For
years he never gave a concert without having at least one Wagner
selection on the programme, no matter how much some of the critics and
patrons protested. In 1884 he considered the public sufficiently
weaned of Italian sweets to stand a strong dose of Wagner; so he
imported the three leading singers of the Bayreuth festivals--Materna,
Winkelmann, and Scaria--for a number of festival concerts. The
extraordinary success of these concerts seemed to indicate that the
time was ripe for a complete theatrical production of Wagner's later
music-dramas, and Mr. Thomas was already elaborating his plans when an
accident frustrated them and took the whole matter out of his hands.
This accident was the signal failure of Italian opera at the
Metropolitan Opera House during the first season of its existence. As
Mr. Abbey lost over a quarter of a million dollars by this disaster,
no other manager could be found willing to take his place and risk
another fortune. Since Mr. Abbey's company included several of the
most popular artists--Nilsson, Sembrich, Scalchi, Campanini, Del
Puente, etc.
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