[Met Performance] CID:61500



Martha
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, December 27, 1915


In Italian



Martha (46)
Friedrich von Flotow | Friedrich Wilhelm Riese
Lady Harriet
Frieda Hempel

Lionel
Enrico Caruso

Nancy
Margarete Ober

Plunkett
Giuseppe De Luca

Sir Tristram
Pompilio Malatesta

Sheriff
Riccardo Tegani

Maid
Frieda Martin

Maid
Nazzarena Malaspina

Maid
Emma Borniggia

Servant
Vincenzo Reschiglian


Conductor
Gaetano Bavagnoli







Review 1:

Review of W. J. Henderson in the Sun

Caruso Enthusiasm Continues to Be Moving Power of Flotow's Opera.

HEMPEL IN TITLE ROLE

Flotow's "Martha" was repeated at the Metropolitan Opera House last evening before a Monday audience of great size. Not only was it Monday, but it was a Caruso night and this is a combination of great power. It is no news to lovers that the majority of those who visit the Metropolitan wish to hear Mr. Caruso. Many interesting records of performances have been written and made, but there is no other so interesting as the record of public devotion to this idol. A few years ago it was the general belief among those who keep watch on musical doings that South America-or especially Argentina -- was the happy hunting ground of the tenor, while New York bestowed its principal adoration on sopranos. But Adelina Patti is gone; long live Caruso.

What might happen if a Rosina as irresistible as the great Adelina or a Bruennhiide as majestic as the imposing Lilli Lehmann were to come before the local public is something which must remain a matter of conjecture. So long as there is no woman to rival Mr. Caruso in the public admiration, the reign of the tenor will continue. The title of last evening's opera might easily have been Lionello, for despite Mme. Hempel's charming performance and the perfumed sentiment of "The Last Rose of Summer" the tenor's "M'appari" was the climax of the evening.

The cast was the same as at preceding performances. It is not a great cast, nor even a satisfactory one in these uncertain days. But the performance has spirit and the melodies, simple and pretty, are to be heard. It is a good thing for the younger operagoers, too, to hear these older works. It should broaden their outlook, for man cannot live by Wagner and Puccini alone.



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