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![]() In an attempt to keep his companies intact, however, Davis soon developed an ingenious alternative. Thus, a prolonged summer season would have proved economically infeasible as well. Since the arrival of summer heat frequently coincided with the annual visitation of yellow fever or other illness, by May a large segment of the theatre going public relocated to the country parishes or to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, areas thought to be more healthy. Opening in the autumn, and continuing throughout the winter, the annual season at the Théâtre d’Orléans at times ended with the onset of Lent, but frequently extended until late April or May when the onslaught of hot, humid weather forced the closure of the theatres. ![]() ![]() ![]() John Davis, and, later, his son Pierre, continued as managers of the Théâtre d’Orléans, each season importing a company of singers, musicians and actors from Europe who were employed during the winter months in seasons of opera and drama. The ensuing history of opera in New Orleans can be told largely in a review of the theatres, large and small, that served the Crescent City for the next 180 years.Īlthough challenged at times by the adventurous spirit of rival impresarios, such as James Caldwell, and by itinerant opera companies that regularly visited the city, playing at other theatres, the Théâtre d’Orléans reigned supreme as the city’s most important venue for regular operatic seasons in the period prior to the Civil War. Within a few years the stage was set for an ongoing theatrical rivalry when, in 1824, James Caldwell inaugurated his Camp Street theatre, catering more to the tastes of the growing English speaking population. It was rebuilt and reopened in November 1819 under the management of impresario John Davis who, for many years, would be a leading figure in the French theatre in New Orleans. The first Théâtre d’Orléans opened in October 1815 on Orleans between Royal and Bourbon streets, but soon fell victim to fire. During the first third of the nineteenth century there was slow yearly growth as various theatres opened (and in some cases closed) and the repertoire was expanded to include, in addition to the popular light scores of Grétry, Méhul, Nicolo Isouard, Nicholas Dalayrac and François Boieldieu, works by Italian composers such as Giovanni Paisiello’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Luigi Cherubini’s Les Deux Journées. Philip and Royal streets, opened Januwith the American premiere of Etienne Nicholas Méhul’s Une Folie. Pierre closed in 1803 and the Théâtre St. It was there, on May 22,1796, that the first documented staging of an opera in New Orleans,André Ernest Grétry’s Sylvain, took place. Louis Alexandre Henry had purchased the land the previous year and built the theatre, which featured plays, comedies and vaudeville. Peter street between Royal and Bourbon, opened in October 1792. What is also significant is that, with few exceptions throughout the nineteenth century, each year the city hosted a resident company which was engaged for its principal theatre and which could be depended upon for performances throughout an established operatic season. But it can safely be stated that since 1796, in the final decade of the Spanish colonial era, New Orleans has had operatic performances on almost a yearly basis. The date of the very first staging of opera in the Crescent City cannot be firmly established and seems forever lost to music historians.
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