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The Mapleson Cylinders - Program Notes
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CONDUCTORS
Walter Damrosch
(1862-1950), American conductor born in
Breslau, is perhaps best remembered for his early conducting exploits following
the death of his father Leopold during the Met's second season, and for his
late achievements in bringing good music to young people. In between, he formed
his own opera company and presented the America debuts of such important
singers as Rosa Sucher, Katherine Klafsky, and Johanna Gadski. His operas
Cyrano de Bergerac (1913) and The
Man Without a Country (1937) were premiered at the Met. For his debut,
Damrosch conducted Tannhäuser on February 11,
1885. During 1901-02, the last of his ten Met seasons, he led
Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Meistersinger, Tristan,
the four operas of the Ring, The Magic Flute, and the
American premiere of Paderewski's Manru. For leading
seventy-five performances of opera and eight Sunday-night concerts (including
Messiah and the Verdi Requiem
), he was paid $14,000. LOHENGRIN: Side 9/Bands 1, 2
MAGIC FLUTE: Side 4/Band 8
MANRU: Side 7/Band 8
SIEGFRIED: Side 11/Bands 1, 3, 4(?)
TRISTAN: Side 9/Band 5; Side 12/Bands 8, 9
WALKÜRE: Side 10/Band 10
Phillippe Flon
, the conductor, made his Metropolitan
Opera debut on December 22, 1902, leading Aida, with
Minnie Tracy in the title role, Georges Imbart de la Tour as Radamès,
and Louise, Homer and Marcel Journet also making their respective debuts as
Amneris and Ramfis. Flon stayed for three seasons, and conducted a variety of
French and Italian works: L'Africaine, Aida, Carmen,
Cavalleria, Le Cid, De Lara's Messaline, Otello,
Pagliacci, Prophète, Rigoletto, Roméo et Juliette, Tosca,
Traviata, Il Trovatore, and, as Sunday-night concerts, the Rossini
Stabat Mater. In addition to first-class passage, he
was paid in 1902-03 a fee of 20,000 francs, or $3,840, for the
season. AFRICAINE: Side 3/Bands 1-3
CARMEN: Side 4/Bands 1, 2; Side 12/Band 3
CAVALLERIA: Side 6/Bands 1-3
LE CID: Side 3/Bands 5, 7, 8; Side 12/Band 5a(?)
FILLE DU RÉGIMENT: Side 4/Bands 3, 4
GIOCONDA: Side 12/Band 7
HUGUENOTS: Side 2/Bands 1-8
PAGLIACCI: Side 6/Bands 4-7
TOSCA: Side 7/Bands 2, 7
TRAVIATA: Side 5/Band 3
Arditi: Parla Vals: Side 4/Band 10
Stern: Printemps: Side 4/Band 11
Nahan Franko
(1861-1930), American violinist and conductor
from New Orleans, made his debut in 1869 at Steinway Hall, and subsequently
toured with Adelina Patti as a child prodigy. After studying with Joachim and
Wilhelmj in Berlin, he returned home and played with various orchestras,
becoming concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1883, a position
he retained until 1907. On November 30, 1904, he made his debut as conductor
with the company, leading Le Nozze di Figaro --
the first native-born American to conduct with the company. Other works Franko
conducted were Roméo, Faust, Zigeunerbaron,
Fledermaus, H[amacr ]nsel und Gretel, Trovatore, Don Giovanni, and two
ballets, Coppélia and Bayer's Puppenfee, as well as numerous Sunday-evening concerts. As
third conductor and concertmaster in 1904-05, he was paid $4045.
Beginning in 1908, he led open-air concerts in Central Park, and he celebrated
his golden jubilee with a concert at the Hippodrome. Delibes: Coppélia: Side
4/Band 13
[Begin Page 20]
Alfred Hertz
(1872-1942), German conductor from Frankfurt,
became the Metropolitan's chief conductor of German opera with his debut,
leading Lohengrin, on November 28, 1902. During
thirteen seasons, Hertz conducted the world premieres of Humperdinck's
Königskinder and three American works, Parker's
Mona, Converse's The Pipe of
Desire, and Walter Damrosch's Cyrano de Bergerac,
and the American premieres of Parsifal, Salome,
and Rosenkavalier. In 1902-03 season, his
repertory included the four operas of the Ring,
Meistersinger, Tristan, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, and the American
premiere of Ethel Smyth's Der Wald. For thirty-nine
performances of opera, eight Sunday-night concerts, and a farewell gala, he was
paid $3,192.80, based on a weekly salary of $150. Hertz left the
Met in 1915 to become conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, where
he remained until his retirement in 1929. GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG: Side 11/Bands 6-8
LOHENGRIN: Side 8/Bands 1-9
MEISTERSINGER: Side 10/Bands 1(?), 2(?)
