[Met Performance] CID:5330



Aida
Metropolitan Opera House, Sat, November 20, 1886 Matinee



In German



Aida (3)
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 third representation of " Aida" at the Metropolitan Opera House, yesterday afternoon, brought together another large concourse of spectators. The performance of Verdi's melodious work moved smoothly and impressively more impressively, in truth, than ever before. It cannot, indeed, be recorded that Herr Zobel's Radames is a grateful portrayal, either lyrically or dramatically, of that somewhat feeble operatic hero; should the management suggest that the new tenor relinquish the role in favor of a possible successor, the public, in fact, would scarcely resent the change. If Herr Zobel, however, was seen to no greater advantage yesterday than in the past, the representation, viewed in its entirety, revealed a decided improvement; the conductor made an occasional effort to quicken the tempos, Herr Robinson moderated at times the exuberance of emphasis and gesture which, on the first night of "Aida," played havoc with some of the composer's loveliest cantabile measures, and the spectacular incidents of the work were brought before the eye with the promptness and decision requisite to their fullest effectiveness. That Fraulein Brandt's delineation of Amneris is the one by which the production of "Aida" at the Metropolitan will be best remembered has already been mentioned in this place. In its conception as a whole, and in its wealth of dramatic detail, it has possibly not been equalled and has certainly not been surpassed by any of the numerous Amnerises of years bygone. The German songstress makes her strongest impression, as may be imagined, in the fourth act of the opera, but if the observer note the continuous intensity of her performance from the moment of her discovery of Aida's love for Radarnes to the hour in which she kneels in sorrow over his tomb, he will realize that the portrayal claims something more than the recognition due a vivid and ill-balanced stage picture. Of the scenic attire provided for "Aida" enough has been said in these columns to make further allusion superfluous. It would do credit to either Paris or Vienna, even if either city were hors concours in every respect, as highly imaginative people would have their untraveled friends mournfully believe.



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