Met Opera Opened I Puritani Oct. 29, 1883, as Fourth First Season Opera

Summary: Met Opera opened I Puritani Monday, Oct. 29, 1883, as the fourth first season opera in a lineup of 20 season premieres.

Marcella Sembrich sang Elvira in the Metropolitan Opera's first season premiere of Vincenzo Bellini's I Puritani; portrait of Marcella Sembrich in The Marie Burroughs Art Portfolio of Stage Celebrities (1894): Public Domain, via Internet Archive

Met Opera opened I Puritani Monday, Oct. 29, 1883, as the fourth first season opera and as the first of the season's two Vncenzo Bellini operas.

L'opera seria in tre atti (three-act serious opera) by 19th century Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835) received one performance, sung in Italian, in Met Opera's first season, 1883-1884. The Monday, Oct. 29, 1883, premiere was staged at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Auguste Vianesi (Nov. 2, 1837-Nov. 4, 1908) conducted the first season's solitary performance of I Puritani. The French-naturalized, northwestern Italy-born conductor had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, in the first season's inaugural premiere, Faust by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

Marcella Sembrich (Feb. 15, 1858-Jan. 11, 1935) sang Elvira, who is betrothed to Arturo, then suffers episodic madness while their wedding is postponed but reunites with her true love for a happy ending. The Polish coloratura soprano had made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 24, 1883, in the title role in the first season's second premiere, Lucia di Lammermoor by Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848).

Roberto Stagno (Oct. 18, 1840-April 26, 1897) sang Arturo, who postpones his wedding in order to escort fugitive Enrichetta di Francia, widow of executed King Charles I (Nov. 19, 1600-Jan. 30, 1649), to safety. The Italian operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Oct. 26, 1883, in the title role, Manrico, in the opening season's third premiere, Il Trovatore by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Giuseppe Kaschmann (July 14, 1850-Feb. 11, 1925) sang Riccardo, who loses in the Riccardo-Elvira-Arturo love triangle when Elvira's father breaks Elvira's engagement to Riccardo in favor of Arturo. The Croatian-Austrian operatic baritone, whose birth name was Josip Kašman, had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 24, 1883, as Enrico in the first season's second premiere, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

Florentine bass Giovanni Mirabella sang Giorgio, Elvira's uncle, who has orchestrated the breaking of Elvira's engagement to Riccardo in favor of her marrying her choice, Arturo. Giovanni Mirabella's premiere performance as Giorgio marked his Met Opera debut.

Mezzo-soprano Ida Corani sang Enrichetta di Francia, widow of executed King Charles I, who seeks safety with Royalist supporters. Ida Corani's appearance in the first season's solitary performance of I Puritani marked her Met Opera debut.

Achille Augier sang the bass role of Gualtiero, Elvira's father, who had approved Riccardo as his daughter's fiancé but gives permission for her to marry Arturo. He had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 24, 1883, as Raimondo in the inaugural season's second premiere, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

Amadeo Grazzi sang the tenor role of Bruno, in whom Riccardo confides his lovelornness. Amadeo Grazzi had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 24, 1883, as Normanno in the first season's second premiere, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

The Metropolitan Opera Archives Database (MetOpera Database) identifies the production team's designers. The set designers were Charles Fox, Jr., William Schaeffer, Gaspar Maeder (ca. 1840-Jan. 18, 1892) and Mr. Thompson. The production's costume designers were Henry Dazian (May 3, 1854-May 4, 1937) and D. Ascoli.

I Puritani was presented as the fourth premiere in the Metropolitan Opera's inaugural season lineup of 20 operas. The happy-ending opera numbered as the first of two Bellini operas staged in Met Opera's first season. The second Bellini opera, La Sonnambula, premiered Wednesday, Nov. 14, as the inaugural lineup's eighth opera.

Mignon, by French composer Ambroise Thomas (Aug. 5, 1811-Feb. 12, 1896), succeeded I Puritani as the fifth first season premiere. Mignon premiered Wednesday, Oct. 31, 1883.

The takeaways for Met Opera's premiere of I Puritani are that the opera seria in tre atti (three-act serious opera) was staged as the fourth opera in Met Opera's inaugural season, 1883-1884; that the happy-ending opera received only one performance; and that I Puritani occurred as the first of two Bellini operas staged in the opera house's opening season.

I Puritani was Vincenzo Bellini's final opera; I Puritani premiered Jan. 24, 1835, at Théâtre-Italien, in Paris, and Bellini died approximately eight months later, on Sept. 23, 1835, in Puteaux, a rive gauche commune in western suburban Paris; undated portrait of Vincenzo Bellini by Giuseppe Tivoli (1854-1925); Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica (International Museum and Library of Music), Bologna, Italy: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Marcella Sembrich sang Elvira in the Metropolitan Opera's first season premiere of Vincenzo Bellini's I Puritani; portrait of Marcella Sembrich in The Marie Burroughs Art Portfolio of Stage Celebrities (1894): Public Domain, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/marieburroughsar00chic/page/n274/mode/1up

I Puritani was Vincenzo Bellini's final opera; I Puritani premiered Jan. 24, 1835, at Théâtre-Italien, in Paris, and Bellini died approximately eight months later, on Sept. 23, 1835, in Puteaux, a rive gauche commune in western suburban Paris; undated portrait of Vincenzo Bellini by Giuseppe Tivoli (1854-1925); Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica (International Museum and Library of Music), Bologna, Italy: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincenzo_bellini.jpg

For further information:

"Debut: Giovanni Mirabella, Ida Corani." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1040 Metropolitan Opera Premiere I Puritani {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/29/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1040

Debut: Roberto Stagno, Alwina Valleria, Zelia Trebelli." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1020 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Il Trovatore {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/26/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1020

"Debuts: Italo Campanini, Christine Nilsson, Franco Novara, Giuseppe Del Puente, Sofia Scalchi, Louise Lablache, Ludovico Contini, Auguste Vianesi, Mr. Corani, Mr. Abbiati, Charles Fox, Jr., William Schaeffer, Gaspar Maeder, Mr. Thompson, D. Ascoli, Henry Dazian." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID:1000 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Faust {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/22/1883. Metropolitan Opera Premiere Opening Night {1}.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1000

"Debuts: Marcella Sembrich, Giuseppe Kaschmann, Achille Augier, Amadeo Grazzi, Imogene Forti, Vincenzo Fornaris." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1010 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Lucia di Lammermoor {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/24/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1010

The Marie Burroughs Art Portfolio of Stage Celebrities. A Collection of Photographs of the Leaders of Dramatic and Lyric Art. Chicago : A.N. Marquis & Company, 1894.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101073370700
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/marieburroughsar00chic/

Marriner, Derdriu. "2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast Season Summary." Earth and Space News. Monday, May 15, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/05/2016-2017-metropolitan-opera-saturday.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Feb. 18, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast Is I Puritani." Earth and Space News. Monday, Feb. 13, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/feb-18-2017-metropolitan-opera-saturday.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Metropolitan Opera Premiered 20 Operas During Opening Season 1883-1884." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 14, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/metropolitan-opera-premiered-20-operas.html

"Metropolitan Opera Premiere I Puritani." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1040 Metropolitan Opera Premiere I Puritani {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/29/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1040

Rous, Samuel Holland. The Victrola Book of the Opera: Stories of One Hundred and Twenty Operas With Seven-Hundred Illustrations and Descriptions of Twelve-Hundred Victor Opera Records. Fourth revised edition. Camden NJ: Victor Talking Machine Company, 1917.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/victrolabookofop00vict