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The Mapleson Memoirs, 1848-1888, vol II — Text and Context

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In Category - Opera Performance

Authors: Mapleson, James Henry, 1830-1901 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2011 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Opera -- England -- London; Opera -- United States Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 74,970

Reading time 326 min

Text sections 10

The catalog record for The Mapleson Memoirs, 1848-1888, vol II — Text and Context provides practical reading context through 74,970 words, 5 hr 26 min estimated reading time, and 10 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 19.7 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Opera -- England -- London,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #36144

Impresario James H. Mapleson recounts the perils of running opera in 1880s New York and on tour, from rival companies and hostile directors to Patti's demands and a thermometer that falls 105 degrees. The second volume of his memoirs offers a backstage view of casting, contracts, and crises.

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

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My Connection Severed--Musical Protective Union--American Orchestras--Rival Opera-Houses--Operatic Trial by Jury --St. Cecilia's Day--The Feast of Father Flattery pp. 1-21

Patti and her Shoes--Patti Seized for Debt--Flight of Gerster --Conflict at Chicago--Bouquets out of Season--Cincinnati Floods--Abbey's Collapse--Resolve to go West pp. 22-39

Gerster Refuses; Patti Volunteers--Arrival at Cheyenne --Patti Dines the Prophet--Threats of an Interviewer--Arrival at San Francisco pp. 40-49

The Patti Epidemic--Gerster Furore--Tickets 400% Premium --My Arrest--Capture of "Scalpers"--Death of my First "Basso"--"That Patti Kiss" pp. 50-69

Luncheon on H.M.S. _Triumph_--Opera Auction--Concert at Mormon Tabernacle--Return to New York--Return to Europe--Sheriffs in the Academy--I Depart in Peace pp. 70-83

Royal Italian Opera Liquidates--Getting Patti off the Ship--Henry Ward Beecher's Cider--Patti's Silver Wedding--A Patti Programme of 1855--A Black Concert pp. 84-100

Panic at New Orleans--Thermometer Falls 105 Degrees--Banquet at Chicago--The "Count di Luna" at Market--Coffee John--An American George Robins--My Under-taker pp. 101-117

Patti and Scalchi--Nevada's _Debut_--A Chinese Swing--A Visit from Above--Rescued Treasure--Great Chicago Festival--American Hospitality pp. 118-139

"Count di Luna" Introduced to "Leonora"--A Patti Contract --The Sting of the Engagement--A Tenor's Suite--A Presentation of Jewellery--My "Don Giovanni"--A Profitable Tour pp. 140-154

My Covent Garden Season--Patti's London Silver Wedding--Return to New York--Difficulties Begin--Rival Rehearsals--Grand Opera and Operetta pp. 155-167

House Divided against Itself--Rev. H. Haweis on Wagner--H.R.H. and Wotan--Elle a dechire mon gilet--Arditi's Remains--Return to San Francisco pp. 168-184

The Retreat from Frisco--Hotel Dangers--A Scene from _Carmen_--Operatic Invalids--Murderous Lovers--Ravelli's Claim--General Barnes's Reply--Clamour for Higher Prices--My Onward March pp. 185-214

Del Puente in the Kitchen--Scalding Coffee--Californian Wine--The Sergeant takes a Header--The Russian Mother--I Become a Sheriff--A Dumb Chorus--Dynamite Bombs pp. 215-228

Subterranean Music--The Striker Struck--Tuscan Taffy--A Healthy "Lucia"--I Recover from the United States--A Beknighted Mayor pp. 229-243

Back in the Old Country--The London Season--Sluggish Audiences--My Outside Public--The Patti Disappointments--The "Sandwich's" Story pp. 244-257

Master and Man--_Don Giovanni_ Centenary--Mozart and Parnell--Bursting of "Gilda"--Colonel Stracey and the Demons--The Hawk's Mountain Flight--Ambitious Students and Indigent Professors--A School for Opera--Anglicized Foreigners--Italianized Englishmen pp. 258-275

Fight with Mr. and Mrs. Ravelli--An Improvised Public--Ravelli's Dangerous Illness--Mr. Russell Gole--Reappearance of Mr. Registrar Hazlitt--Offenbach in Italian--Who is that Young Man?--Fancelli's Autograph--Ristori's Aristocratic Household pp. 276-291

Singers and Operas produced by me 295

Index to Volumes I. and II. 303

MY CONNECTION SEVERED--MUSICAL PROTECTION UNION--AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS--RIVAL OPERA-HOUSES--OPERATIC TRIAL BY JURY--ST. CECILIA'S DAY--THE FEAST OF FATHER FLATTERY.

Shortly after my return to London I had various meetings with the Directors of the Royal Italian Opera Company, Limited, when, to my astonishment, they informed me they would not ratify the contract I had made with Mdme. Patti. In fact, they repudiated the engagement altogether, although it had been concluded by me conjointly with Mr. Ernest Gye, the General Manager of the Company. I was therefore left with about L15,000 worth of authorized contracts which the Company had made with other artists, in addition to Mdme. Patti's contract for 250,000 dollars (L50,000).

