 1896, p. 4.
49. “Plans For The German Opera Season,” The American Art Journal, July 13, 1895, p. 211.
50. “Ready For German Opera,” The New York Times, February 16, 1896, p. 12
51. “Season of German Opera,” The Chicago Daily Tribune, November 10, 1895, p. 43.
52. “Siegfried Explained,” The Philadelphia Enquirer, March 28, 1895, p. 3. 
53. “Tannhauser,” The Atlanta Constitution, December 7, 1895, p. 7.
54. “Tannhauser,” The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 15, 1895, p. 4.
55. “Tannhaueser,” The St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 12, 1896, p. 4.
56. “Tannhauser,” The Washington Post, January 31, 1896, p. 6.
57. “Tristan And Isolde Sung,” The New York Times, November 28, 1895, p. 4.
58. “Tuneful Teutons Here,” The Chicago Daily Tribune, November 18, 1895, p. 2.
59. “Wagner in Cincinnati,” The Musical Courier, November 20, 1895, p. 26.
60. “Wagnerian Night at Schiller,” The Chicago Daily Tribune, November 21, 1895, p. 5. 
61. “Wagnerites Out,” The Boston Daily Globe, February 4, 1896, p. 1. 
62. “Wagner’s Lohengrin,” The Baltimore Sun, January 29, 1896, p. 7.
63. “Walter Damrosch And His Plans,” The Chicago Daily Tribune, May 26, 1895, p. 37.
64. “Will Return Next Season,” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 8, 1895, p. 2.