[Met Performance] CID:3310



Masaniello
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, January 9, 1885


In German



Masaniello (3)
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber | Eugène Scribe/Germain Delavigne
Fenella
Isolina Torri

Alphonse
Walter Schüller

Elvire
Hermine Bely

Masaniello
Anton Schott

Selva
Joseph Miller

Pietro
Joseph Kögel

Borella
Ludwig Wolf

Moreno
Hermann Weber

Lady
Anna Stern


Conductor
Leopold Damrosch





Notes: Anton Schott repeated the "Slumber Song." Twenty-three members of the male chorus went on strike and missed this performance.
Anton Schott repeated the "Slumber Song." Twenty-three members of the male chorus went on strike and missed this performance.

Review 1:

Review from the New York Times:

The representation of "Masaniello" at the Metropolitan Opera House, last evening, although the effect of the concerted numbers was slightly impaired by the strike of a few choristers, was as animated and vigorous as its predecessors. Herr Schott's stirring portrayal of Masaniello loses none of its impetuousness and force by repetition. His defiance of his followers is as spirited, his conduct toward Fenella as gentle, and his death scene as heroic as the most earnest partisan of realism on the lyric, as well as the dramatic, stage can desire. Last night all the vivid incidents of the opera - most conspicuous among which was, of course, the episode of the barricades - told as promptly as heretofore, and the audience's appreciation of the tenor's singing of the "Slumber Song" took the shape of an imperative encore, which Herr Schott had to comply with. The cast was the same as when the opera was first presented, with the exception of the gentleman who originally came forth as Alfonso, and whose continous absence it has since then been a duty and a pleasure to record. A special word of praise is due to Signora Isolina Torri's portrayal of Fenella, an effort in which the grace and warmth of an Italian Ballerina are happily united to somewhat unusual dramatic feeling and histrionic talent.

Unsigned account from the New York Times:

STRIKING CHORISTERS

The Neapolitan Masses at the Metropolitan Reduced in Numbers

The audience at the Metropolitan Opera House, last evening, was astonished before the curtain rose by the delivery of a brief speech by Dr. Damrosch. Turning from the stage and facing the listeners, Dr. Damrosch announced that, in consequence of a strike on the part of a small number of male choristers, the choral forces might prove slightly less effective than usual. The indulgence of the public was asked for this occasion only, as the absentees were to be replaced at once. The facts of the case are said to be that 23 of the male members of the chorus, all of whom were brought from Germany at the outset of the present season, sent an unsigned letter to Dr. Damrosch yesterday morning, demanding an increase of salary. Dr. Damrosch requested that signatures be appended to the letter, but these were not forthcoming. As the choristers, from information supplied The Times's representative, receive $16, $18, and $20 weekly, according to their usefulness, for four representations, as they are paid extra for all performances exceeding four a week, and as the pay is somewhat more liberal than that habitually allowed this class of performers, it was deemed inexpedient to comply with the demand. As a consequence the Neapolitan populace last evening did wonders, and one vocal workingman routed four dumb soldiers, whenever the action of the drama brought the mob and the military into collision. Late last night arrangements had been made to fill up the ranks with efficient men, in ample time for today's matinee of "The Huguenots," and it was believed that the season would progress to a successful termination in spite of the strikers' menaces.



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