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282 The National Music of America.
of a good orchestra seat in that first great season of opera in America was one dollar!' This first cis-Atlantic opera troupe was brought to New York by the great Manuel Garcia.2 From that time to the present, Boston has been but a reflection of New York in operatic matters. In the earliest days of the history of opera in America, Boston looked askance at such " play-house " affairs. When the Marti troupe came to Boston (at the Howard Athenaeum) in 1847, the prices were less than those exacted in New York, fifty cents paying for admission even when Madame Lagrange sang. At this time New York loved opera, and was bored by oratorio, while Boston cared less for Rossini or Mozart than for Handel and Haydn. This was a natural outgrowth of the old psalmody in which New England had been bred, and |
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1 The Musician, December, 1897. 8 A full description of the evolution of opera in America will be found in Fitter's " Music in America," p. 190 et sea. |
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