Grover's Opera Company at The National Theatre of Washington DC, 1800's

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Grover's Grand German Opera,
The Magic Flute, and Abraham Lincoln

by Martin Wacksman

This article first appeared in the August 27, 2006 Newsletter of the Mozart Society of America,
and is represented here with the kind permission of the Society.

On the evening of Wednesday, March 15, 1865 President and Mrs. Lincoln attended the first performance in the nation’s capital of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Accompanying them as guests were General James Grant Wilson and the daughter of New York Senator Ira Harris, Clara, who would also be a guest of the Lincolns on April 14 at Ford’s Theater when the President was assassinated. [The announcement shown below to the left is from the front page of the Washington Evening Star newspaper for Wednesday, March 15, 1865, the day on which the Lincolns attended the first performance in the nation's capital of Mozart's Magic Flute. It was presented by Grover's Grand Opera Company at "Grover's New Theatre," known before and after as "The National Theatre," among other similar variations over the years.]

The Magic Flute was presented at Grover’s New Theatre on Pennsylvania Avenue, by the Grand German Opera Company, established by playwright and manager Leonard Grover. The company had earned a reputation for bringing together top talent to produce outstanding complete operatic productions. An article in the March 14 edition of the Evening Star newspaper praised the company, “so rich in its duplicate and triplicate first class bassos, tenors, soprani and baritones.… Grover has been the first to introduce here [Washington, D.C.] a company effective in all its departments….” Chorus and orchestra were commended for their excellence. “Such another orchestra will probably never again visit this city. It is in fact the cream of the orchestral talent of the whole country.” The following day the Daily Morning Chronicle commented that the company “has approached much nearer perfection than any other that has been organized this side of the water….”

In that era Grover’s New Theatre was also known simply as Grover’s Theatre, and was the venue for plays as well as operas. Throughout the years the theater underwent many name changes, burnt and was rebuilt several times, and today is known as The National Theatre.

[The article continues below. The notice shown here is from the Daily National Intelligencer. It announces Aladdin; or, The Wonderful Lamp to be presented at Grover's Theatre, and at Our American Cousin to be shown at Ford's Theatre, on the night of the Lincoln assassination. Apparently due to the availability of only a limited number of type faces, or the use of a single font to format an advertisement easily, the notice uses repetitions of words and phrases to fill out the desired space in the newspaper column.]

For the 1865 season, the company presented fourteen operas, reprising four, for a total of eighteen performances over a three week period, from March 6th through March 25th. The operas were mounted six nights a week, with no Sunday performances. Don Giovanni was presented on Monday March 13th, followed the next day by Tannhäuser, and The Magic Flute on Wednesday. On Thursday the company staged von Flotow’s Stradella, and completing the week, Gounod’s Mireille and Faust. The season closed with a second performance of The Magic Flute. The languages in which these operas were given were not specified, although the cast listing reveals that the surnames of the singers were predominately German, with a few Italian. Possibly some were stage names. Whenever The Magic Flute was mentioned in the press, in notices or reviews, its title was almost always given in English. One article gave the title as “Zauberflöte, or ‘The Magic Flute’”.

Each day the newspapers carried notices (presumably paid for) announcing that evening’s performances at the city’s theaters. On the first page of the March 15th editions of the Evening Star and the Daily National Intelligencer there appeared a notice for The Magic Flute that included the entire cast, and emphasized that the opera was being presented for the “first time in this city” and would be “given entire”. Two days earlier the Daily National Intelligencer enticed opera lovers with a glowing description of the opera. In describing Papageno as “gifted with an instrument which, when played upon, turns anger into mirth, and sets everybody dancing,” the writer suggested that “[a]ll disappointed office-seekers should hear Popageno [sic].”

