Met Opera's First Season Opened 17th Opera Le Prophète Feb. 12, 1884

Summary: Met Opera opened Le Prophète Tuesday, Feb. 12, 1884, as the inaugural season's 17th premiere.

19th-century Italian operatic tenor Roberto Stagno originated the role of Jean of Leyden at the Metropolitan Opera, with his appearances in all four of the opera house's first season performances of Meyerbeer's Le Prophète; photograph of Roberto Stagno by Catalan photographer Rafael Areñas Miret (Feb. 13, 1846-April 2, 1891), La Ilustració Catalana, no. 31 (10 Maig 1881), page 245: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Met Opera opened Le Prophète Tuesday, Feb. 12, 1884, as the 17th premiere in the inaugural season's lineup of 20 operas.

The five-act grand opéra (grand opera) by German Jewish opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer (Sept. 5, 1791-May 2, 1864) received four performances, sung in Italian, during Met Opera's first season. Le Prophète's Tuesday premiere took place at the Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio. The second performance took place Friday, March 7, at the Boston Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. The third performance was staged Friday, March 21, at the Metropolitan Opera House. The inaugural season's closing performance of Le Prophète took place Friday, April 18, at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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

Roberto Stagno (Oct. 18, 1840-April 26, 1897) sang the title role of Dutch Anabaptist leader Jean of Leyden (Feb. 2, 1509-Jan. 22, 1536) in all four performances. The Italian operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Oct. 26, 1883, in the title role, Manrico, in the first season's third premiere, Il Trovatore by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Alwina Valleria (Oct. 12, 1848-Feb. 17, 1925) sang the principal role of Berthe, bride of Jean of Leyden, in the first season's first three performances. The American soprano had made her Met Opera debut Friday, Oct. 26, 1883, as Leonora in Il Trovatore's premiere.

Alwina Valleria shared the role with Ida Corani, who sang Berthe in the season's closing performance of Le Prophète. According to the Metropolitan Opera Archives Database, Ida Corani's appearance Friday, April 18, marked her last Met Opera performance. Ida Corani had made her Met Opera debut as Enrichetta in the Monday, Oct. 29, 1883, premiere of the opera house's fourth opera, I Puritani by 19th century Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835).

Sofia Scalchi (Nov. 29, 1850-Aug. 22, 1922) sang Fidès, mother of Jean of Leyden, in all four performances. The Italian operatic contralto-mezzosoprano had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, in the trouser role of Siebel in the first season's inaugural premiere of Gounod's Faust.

Giovanni Mirabella, Nicola Stagi and Ludovico Contini sang as the Anabaptist trio of Zacharie, Jonas and Mathisen, respectively, in all four performances. Giovanni Mirabella had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 29, 1883, as Giorgio in the opening season's fourth premiere, Bellini's I Puritani. Nicola Stagi had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Nov. 19, as Raimbaut in the first season's 10th premiere, Robert le Diable by German Jewish opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer (Sept. 5, 1791-May 2, 1864). Ludovico Contini had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, as Wagner in the first season's inaugural premiere, Gounod's Faust.

Luigi Guadagnini (died 1902) appeared in all four performances as Count Oberthal, who opposes Jean of Leyden and seeks his execution. According to the Metropolitan Opera Archives Database (MetOpera Database), Luigi Guadagnini's closing night performance marked his last Met Opera appearance. The Italian baritone had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Nov. 16, 1883, in the title role in the opera house's ninth first season premiere, Verdi's Rigoletto.

According to MetOpera Database, the role of a Peasant was not performed in the premiere (Feb. 12), second (March 7) or fourth (April 18), closing performances. Pietro Mascotti sang the role in the third (March 21) performance. He had made his Met Opera debut Friday, March 7, as the Herald in the first season's second performance of Le Prophète.

Amadeo Grazzi sang as the Officer in all four performances. He had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 24, 1883, as Normanno in the opening season's second premiere, Lucia di Lammermoor by Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848).

Francesco Rizzielli sang the Herald in the premiere (Feb. 12). His premiere appearance marked his Met Opera debut.

Francesco Rizzielli shared the role with Pietro Mascotti, who sang the Herald in the second (March 7) and fourth (April 18), closing performances. MetOpera Database lists the Herald role as "not performed" in the third performance, March 21.

Pietro Mascotti appeared in dual roles, as the Herald and as a Peasant, in Le Prophète. His appearance as the Herald in the second (March 7) performance marked his Met Opera debut. MetOpera Database notes Pietro Mascotti's appearance as the Herald in the fourth (April 18), closing performance as his last Met Opera performance.

