Met Opera Opened Lohengrin Nov. 7, 1883, as Seventh First Season Opera

Summary: Met Opera opened Lohengrin Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1883, as the first season's seventh premiere.

Emmy Fursch-Madi made her Met Opera debut as Ortrud in the Metropolitan Opera's first season performances of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin; portrait of Emmy Fursch-Madi in The Marie Burroughs Art Portfolio of Stage Celebrities (1894): Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

Met Opera opened Lohengrin Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1883, as the seventh premiere in the opera company's first season lineup of 20 operas.

The three-act romantic opera (opera romantica in tre atti) by German Romantic era composer-librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883) received eight performances, sung in Italian, in Met Opera's inaugural season, 1883-1884. Lohengrin's Wednesday, Nov. 7, premiere, second (Monday, Nov. 12), third (Saturday, Nov. 17) and fourth (Saturday, Dec. 1) performances were staged at the Metropolitan Opera House. The fifth performance, Thursday, Jan. 3, 1884, was held at the Boston Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. The sixth performance, Wednesday, Jan. 23, took place at Haverly's Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. The seventh performance, Wednesday, April 2, took place at the Metropolitan Opera House. The eighth, closing performance, Saturday, April 19, was offered at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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

Italo Campanini (June 30, 1845-Nov. 14, 1896) sang the title role of in all eight performances. The Italian operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, in the title role in the season's inaugural premiere, Gounod's Faust.

Christine Nilsson (Aug. 20, 1843-Nov. 20, 1921) appeared in all eight performances as Elsa, who has been falsely accused of murder. The Swedish operatic soprano had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, as Marguerite in the season's first premiere, Gounod's Faust.

Emmy Fursch-Madi (1847-Sept. 21, 1894) appeared in all performances as Ortrud, a pagan witch married to Telramund, Elsa's accuser. The French operatic soprano's premiere appearance Wednesday, Nov. 7, marked her Met Opera debut.

Giuseppe Kaschmann (July 14, 1850-Feb. 11, 1925) appeared in all performances as Telramund, who accuses Elsa of murder and who schemes to discover Lohengrin's true identity. The Croatian-Austrian operatic baritone had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 24, as Enrico in the season's second premiere, Lucia di Lammermoor by Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848).

Franco Novara (1859-Jan. 7, 1899) appeared in all performances as King Heinrich, whose presence in the dukedom has been occasioned by the disappearance of Elsa's younger brother. English bass Francis Naish, whose stage name was Franco Novara, had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, as Méphistophélès in the season's first premiere, Gounod's Faust.

Ludovico Contini appeared as the Herald in all eight performances. He had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, as Wagner in the season's inaugural premiere, Gounod's Faust.

The Metropolitan Opera's inaugural production of Lohengrim was directed by Mr. Abbiati and Mr. Corani (Henry De Courtney Corani, ca. 1849-May 1905). Sets for Lohengrin were designed by Charles Fox, Jr., William Schaeffer, Gaspar Maeder (ca. 1840-Jan. 18, 1892) and Mr. Thompson. Costumes were designed by Henry Dazian (May 3, 1854-May 4, 1937) and D. Ascoli. The director and their team had made their Met Opera debuts Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, in the opera house's inaugural premiere, Gounod's Faust.

Lohengrin premiered Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1883, as the seventh of the first season's 20 operas. La Sonnambula, by 19th century Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835), opened one week later, on Wednesday, Nov. 14, as the first season's eighth premiere.

The takeaways for Met Opera's Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1883, premiere of Wagner's Lohengrim are that the three-act romantic opera (opera romantica in tre atti) numbered as the seventh opera in the 20-opera lineup offered in Met Opera's first season, 1883-1884; that Italian tenor Italo Campanini originated the title role at Met Opera; and that Swedish operatic soprano Christine Nilsson originated the Met Opera role of Elsa.

Swedish operatic soprano Christine (Christina) Nilsson originated the role of Wagner's Elsa at the Metropolitan Opera in the opera house's first season, 1883-1884; ca. 1870 photograph of Christine Nilsson; Library of Congress (LOC) Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.: No known restrictions on publication, via LOC Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Emmy Fursch-Madi made her Met Opera debut as Ortrud in the Metropolitan Opera's first season performances of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin; portrait of Emmy Fursch-Madi in The Marie Burroughs Art Portfolio of Stage Celebrities (1894): Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/marieburroughsar00chic/page/n286/mode/1up

Swedish operatic soprano Christine (Christina) Nilsson originated the role of Wagner's Elsa at the Metropolitan Opera in the opera house's first season, 1883-1884; ca. 1870 photograph of Christine Nilsson; Library of Congress (LOC) Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.: No known restrictions on publication, via LOC Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004682156/

For further information:

"Debut: Emmy Fursch-Madi." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1090 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Lohengrin {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/7/1883.
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. "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 Lohengrin." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1090 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Lohengrin {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/7/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1090

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