[Met Concert or Gala] CID:16000



Seventh Grand Sunday Night Concert
Metropolitan Opera House, Sun, January 5, 1896




Seventh Grand Sunday Night Concert





Grieg: Festival March

Mignon: Overture

Un Ballo in Maschera: Eri tu
Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Largo al factotum (encore)
Giuseppe Campanari

Tosti: La serenata
Lucrezia Borgia: Brindisi
Traditional: Annie Laurie (encore)
Sofia Scalchi

Martha: M'appari
Giuseppe Cremonini

Gillet: Bluette

Moszkowski: Serenade (repeated)

Haydn: The Creation: Rollend in sch?umenden Wellen (?)
Pol Plan?on

Lucia di Lammermoor: Mad Scene [final cadenza repeated]
Nellie Melba
Otto Stosckert, Flute Obligato

Rubinstein: Bal Costum? Suite: Pacha et Alm?e; Cosaque et Petite-russienne
?
Il Barbiere di Siviglia: La calunnia
Faure: Les rameaux (encore)
Schumann: Les Deux Grenadiers (encore)
Pol Plan?on

Rigoletto: Quartet
Nellie Melba
Sofia Scalchi
Giuseppe Cremonini
Giuseppe Campanari

Conductor...............Anton Seidl
Conductor...............Armondo Seppilli
Piano...................Amherst Webber
?
Armondo Seppilli conducted the selections with orchestra of
Campanari, Cremonini, and Plan?on.








Review 1:

Review in the New York Times

CONCERT AT THE METROPOLITAN

Melba, Scalchi, Plan?on, Campanari, and Cremonini Attract the Largest Audience of Any Sunday Night.

The concert at the Metropolitan Opera House last night was what might be termed "a record breaker'' in more than one respect. The audience was larger than at any other previous Sunday night concert given in this house. The receipts exceeded those of any similar entertainment that has taken place there, and, the enthusiasm of the audience was of a much higher pitch than at any preceding concert of the Abbey & Grau forces.

The usual reserve of Sunday night audiences was cast aside several times, and there were loud applause and shouts of delight. In point of artistic excellence the

affair must also be placed on the very highest plane. It is safe to say that nowhere else in the world is offered more from a superior standpoint of music than was heard last night at the Metropolitan. A combination of such artists as Melba,

Scalchi, Plan?on, Cremonini, and Campanari, in addition to Anton Seidl and his

orchestra, at $1.50 for the best seats is surely reasonable.

Every seat, every box, and all available standing room were occupied with men and women who appreciated the rarity of the opportunity and who were competent judges of the excellent musical menu that was offered. It was the most select Sunday night audience that New York City and environs can furnish.

At the outset the observance of the dignity of the day acted as a curb for plaudits, but as the concert developed and musical offerings of the highest order were presented the enthusiasm of the assemblage broke bounds, and the vociferousness of the applause was unbounded. There was only one defect to a complete and perfect musical evening, and that consisted of the shortcomings of Signor Seppili as a conductor. He led the orchestra for the solos of Campanari, Cremonini, and Plan?on, and his inability to follow the soloists was the only marring episode.

Mr. Seidl gave a masterly rendition of Grieg's "Festival March," after which he surprised even his friends by a catchy and charming version of the "Mignon" overture. He served this popular combination with a Seidl dressing, which contained many new beauties. And the two excerpts from Rubinstein's "Bal Costume" were full of color and finish. The Gillet "Bluette " and the Moskowski "Serenade " were daintily played, and the latter was demanded again.

Signor Campanari sang his aria with such art that he was compelled to sing another, which was Figaro's aria from the "Barber of Seville." Mme. Scachi's singing of the Tosti "Serenata" was superb The composition was transposed, and in that form was well placed for her voice, and consequently she gave it in an entrancing manner. "The Brindisi," from "Lucrezia Borgia," was received with enthusiasm, and as an encore number she sang "Annie Laurie" in English, much to the surprise of the audience.

Plan?on, who never fails to win the favor of his auditors, was particularly effective. Each of his selections called forth storms of approbation, and for an encore to his second number he sang the well-known baritone song, "The Palm." This was followed by such a tumult that he gave his great version of "The Two Grenadiers," and again the applause was deafening.

Mme. Melba's selection was the "Mad Scene" from "Lucia," and at no previous performance has she given it with more vocalization. The audience fairly went wild when it was finished, and her repeated acknowledgments were not accepted as sufficient. The final cadenza had to be repeated.

Signor Cremonini was heard to advantage in "M'apari," from "Martha." The quartet from "Rigoletto" was given with much better effect than on the previous night, Campanari and Cremonini being vocal improvements over those taking part in this number at the opera. Signor Cremonini was somewhat uncertain in his part, but the whole was rendered with such an excellent balance and so mellifluously that he was carried along by the singing of Mmes. Melba and Scalchi and Signor Campanari.

Unsigned

Review 2:

Review in the Brooklyn Eagle

METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE

The concert at the Metropolitan Opera house last night was well named popular. All the boxes were filled, the crowd of standees was twice as great as on most Sunday nights and a good authority estimates that the number of people in attendance at 4,600. That is an enormous crowd and it had turned out to hear Melba, whose only appearance at a popular concert was announced. With her were Scalchi and Plan?on and Campanari and Cremonini, all of them poplar, but by the side of Melba, like the Statue of Liberty light beside the North Star. All these artists sang familiar numbers and all of them got encores. Plan?on a double one, but the great demonstration began when Melba had finished the Mad Scene from "Lucia." Mr. Stockert and his flute were outshone in brilliancy and accuracy by her limpid voice and the house sent up wave after wave of applause and cheers after the display. Melba came back and repeated the cadenza with the same matchless voice. The audience had to content itself with that and one more appearance of its idol in the familiar quartet from "Rigoletto." Every great operatic quartet and most church choirs sing this music without being able to wear it out. Last night the performance was superb and the reception of the music in proportion.



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