MetOpera Database lists the Dance performer as "unknown" in the premiere. Malvina Cavalazzi (Cavallazzi) (ca. 1851/1862-1924) is credited for Dance in the second (March 7), third (March 21) and fourth (April 18), closing performances. The Metropolitan Opera's first ballerina had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Nov. 5, 1883, in the first season's sixth premiere, Verdi's La Traviata

Henry De Courtney Corani (ca. 1849-May 1905) and Mr. Abbiati directed the Metropolitan Opera's first production of Le Prophète. 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. All members of the production team had made their Met Opera debuts Monday, Oct. 22, 1883, in the opera house's first premiere, Gounod's Faust.

According to MetOpera Database's "Cancelled Performance" entry for April 12, 1884, a performance of Le Prophète was considered as a possible replacement for the cancelled Saturday matinee performance of Georges Bizet's Carmen. The illnesses of the title singer and of three rostered substitutes, as well as the absence of a fourth substitute, had precluded staging the April 12 matinee of Carmen. Efforts to substitute Le Prophète floundered because Sofia Scalchi had breakfasted too late on her free day to sing such a "heavy" role as Fidès.

Le Prophète numbered as the 17th opera in the lineup of 20 operas in the Metropolitan Opera's opening season, 1883-1884. Hamlet, by French composer Ambroise Thomas (Aug. 5, 1811-Feb. 12, 1896), succeeded Le Prophète as the 18th premiere in Met Opera's opening season.

Le Prophète occurred as the second of three Meyerbeer operas in the first season's lineup. Robert Le Diable opened Monday, Nov. 19, 1883, as the first season's 10th premiere and as the first of the season's three Meyerbeer operas. Les Huguenots, the season's third Meyerbeer opera, premiered Wednesday, March 19, 1884, as the season's 19th opera.

The takeaways for Met Opera's premiere of Le Prophète are that the grand opéra (grand opera) was staged as the 17th opera in Met Opera's first season, 1883-1884, and that soprano Ida Corani and baritone Luigi Guadagnini made their last Met Opera appearances in the first season's fourth, closing performance of the tragic opera.

Apotheosis of Giacomo Meyerbeer depicts Le Prophète's Jean of Leyden and the Three Anabaptists (upper right) among main characters from four major operas; colorized postcard of engraving by French printmaker Joseph Alfred Annedouche (Sept. 13, 1833-Jan. 12, 1922), after painting by Belgian-French artist Edouard Jean Conrad Hamman (Sept. 24, 1819-March 30, 1888), published 1869 by Bulla Frères: 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:

19th-century Italian operatic tenor Roberto Stagno originated the role of Jean of Leyden at the Metropolitan Opera, with his appearances in all four of the opera house's first season performances of Meyerbeer's Le Prophète; photograph of Roberto Stagno by Catalan photographer Rafael Areñas Miret (Feb. 13, 1846-April 2, 1891), La Ilustració Catalana, no. 31 (10 Maig 1881), page 245: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roberto_Stagno.jpg?uselang=it

Apotheosis of Giacomo Meyerbeer depicts Le Prophète's Jean of Leyden and the Three Anabaptists (upper right) among main characters from four major operas; colorized postcard of engraving by French printmaker Joseph Alfred Annedouche (Sept. 13, 1833-Jan. 12, 1922), after painting by Belgian-French artist Edouard Jean Conrad Hamman (Sept. 24, 1819-March 30, 1888), published 1869 by Bulla Frères: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meyerbeer_Apotheosis.jpg

For further information:

"Cancelled Performance." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID:354614 Cancelled Performance. 04/12/1884.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=354614

"Debut: Emily Lablache, Giuseppe Barberis, Malvina Cavalazzi." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID:1080 Metropolitan Opera Premiere La Traviata {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/5/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1080

"Debut: Francesco Rizzielli." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1940 Metropolitan Opera Premiere e Prophète {1} Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio: 02/12/1884.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1940

"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: Luigi Guadagnini, Miss Genetti, Grace Goldini." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1150 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Rigoletto {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/16/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1150

"Debut: Nicola Stagi." Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Robert le Diable.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1180 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Robert le Diable {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/19/1883.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1180

"Debut: Pietro Mascotti." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 2170 Le Prophète {2} Boston Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts: 03/7/1884.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=2170

"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

Letellier, Robert Ignatius, trans., ed., annot. The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer: Volume 4 1857-1864 The Last Years. Madison [NJ]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2004.

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. "Met Opera Opened 10th First Season Opera Robert le Diable Nov. 19, 1883." Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 23, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/11/met-opera-opened-10th-first-season.html

Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Le Prophète.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 1940 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Le Prophète {1} Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio: 02/12/1884.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=1940

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

Zeller, Jessica. "Ballet’s Traditionalists: Malvina Cavallazzi and Luigi Albertieri." Shapes of American Ballet Teachers and Training Before Balanchine. New York NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.