On March 4th, President Lincoln took the oath of office for his second term. Press reports on the 14th and 15th claimed that Lincoln was ailing from influenza and fatigue. Historians doubt that he had the flu, but believe he was suffering from exhaustion brought on by the duties of his office. On March 14th Lincoln met with his cabinet in his bedroom, the President propped up in bed. By the next day he felt well enough to attend the opera. It is not clear to what extent he enjoyed operatic and theatrical performances, but he did appreciate the time away from the White House, if only to relax and avoid for two or three hours the cares of state.

Following the performance on the night of the 15th, James Grant Wilson, a brigadier general, literary figure, and future historian, made the following entry in his diary: “In the evening, at Grover’s Theatre with the President, Mrs. Lincoln and Miss Harris, listening to the opera of ‘The Magic Flute’ and occupying a comfortable box. The President, alluding to the large feet of one of the leading female singers, which were very flat, remarked, ‘The beetles wouldn’t have much of a chance there!’ When asked by Mrs. Lincoln to go before the last act of the opera was concluded, he said: ‘Oh, no, I want to see it out. It’s best when you undertake a job, to finish it.’”

The next day a review in the Evening Star stated that the opera “was performed in excellent style by the German company last night, and the large audience showed its appreciation of this delightful composition of Mozart’s and the superb manner in which it was rendered, by continuous applause, which was sometimes so irrepressible as to break in upon the due course of the performance.” Individual performers were singled out for special praise. The Daily Morning Chronicle remarked on the “fidelity of acting, singing, and costume which characterizes this truly great company.… We were glad to see that this beautiful opera, which contains gems of all sorts, grave, gay, and sentimental, was warmly appreciated by the audience, though it must have been new to many.” The following day the Daily National Intelligencer also extolled the singers and remarked that the opera had been “splendidly mounted. The orchestra and chorus, as ever, were the universal admiration.” None of the reviews mentioned the scenery.

Though reviews in these newspapers were for the most part very generous, there is no reason to doubt the overall excellence of Grover’s Grand German Opera Company. However, the company was not immune to expressions of skepticism. In an article that appeared in the Daily National Intelligencer as the season was drawing to a close, the critic wrote “taken separately, we may find more dazzling vocalists, some capable of higher and others of lower range, (there is no superior orchestra,) but there is no greater ensemble than this troupe affords.… Mr. Grover cannot be too careful how he overworks and cheapens this talented troupe. We are now glad … that they are about to leave us for the present, since an opera every night fatigues and would soon drag.”

On March 20th, Grover’s Theatre announced that the season would be extended by twelve more nights. The very next day the paper carried an “Important Announcement” that the director had just “received a dispatch from the West, which places at his disposal next week a Theatre which he had been endeavoring for the past three months to secure for the Grand Opera”, and that it would be available only for the week of the 27th. In order to take advantage of the opportunity, Grover’s decided to curtail the season in Washington, with the final performance scheduled for March 25th. Beginning on the week of the 27th, the Grand Italian Opera Company was scheduled to open a one week engagement at Ford’s Theatre, Grover’s chief competitor. Perhaps the prospect of a head to head competition with the newly arrived troupe factored into the decision to rescind the previous day’s announcement.

On Saturday, March 18th, the Lincolns went to a performance of Faust and on Tuesday, the 21st attended Boieldieu's opera La Dame Blanche, both at Grover’s New Theatre.

With the collapse of the Confederacy in early April, Grover’s Theatre scheduled a patriotic gala that included a performance of the play Aladdin; Or, The Wonderful Lamp for the evening of Friday, April 14th. An invitation and tickets were dispatched to Mrs. Lincoln, who chose instead to attend a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre. John Wilkes Booth learned of the altered plans, and arranged
for the encounter that would so traumatize the nation.

References:

Leech, Margaret, Reveille in Washington 1860-1865. Time-Life Books, pp.464, 473-481 (originally published 1941, Harper & Brothers).

Wilson, James Grant, Putnam’s Monthly and The Reader Magazine. March, 1909, p.673

Newspapers: Evening Star, March 1865; The Daily Morning Chronicle, March 1865; The Daily Intelligencer, March 1865