Hermann Klein in Her Majesty's Opera House, London - 1877

from Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900, page 99:

It was quite late in the season of 1877 when Etelka Gerster made her debut at Her Majesty's as Amhia in “La Sonnambula”. She was one of Mr. Mapleson's surprises. Beyond a very high register, no one expected anything extraordinary from the newcomer. Imagine, therefore, the delight of habitues when they heard for the first time a voice of exquisitely musical quality and bird-like tone, trained to execute the most difficult fiorituri and cadenzas with the utmost care, and capable of running up comfortably to the giddy height of an F in alt. Moreover, the Hungarian soprano proved to be a good actress and a conscientious artist, so that her success was never for a moment in doubt.

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cite as

Hermann Klein, Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900 (New York City, 1903), p. 99. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1438247916111 accessed: 28 March, 2024

location of experience: Her Majesty's Opera House, London

Listeners

Hermann Klein
Music Critic, Singing Teacher, Writer
1856-1934

Listening to

hide composers
La Sonnambula
written by Felice Romani, Vincenzo Bellini
performed by Etelka Gerster

Experience Information

Date/Time 1877
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors

Originally submitted by sp327 on Thu, 30 Jul 2015 10:18:36 +0100
Approved on Mon, 25 Apr 2016 13:09:10 +0100