Garcia the Centenarian And His Times Part 6

Strange reading, indeed, when we compare it with the salaries which theatrical stars were receiving during the last few years of Garcia's life.

CHAPTER V.

OPERA IN AMERICA.

(1825-1826.)

The earliest operatic performances in America were derived not from Italian but from English sources. Elson tells us in his book on American music that "The Beggar's Opera," which created such a furore in Great Britain, probably was the first entertainment of the kind given in the colonies, being performed in New York as early as December 3, 1750, and innumerable times thereafter. This was followed by a series of other ballad operas.

"From the conglomerate Ballad Opera, often the work of half a dozen composers," Elson continues, "New York pa.s.sed on to a more unified art-work, and the operas of Arnold, Storace, and Dibdin were given with some frequency. During the British occupation, in revolutionary days, the English regimental bands often a.s.sisted in the orchestral parts of the operatic performances. At a later period many refugees, driven from France by the Revolution, were to be found eking out a precarious livelihood in the orchestra.

"At the beginning of the nineteenth century Charleston and Baltimore entered the operatic field, and travelling troupes came into existence, making short circuits from New York through the large cities, but avoiding Boston, which was wholly given over to Handel, Haydn, and psalms.

"In March 1825 New Yorkers heard a great opera for the first time, for 'Der Freischutz' came to America by way of England. It was adapted and arranged with the boldest of alterations and makeshifts. Extra dances were introduced to charm the audience, and the incantation scene was often given without singing, as melodrama that is, recitation with orchestral accompaniment, while the fireworks let off during the scene won public favour at once.

"But the real beginning of opera in New York, and in a certain sense in America, occurred in the autumn of this year, when the elder Garcia arrived with his well-equipped opera troupe. Well might a critic of that day speak of the Spanish tenor as 'our musical Columbus.' The whole season of opera during that memorable period was a revelation to the new world."

The company which the elder Garcia brought with him from Europe consisted of the following princ.i.p.al artists. His daughter Maria, who was seventeen years old, undertook all the contralto _roles_, while his wife and Mme. Barbieri were the soprani. He himself was, naturally, _primo tenore_, being a.s.sisted by the younger Crivelli as the _secondo_.

The latter artist, the son of Ga?tano, one of the best Italian tenors, had first met the Garcia family in Naples, where he had spent some years in vocal study under Millico and Zingarelli.

During the last year of Garcia's stay in Italy Crivelli had written an opera, which was performed by the San Carlo company, of which it will be remembered the elder Garcia was a member.

The baritone for the New York season was "Garcia, jr.," as the subject of this memoir was advertised, and the cast was completed by d'Angrisani as the _ba.s.so cantante_, and Rosich as the _buffo caricato_. The chorus, which was collected and organised by Garcia only with the greatest difficulty, consisted chiefly of mechanics settled in America, who were accustomed to serve in choirs and could read music.

Of the circ.u.mstances which brought about this scheme of giving Italian opera in America we may read in the biography of the poet, Fitz-Greene Halleck. In it the author, General James Grant Wilson, tells us that Halleck was one of the two thousand New York pupils of Signor Daponte, who was for many years professor of Italian literature in Columbia College there. "To this Signor Daponte, the personal friend of Mozart, and writer of the libretto of 'Don Giovanni,' the poet told me," says the biographer, "that we were indebted for the introduction of Italian opera here, he having, with the late Dominick Lynch and Stephen Price, induced the elder Garcia to visit them with his troupe, and appear at the Park Theatre, of which Price was the manager."

When the elder Garcia arrived in New York he was at once visited by this Daponte, and it is reported that he rushed up to the Italian librettist and embraced him with the greatest warmth, singing all the while the aria "Fin ch'han dal vino," the Drinking Song from "Don Giovanni," for the words of which Daponte had been responsible.

During October and November, in addition to appearing in oratorio, the Garcia family gave a number of concerts, during which the tenor delighted to show the perfection of his method. He had a custom of striking a single chord, and then with his wife, son, and daughter, rendering a difficult operatic quartette, unaccompanied. At the end he would strike the chord again, to show that they had not deviated from the pitch to the extent of even a hair's-breadth. They certainly formed a quartette of pre-eminent ability; indeed, Chorley, one of the greatest musical authorities of his day, wrote of them, "The family of Spanish musicians are representative artists, whose power, genius, and originality have impressed a permanent trace on the record of the methods of vocal execution and ornament."

The first mention of their arrival we find in the 'Harmonicon,' which had a notice on October 25, to the effect that "The Spanish family of the Garcias, consisting of husband, wife, son, and daughter, have been engaged by Mr Price."

Some three weeks later a preliminary notice of their forthcoming venture appeared in a New York paper called 'The Albion, or British, Colonial, and Foreign Weekly Gazette.' In its issue of November 19 there was printed the following prospectus, which may be quoted in full, as it contains several points of interest:--

"Signor Garcia respectfully announces to the American public that he has lately arrived in this country with an Italian troupe (among whom are some of the first artists in Europe), and has made arrangements with the managers of the New York Theatre to have the house on Tuesdays and Sat.u.r.days, on which nights the choicest Italian operas will be performed in a style which he flatters himself will give general satisfaction.

"For the succeeding eight days the names of persons desirous to take boxes or benches for the season of three months, or for one month, will be received at the box office at the theatre, and the applicants for the longest term and greatest number of seats will be ent.i.tled to the choice of boxes. The seats in the pit will also be numbered, and may be taken for the same periods.

