Establishing an American Dramatic Style, or La Querelle de New-York, 1832–35
Giacomo Montrésor arrived in New York in 1832, encouraged by a letter from Lorenzo Da Ponte: “Come fearlessly to America, and the prospect before you and your companions is brilliant.” Instead, Montrésor faced skeptical audiences who were not convinced of the worth of Italian-language opera. In the seven scant years since Manuel García’s Italian Company first presented foreign-language opera, New Yorkers had heard an astonishing variety of operatic styles —German opera, Italian opera, French opera, English opera, and “Englished” opera—in three languages: Italian, French, and English. Prior to 1832, each style had been presented with limited challenge to one another. The second wave of Italian opera companies faced competition from the Park Theatre company that presented “Englished” operas. The Park Theatre’s productions offered a different approach to naturalizing opera with visiting vocal stars and translated popular European works.
By 1833, critic, manager, and amateur composer, Colonel F. H. F. Berkeley wrote an article, advocating for an operatic environment based on English practices, which had adjusted, arranged, and translated foreign-language operas into English. An unidentified critic responded by declaring, “I consider this essay a manifesto of an open war on the Italian Opera”; he proceeded to demonstrate that the “Italian dramatic school of music” was a superior musical style to cultivate in the New World. Would New York emulate London, where English composers habitually adapted Italian, German, and French works; or would New York follow Paris, where composers had achieved their own style after including Italian composers and their works in the musical scene? This paper revisits the repertoire, performance, and reception of opera in early New York through an examination of issues in transatlantic understanding and an analysis of the debate about which approach to operatic production could serve as a model in establishing an American dramatic style.
Giacomo Montrésor arrived in New York in 1832, encouraged by a letter from Lorenzo Da Ponte: “Come fearlessly to America, and the prospect before you and your companions is brilliant.” Instead, Montrésor faced skeptical audiences who were not convinced of the worth of Italian-language opera. In the seven scant years since Manuel García’s Italian Company first presented foreign-language opera, New Yorkers had heard an astonishing variety of operatic styles —German opera, Italian opera, French opera, English opera, and “Englished” opera—in three languages: Italian, French, and English. Prior to 1832, each style had been presented with limited challenge to one another. The second wave of Italian opera companies faced competition from the Park Theatre company that presented “Englished” operas. The Park Theatre’s productions offered a different approach to naturalizing opera with visiting vocal stars and translated popular European works.
By 1833, critic, manager, and amateur composer, Colonel F. H. F. Berkeley wrote an article, advocating for an operatic environment based on English practices, which had adjusted, arranged, and translated foreign-language operas into English. An unidentified critic responded by declaring, “I consider this essay a manifesto of an open war on the Italian Opera”; he proceeded to demonstrate that the “Italian dramatic school of music” was a superior musical style to cultivate in the New World. Would New York emulate London, where English composers habitually adapted Italian, German, and French works; or would New York follow Paris, where composers had achieved their own style after including Italian composers and their works in the musical scene? This paper revisits the repertoire, performance, and reception of opera in early New York through an examination of issues in transatlantic understanding and an analysis of the debate about which approach to operatic production could serve as a model in establishing an American dramatic style.