[Met Performance] CID:5290



Aida
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, November 15, 1886


In German



Aida (2)
Giuseppe Verdi | Antonio Ghislanzoni
Aida
Therese Herbert-Förster

Radamès
Carl Zobel

Amneris
Marianne Brandt

Amonasro
Adolf Robinson

Ramfis
Emil Fischer

King
Georg Sieglitz

Messenger
Otto Kemlitz

Priestess
Leonore Better


Conductor
Anton Seidl







Review 1:

Review in the New York Times:

METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE.

The second representation of "Aida" at the Metropolitan Opera House yesterday revealed at all points a marked gain upon the first. Verdi's music was, as a rule, taken at a pace that suggested something to the composer's tempos, the performers were evidently surer of themselves, and Herr Robinson did not repress his tendency to excessive emphasis and overacting quite as continuously as might have been wished, the baritone's portrayal of Amonasro came nearer, at any rate, to the very commendable personation he might furnish than it did on Wednesday evening 'of last week. The improvement in the individual efforts of the artists was particularly noticeable in Frau Herbert-Förster's Aida. The new soprano has a voice which is both agreeable and powerful, and when she acquires a more complete control of light and shade, and shows less inclination to impair its natural firmness by forcing her tones, she will prove a most welcome accession to the very small array of still youthful prima donnas. It is to be regretted that Herr Zobel, the new tenor, should not fulfill the pleasant anticipation founded upon the credentials he brought from abroad. Whether stage-fright or the adverse influence of a rather trying climate was responsible yesterday evening for the singer's vocal condition, the fact remains that he was in no way equal to the task imposed upon him. If the general efficiency of the company, however, and the excellence and strength of the chorus and band are not in themselves potent enough on "Aida" nights to draw large audiences to the Metropolitan the scenic attire of the opera, unaided, might be relied upon to do so. Nothing so brilliant and complete has ever been beheld upon the operatic stage in this country, nor is there reason to believe that the latest mise en scene of Verdi's work has ever been surpassed elsewhere. In any Old World capital such a picture as the stage of the opera house offers in the second act of "Aida" when Radames returns, laden with the spoils of the conquered Ethiopians, and greeted by the songs and dances of a whole population such a picture, we say, would attract twenty overflowing audiences into any European theatre during the progress of a single season. Mr. Stanton, under whose personal supervision the production of "Aida" has been effected, has added largely to his claims to the gratitude of local music lovers by the gorgeous setting provided for the Egyptian love story, while the choice of the opera for revival, whatever may be thought of it by dilettanti of the advanced school, also redounds to his credit as indicating a desire to extend and vary the repertoire of an institution which, to be useful and prosperous, must be above prejudice and partisanship in all things.



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