James Henry Mapleson

James Henry Mapleson (Colonel Mapleson) (4 May 1830 – 14 November 1901) was an English opera impresario, probably the leading figure instrumental in the development of opera production, and of the careers of singers, in London and New York City in the second half of the 19th century.

Mapleson was born in London, England. He studied first as a singer and violinist at the Royal Academy of Music in London and served in the army.

In 1849, Mapleson organized a tour of the British provinces with a concert company that included Henriette Sontag, Luigi Lablache and pianist Sigismond Thalberg. In 1850, he led another concert company, including mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot. He wrote as a music critic for The Atlas.

In the early 1850s, Mapleson travelled to Italy to study. In 1854 he sang in Verona under the name Enrico Mariani. Returning to London in 1854, he gave concerts but soon developed vocal difficulty requiring an operation that destroyed his voice. In 1856, he founded the first musical agency in London, and produced the first adaptation of Michael William Balfe's The Bohemian Girl in London. In 1858 he became an assistant to E. T. Smith, manager of the opera at the Haymarket Theatre until 1861 when Smith retired from the promotion of Italian opera.

Mapleson took over management of the Lyceum Theatre, in his first year presenting Il trovatore and bringing out the English premiere of Un ballo in maschera, both with Thérèse Tietjens, who performed with his companies for the rest of her career. One of Mapleson's early stars was Adelina Patti. From 1862-67 he managed Her Majesty's Theatre, presenting Italian, French and also German opera, and promoting such singers as De Murska, Mario, Giulia Grisi and Christina Nilsson. Her Majesty's burnt down in 1868, sending Mapleson to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where he introduced, among others, Italo Campanini, who became a Mapleson regular for many years. In the following two years there was a collaboration or coalition between the Drury Lane and Covent Garden companies, in partnership with Frederick Gye.

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