[Met Performance] CID:1020

Metropolitan Opera Premiere, New Production

Il Trovatore
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, October 26, 1883

Debut : Roberto Stagno, Alwina Valleria, Zelia Trebelli




Il Trovatore (1)
Giuseppe Verdi | Salvatore Cammarano
Manrico
Roberto Stagno [Debut]

Leonora
Alwina Valleria [Debut]

Count Di Luna
Giuseppe Kaschmann

Azucena
Zelia Trebelli [Debut]

Ferrando
Achille Augier

Ines
Imogene Forti

Ruiz
Amadeo Grazzi


Conductor
Auguste Vianesi


Director
Mr. Corani

Director
Mr. Abbiati

Set Designer
Charles Fox, Jr.

Set Designer
William Schaeffer

Set Designer
Gaspar Maeder

Set Designer
Mr. Thompson

Costume Designer
D. Ascoli

Costume Designer
Henry Dazian

Composer
Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi



Giuseppe Kaschmann repeated "Il balen."
The credits for Corani and Abbiati did not appear in company programs until November 26, 1883.
Il Trovatore received seven performances this season.

Review 1:

Review in The New York Times:

TREBELLI AND STAGNO IN "IL TROVATORE"

There is no further room for doubt that the selection of the artists for the first season of the new opera-house was made with excellent judgment. Mme. Trebelli and Signor Stagno, who made their first appearance last evening in "Il Trovatore" met with a hearty reception, and are already assured of a popular success, while Mme. Alwina Valleria, the Leonora of the evening, was found to be the same charming and conscientious artist whose voice was last heard at the Academy of Music three years ago in the florid music of Ambroise Thomas's Fillina and Signor Kaschmann justified the good opinion of him expressed in this journal after his performance in "Lucia" by an exceptionally fine rendering of the baritone role in Verdi's opera. The audience was scarcely larger than on Wednesday evening, which only proves the extreme difficulty of filling so great a building for "Il Trovatore" with such a cast as that of last night is always a strong enough attraction to best the capacity of an opera-house. It is not likely that the new house will ever be crowded except upon occasions of extraordinary interest. Signor Stagno and Mme. Trebelli, however, could not have had a more distinguished assemblage to witness their joint d?but than that of last evening, and the applause bestowed upon the artists was not stinted, the tenor even being called upon by some person who had gone to the opera to be heard rather than to hear, for a speech after his brilliant rendering of "Di quella pira"

Mme. Trebelli was accorded an immediate recognition. Her fame is so great in Europe that her name has been familiar among opera-goers here for a long while, and there were many persons in the audience who had heard while abroad the same magnificent impersonation of the Gypsy Queen that was so warmly received last evening. Mme. Trebelli is an artist of rare dramatic ability, and she presented an embodiment of the vengeful Zingara which was majestic in its passion and moving in its pathos, while her voice, a pure contralto, rich in the lower tones and wonderfully clear and sweet in the upper register, imparted a new interest in the familiar airs of Azucena. Her splendid singing and acting in the encampment scene have never been excelled upon our stage, and the demonstrations of approval which followed this scene was entirely deserved. This artist's position in Mr. Abbey's new company is one of no doubtful rank, and her presence upon our stage is a cause of congratulation among all frequenters of Italian opera.

The tenor is perhaps more difficult to speak while its brilliant triumph in the closing scenes of Verdi's opera is still fresh in the memory. From the first he seemed to have the favor of the larger portion of the audience, which is not always, however, an evidence of real merit. The "Deserto sulla terra" was sung somewhat unevenly, and there was a metallic quality about the upper notes which seemed, in a measure, to disappear later on. The difficult trio which concludes the first act was not rendered on the part of either of the artists as effectively as it has often been before in this City. But in the "Mal reggendo" and the beautiful succeeding duet with Azucena he displayed the beauty and resonance of the middle tones of his voice, and his excellent method and thence forward his success was assured. The "Ah si, ben mio" was sung with delicacy of tone, and exceedingly good taste, and the subsequent declamatory passage, so dear to all tenors with a clear, ringing C, easily attached and long sustained, but nevertheless of a certain metallic quality not noticeable in the singer's lower notes. This aria had to be repeated, of course, although Signor Stagno evidently did so against his will. As an actor the new tenor is both graceful and earnest; his presence is manly and unaffected, and his command of stage business shows him to be an artist of discretion and ripe experience. It would be unfair in writing of last night's performance to omit mentioning Signor Kaschmann's superb rendering of the familiar "Il balen," which was awarded the tribute of an encore.

Photograph of Roberto Stagno as Manrico by Mora.

Photograph of Zelia Trebelli as Azucena by Jan Mieczkowski, Warsaw.



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