Mapleson's company comprised Mmes. Patti, Gerster, Pappenheim, Pattini,
and Josephine Yorke, and Signori Falletti, Nicolini, Perugini,
Cherubini, Vicini, Lombardini, and Caracciolo. The performances were
like those that had been the rule for years, except for the brilliancy
which Mme. Patti lent to those in which she took part. But not even she
could hold the fickle public. On the nights when she sang the house
was two-thirds full; Mme. Gerster had established herself as a prime
favorite, but when she sang on the "off nights" the house was two-thirds
empty. The season was financially disastrous, though Colonel Mapleson's
losses were not comparable to Mr. Abbey's, and he was not only brave
enough to prepare for the next season's campaign, but adroit enough to
persuade Mme. Patti to place herself under his guidance again. But,
while he held out against Mr. Abbey and the new house, he was compelled
to yield to the Metropolitan and German opera as established by Dr.
Damrosch. Of the singers who helped Colonel Mapleson make his fight,
one is still in enjoyment of popular favor. This is Mme. Nordica,
who, though not a regular member of the company, effected her American
operatic début at the Academy on November 26, 1883, in Gounod's "Faust."
She was announced as Mme. Norton-Gower, and of her performance I wrote
at the time in The Tribune:


Of Mrs. Norton-Gower the first statement must be that she gives abundant
evidence of having been admirably trained in the spirit of Gounod's
music and the tragedy. Nearly every number in the score which falls to
the part of Margherita she sang with commendable intelligence and taste.
The most obvious criticism was that the spirit so excellently conceived
by her put a severe strain upon the matter in her control. It cost her
a manifest effort to do what she well knew how to do, for she is not
a phenomenal vocalist. She has a voice of fine texture, and her tones