Max Alvary - Grand opera in America (1901) (14592097847)

Max Alvary
Identifier: grandoperainamer00lahe (find matches)
Title: Grand opera in America
Year: 1901 (1900s)
Authors: Lahee, Henry Charles, 1856-1953
Subjects: Opera
Publisher: Boston : L. C. Page
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University



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onsidered almost ideal. When Goldmarks Queen of Sheba wasgiven in 1885, Alvary sang the part of Assadso effectively that he may almost be con- 260 Grand Opera in America, sidered the creator of that part in thiscountry. Adolar in Euryanthe, Alvarezin Cortez, Merlin in Goldmarks opera ofthat name, were also parts in which he ex-celled, but he is remembered best by hisassumption of the roles of Siegfried andLoge. Alvary was not an extraordinary singer.He had a fine, round, firm voice of wide andeven compass, not ideally trained, but he wasan artist in a broad sense. He returned to Germany in 1891, comingback to America in 1895, and finding hispopularity undiminished. On his return toGermany, at the end of the season, hishealth failed, and in 1898 he died. After 1890 Italian opera again becamesupreme, though many German singers wereemployed, and many German operas weresung (in Italian). But in 1895, WalterDamrosch, the second son of Dr. LeopoldDamrosch, made an effort to reestablish Ger-
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MAX ALVARY. German Opera. 261 man opera, and his enterprise extended overseveral years. During the last decade of thenineteenth century, however, the theory ofcombination and amalgamation, which wasrapidly developing in the business world,had its effect upon opera, and under MauriceGrau the opera company became a huge en-terprise containing singers of all nations, andgiving operas in French, German, and Italian.In 1895 Damrosch gave a season of Ger-man opera at the Metropolitan Opera Housein New York, and in some of the largercities. He brought over from Germany sev-eral new singers, besides some who had beenheard in America before, such as Alvary.His new singers were Rothmuhl, a tenor,Brema and Sucher, and Madame JohannaGadski, soprano, who has been in Americaalmost every season since, and has becomeone of the most popular singers before thepublic. During his second season Damrosch 262 Grand Opera in America. brought out Madame Klafsky, and producedhis own opera, The Scarlet Letter,