I represented to the Directors that the only way to get out of the difficulty was to release me entirely from all connection with the Company, as I could then carry out the contracts I had made in the name of myself and of their representative with Mdme. Patti and with several other artists.

The matter, however, ended by the Directors giving me my _conge_, refusing at the same time to pay me any of the money that was then owing to me.

I had now seriously to consider my position, which was this: I had parted with my lease of Her Majesty's Theatre to the Royal Italian Opera Company, Ltd., a lease for which I had paid Lord Dudley L30,000. I had parted with a large quantity of scenery and dresses, of which a full inventory was attached to my agreement, and which were valued at many thousands of pounds. In addition to this, during my absence in America, Her Majesty's Theatre had been entirely dismantled and many thousand pounds worth of property not in the inventory taken and removed to Covent Garden. The amount of salary owing to me was absolutely refused. My L10,000 worth of shares (being the consideration for the purchase) I could not obtain; and the Company further gave me notice that I owed them some L10,000 for losses incurred whilst in America.

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Mapleson opens volume II in the thick of a New York season, listing a full company—Ravelli, Del Puente, Minnie Hauk, Alma Fohström—and the operas they performed: Carmen, Trovatore, Manon, Maritana, Fra Diavolo, Mignon. Yet he immediately notes that without “the magic name of Patti” the subscription suffered, and that a rival German Opera at the Metropolitan House, plus a new “Anglo-German Opera” billed as “national,” drew away support. The Academy of Music directors, he claims, limited him to three evenings a week and one matinée, then “began carpentering and hammering every time I attempted a rehearsal.” This opening establishes a memoir driven by practical obstacles—financial, logistical, and personal—rather than artistic reflection.

A Company in Full Voice

Mapleson’s chapter headings hint at a whirlwind of activity: “Patti and her Shoes,” “Patti Seized for Debt,” “Flight of Gerster,” “Conflict at Chicago.” The excerpts show him assembling a roster that would “have done honour to any theatre in Europe,” yet he is constantly undermined. The cast list for Carman on November 2 includes Ravelli as Don José, Del Puente as Escamillo, and Minnie Hauk as Carmen, with a ballet divertissement by Mdme. Malvina Cavalazzi. For Trovatore, Mdlle. Litvinoff made a successful debut, and Giannini was “encored and recalled four times.” These details give a concrete sense of the performers and the audience’s enthusiasm, even as Mapleson struggles with the business side.

Rivalry and Sabotage

Mapleson describes a “strong leaning” toward German Opera at the Metropolitan and a craze for “American Opera” that rented his own Academy of Music. He states that “a considerable number of intrigues were forthwith commenced for the purpose, if possible, of wiping me entirely out.” The directors demanded a heavy rental and limited his use of the theatre. When he tried to rehearse, they “began carpentering and hammering.” This adversarial relationship frames his narrative: he is an impresario fighting not only artistic battles but also the machinations of landlords and rivals. The tone is matter-of-fact, but the accumulation of such incidents suggests a memoir of survival.

Touring and Travails

Later chapter titles promise episodes far beyond New York: “Arrival at Cheyenne,” “Patti Dines the Prophet,” “Luncheon on H.M.S. Triumph,” “Concert at Mormon Tabernacle,” “Panic at New Orleans,” “Thermometer Falls 105 Degrees.” These indicate a transcontinental scope, with opera companies moving by rail and facing extreme conditions. Mapleson’s prose is brisk and anecdotal; he does not linger on description but moves from crisis to crisis. The reader gets a sense of the logistical chaos—sheriffs, scalpers, floods, and a “Black Concert”—that defined touring opera in the Gilded Age. The excerpts do not reveal how these episodes resolve, but they establish a rhythm of perpetual motion.

The Patti Factor

Adelina Patti looms over the memoir. She appears in chapter titles (“Patti and her Shoes,” “Patti Seized for Debt,” “Patti Volunteers”) and her absence from the opening season is blamed for poor subscriptions. Mapleson notes that a list of singers “would have done honour to any theatre in Europe” but that “the magic name of Patti not being included had at once the effect of damaging seriously the subscription.” This reveals the commercial reality: star power trumped artistic merit. The excerpts do not show Patti in action, but her gravitational pull is evident. Mapleson’s relationship with her—and with other divas like Gerster—is clearly a central thread of the volume.

Readers approaching volume II should expect a fast-moving, episodic narrative rather than a systematic history. Mapleson assumes familiarity with opera repertory and personalities; he rarely explains who a singer is or why a contract dispute matters. The value lies in the accumulation of specific, often absurd incidents—a tenor’s suite, a Chinese swing, dynamite bombs—that convey the precariousness of the impresario’s life. Treat each chapter as a self-contained anecdote, and watch for the recurring tension between artistic ambition and commercial pressure.

Night after night Mapleson wrestled with sopranos and thermometers, the whole frantic business of keeping opera alive. Sometimes I think of that restless energy and recall the older, stranger Amadis, a quieter knight whose stage battles were entirely his own. Both books share that peculiar loneliness of the impresario’s craft, where every glorious note carries a thousand small, exhausting decisions. It is a kinship I have come to treasure. Amadis of Gaul, an opera As it is perform'd at the King's Theatre in the Hay-market — Background and Themes