A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Mapleson, James

by George Grove

MAPLESON, James Henry, a well-known London impresario. He was a student at the Royal Academy, appeared in public as a singer, and for some time played among the violas in the orchestra. Later he was assistant to Mr. E. T. Smith at Her Majesty's Theatre, and when Mr. Smith announced, in 1861, his intention of abandoning Italian Opera, Mr. Mapleson took the Lyceum, and commenced his career as a manager. He opened there on June 5, 1861; and on the 15th produced Verdi's 'Ballo in Maschera' for the first time in England. His first season at Her Majesty's was 1862, when Trebelli made her début in England; the burning of Her Majesty's drove him to Drury Lane in 1868. He joined Mr. Gye in 1869; the coalition lasted two seasons, and in 1871 he returned to Drury Lane. On April 28, 1877, he reopened Her Majesty's Theatre, of which he is still manager. Mr. Mapleson has lately taken his company to the United States in the intervals of the London season.

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