forbade the intimacy which operas founded on the German Singspiel
demand for appreciation, and spoken dialogue, especially in a foreign
tongue, was painfully destructive of artistic illusion. The operas which
followed were more to the purpose: "William Tell," on November 28th,
with Robinson as the hero, Schroeder-Hanfstängl as Mathilde, Slach as
Gemmy, Staudigl as Gessler, Koegel as Walter, Udvardi as Arnold, and
Brandt exemplifying a new spirit in opera by her assumption of the
unimportant part of Tell's wife; "Lohengrin," on December 3d, with
Krauss, Brandt, Schott, and Staudigl in the principal parts; "Don
Giovanni," on December 10th, with Schroeder-Hanfstängl as Donna Anna,
Hermine Bely as Zerlina, Brandt as Elvira, Robinson as the Don,
Koegel as the Commander, and Udvardi as Ottavio; "Le Prophète," on
December 17th, with Brandt as Fidès (one of her greatest rôles),
Schroeder-Hanfstängl as Bertha, and Schott as John of Leyden; "La Muette
de Portici" (otherwise "Masaniello") on December 29th, with Schott as
the hero and Isolina Torri as Fenella. There was an interruption of
this spectacular list on January 2, 1885, when "Rigoletto" was given
to gratify the ambition of Herr Robinson to be seen and heard as the
Jester, and of Mme. Schroeder-Hanfstängl to sing the music of Gilda. In
this opera Fräulein Brandt played the part of Maddelena and interpolated
a Spanish song sung in German. Then, on January 5th, came Mme. Materna's
first operatic appearance in America, in a repetition of "Tannhäuser."

Before continuing the record a few notes on some of these operas and
their performance may not be amiss. There was little that was noteworthy
about the representation of "Don Giovanni" except Dr. Damrosch's effort
to do justice to the famous finale, the full effectiveness of which
failed nevertheless because of the arrangement of the stage, which
was that of the preceding season. "Les Huguenots" was a distinct
disappointment. "La Muette de Portici," which was as good as new to