SIEGFRIED: Side 11/Bands 2(?), 5
TANNHÄUSER: Side 9/Bands 3, 4
TRISTAN: Side 9/Bands 6-10
WALKÜRE: Side 10/Bands 3-9
Luigi Mancinelli
(1848-1921), Italian composer and conductor
from Orvieto, made his Met debut in the Faust that
re-opened the house on November 27, 1893, after the fire the preceding season.
During nine seasons as leading conductor, he led the first Met performances of
Werther, Falstaff, Samson et Dalila, Le Cid, The Magic
Flute, Bohème, Tosca, and Ernani, as well
as his own opera Ero e Leandro. During 1902-03,
his last Met season, Mancinelli led Aida, Ballo, Barbiere,
Bohème, Don Giovanni, Ernani, Ero e Leandro, Faust, The Magic Flute,
Nozze di Figaro, Otello, Rigoletto, Roméo, Tosca, Traviata, Trovatore,
the Rossini Stabat Mater, and the
Verdi Requiem. For conducting seventy-one
performances, including five concerts, Mancinelli received $10,560, plus
one first-class passage, and a stateroom on the train when touring. AIDA: Side 5/Bands 5-11
LE CID: Side 3/Bands 6, 9; Side 12/Band 5a(?)
ERNANI: Side 5/Bands 1, 2
ERO E LEANDRO: Side 6/Bands 8-10
FAUST: Side 1/Bands 1, 2, 4-10, 12
LUCIA: Side 4/Bands 5-7; Side 12/Band 4
ROMÉO: Side 3/Band 4; Side 12/Band 2
TOSCA: Side 7/Bands 1, 3-6
TRAVIATA: Side 5/Band 4; Side 12/Band 6(?)
Felix Mottl
(1856-1911), Austrian conductor from Unter-St.
Veit, who had assisted Wagner at the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, made his
Met debut leading Walküre, November 25, 1903.
Although he had a five-year contract with a clause stating that it was
uncancellable the first three years by either party, Mottl only remained in New
York for one season, during which he was the highest paid conductor on the
roster, receiving $26,223.75, compared to $6,191.13 for Alfred
Hertz. This was the season of Conried's unauthorized production of
Parsifal, but because of his long-standing
relationship to Bayreuth Mottl was not obliged to conduct it. His fifty-five
performances of opera were devoted to Tannhäuser,
Lohengrin, Tristan, The Magic Flute, Siegfried, Carmen, Nozze di Figaro,
Roméo, and a single performance, in German, of Boieldieu's
Dame Blanche -- its only appearance in the Met
repertory. He also conducted seven Sunday-night concerts, and included
Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony, Grieg's Peer Gynt
Suite, and Smetana's From Bohemia's Fields and
Forests on the programs. Wagner: Kaisermarsch: Side 10/Band
11(?)
Armando Seppilli
(1860-1931), Italian conductor from Ancona, was
at the Met for two seasons. His debut was in Trovatore,
December 7, 1895, with Sophie Traubmann, Eugenia Mantelli, Giuseppe
Russitano, and Giuseppe Kaschmann. In the fall of 1900. Seppilli conducted
performances of the Metropolitan English Grand Opera Company at the
Metropolitan Opera House. With the regular Met company during 1901-02, he
conducted performances of Aida, Barbiere di Siviglia,
Bohème, Carmen, Faust, Nozze di Figaro, Otello, and
Traviata. His salary was $150 per week, or
$4,050 for a season lasting from October 9 to April 30, with tours
before and after the New York performances. FAUST: Side 1, Bands 3, 11
Arturo Vigna
(1863-?), Italian conductor from Turin,
led performances in Monte Carlo, Berlin, and at Milan's La Scala before coming
to New York for his Met debut with Rigoletto, November
23, 1903 -- the same performance that introduced Enrico Caruso. During his
first season, he was paid $4,176 for a three-month engagement during
which he also conducted Bohème, Aida, Tosca,
Cavalleria and Pagliacci, Traviata, Barbiere, Lucia,
the Met premiere of Elisir, and Sunday-night
concerts. In later seasons, Vigna presided over the house premieres of
Lucrezia Borgia, Fedora, Damnation de Faust, Manon Lescaut,
and Madama Butterfly. 1906-07 was his
fourth and last season. Delibes: Sylvia: Side 4/Band 12
Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre:
Side 4/Band 14