"The price of the box places will be two dollars; of pit, one dollar; and of gallery, twenty-five cents.

"The opera of 'Il Barbiera (_sic_) di Seviglia' is now in rehearsal, and will be given as soon as possible.

"Tickets of the permanent boxes will be transferable. Performance to commence at 8 o'clock."

In the next issue of the paper we read that

"Signor Garcia has the honour to announce to the public that the opera of 'Il Barbiere di Seviglia' will be performed on Tuesday next. The books are now open, and places may be taken at the Box Office."

The advertis.e.m.e.nt goes on to state that "the best operas of Cimarosa, Mozart, and Paisiello, with others by Rossini, will be immediately put in rehearsal."

The opening performance was given at the Park Theatre on November 29, 1825, the opera being "Il Barbiere," cast as follows:--

_Almaviva_ Garcia, Senior.

_Figaro_ Garcia, Junior.

_Rosina_ Maria Garcia.

_Bertha_ Madame Garcia.

_Bartolo_ Rosich.

_Basilio_ d'Angrisani.

_Fiorello_ Crivelli.

'The Albion' gave the opera company an encouraging send-off in the following nave announcement:--

"We have been disappointed in not receiving a _scientific_ critique, which we were promised from a professor, on the Italian Opera of Tuesday night; we shall, however, have something to say later, and meanwhile can state that the experiment has proved completely successful, and the troupe may be a.s.sured of making a fortunate campaign."

It is recorded further that "an a.s.semblage of ladies so fashionable, so numerous, so elegantly dressed, has probably never been witnessed in an American theatre."

General Grant Wilson gives us some further details of this fashionable audience, for, according to him, it included Joseph Bonaparte, the ex-King of Spain, and the two friends, Fenimore Cooper and Fitz-Greene Halleck, who sat side by side, delighted listeners. Another account refers to the representation in these terms:--

"We were last night surprised, delighted, enchanted: and such were the feelings of all who witnessed the performance. The repeated plaudits with which the theatre rung were unequivocal, unaffected bursts of laughter. The best compliment that can be paid to the merit of the company was the unbroken attention that was yielded throughout the entire performance, except that every now and then it was interrupted by judiciously bestowed marks of applause, which were simultaneously given from all parts of the house. In one respect the exhibition excelled all that we have ever witnessed in any of our theatres--the whole troupe were almost equally excellent: nor was there one whose exertions to fill the part allotted to him did not essentially contribute to the success of the piece.

"Signor Garcia indulges in a florid style of singing: with his fine voice, fine taste, admirable ear, and brilliancy of execution, we could not be otherwise than delighted.... Signorina Garcia's voice is what is denominated a fine contra-alto"--the gentleman is nothing if not correct, while we trace in the next words the unquestionable fact that he has been comparing notes with our "scientific" friend of 'The Albion.' "Her science and skill are such as to enable her to run over every tone and semitone with an ease and grace that cost apparently no effort." The sentence reads for all the world like a twentieth-century eulogy of an ardent motorist, if we subst.i.tute for tone and semitone the words woman and child.

He concludes with a vivid little sketch of Maria Garcia as she was at the age of seventeen:--

"Her person is about the middle height, slightly _embonpoint_; her eyes dark, arch, and expressive; and a playful smile is almost constantly the companion of her lips. She was the magnet who attracted all eyes and won all hearts."

This was Manuel Garcia's operatic _debut_: it was not his first appearance before the public, for, as we have seen, he had already been singing previously at several concerts. It has been a.s.serted by some that his _debut_ in opera was made in Paris in the preceding year, but he himself declared this was untrue; while his sister, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, has stated most definitely that it took place in New York.

His voice was never powerful: he had sung with charm as a boy, and when his voice broke it developed into high baritone--not tenor, as has been a.s.serted by many. The latter mistake probably originated in the fact that sometimes, as will be related later, he undertook the tenor parts when his father felt indisposed; but on these occasions he always altered the melody of the higher pa.s.sages to suit his baritone voice.

In the first and subsequent performances of "Il Barbiere" his artistic singing of the air "Largo al factotum" made a considerable stir in New York, and his popularity was thereby considerably increased, but from the criticisms it is obvious that Manuel Garcia would never have been an operatic artist of the first rank, and, as we shall see, he was to find his _metier_ in another field of music.

On the last day of the year we read in 'The Albion' that "The celebrated opera of 'Tancredi' will be produced at the Park Theatre this evening."

The paragraph which followed immediately after the above announcement recalls the mixed receptions which the immortal Kean sometimes experienced when he made his earlier appearances on the American stage:--

"Mr Kean has returned from Boston. The managers of the Boston theatre declare in an address to the public that they had no reason whatever to suppose that any serious or organised opposition existed against Mr Kean until 4 o'clock of the evening of his appearance.

"That amiable lady and excellent actress, Mrs Hilson, takes a Benefit at the Park on Wednesday, on which occasion Mr Kean has offered to perform in a favourite part."

In the next issue, January 7, 1826, we find the criticism of the performance of "Tancredi." One of the company had apparently discharged the duties of scene-painter for the production, and with success.

"'Tancredi' has been performed twice to crowded houses by Senior (_sic_) Garcia and his admirable troupe. Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm with which it was received. The scenery, painted by one of the troupe, is of matchless vigour and beauty, displaying magnificent ruins, paintings, &c., so peculiar to modern Italy.

"The corps has received a most efficient auxiliary in the person of Madame Barbiere (_sic_). Signorina Garcia takes the part of Tancredi.