tSl LSI lT 131 1F 
 
 151 IS! : LSI 151
 
 Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN
 
 MY JUBILEE.

 
 Printed by C.G.
 
 MY JUBILEE 
 
 OR 
 
 FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFF 
 
 BY 
 
 J. SIMS REEVES 
 
 WITH SIX PLATES, 
 
 AND A PREFACE BY THOMAS WARD. 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Eontion 
 THE LONDON MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED 
 
 AND 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO., AND HAMILTON, ADAMS & CO.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HKNDERSON AND SPALDING, MUSIC AND GENERAL PRINTERS, 
 3 AND 5, MARYLHBONE LANE, OXFORD STREET, W.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 FIFTY years of artistic life ! What scenes 
 and incidents, achievements and successes, 
 joys and sorrows, are unfolded in the story 
 of such a career, especially when the artist 
 has, for the greater part of that period, 
 occupied the front rank in his profession ! 
 Human interest will always centre in the 
 record of such a life, which must necessarily 
 be deepened when it issues in the form of 
 an autobiography, fresh from the mint of 
 memory, and bearing the stamp of veracity, 
 undimmed by the shifting perspective of an 
 editor, however gifted and sympathetic. 
 
 Such is the life of Mr. Sims Reeves, 
 written by himself. It is told with a 
 naivet^ and charm which belong to the pen 
 resolved to 
 
 " nothing extenuate, 
 Nor aught set down in malice ; " 
 
 1127676
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 and, while other biographical sketches of " the 
 greatest tenor of our day " have appeared 
 from time to time, these must all give place 
 to My Jubilee, or Fifty Years of Artistic 
 Life, not only as to authenticity, but also as 
 to fulness of detail. 
 
 It has perhaps been inseparable from the 
 high position which Mr. Reeves has so long 
 occupied in his profession, that much con- 
 cerning him that was apocryphal has passed 
 into popular currency. In his case not only has 
 distance lent " enchantment to the view," but 
 added romance has not been wanting. The 
 myth as to the cause of his repeated non-fulfil- 
 ment of professional engagements has now 
 received its quietus, never again, it is hoped, 
 to be whispered with bated breath even by the 
 most unreflecting part of the public. Reason 
 and common sense have long since accepted the 
 vocalist's disclaimer, when he said " I never 
 disappoint the public without being far more 
 grievously disappointed myself; but our fre- 
 quent changes of temperature are most trying, 
 and no care or caution can guarantee me against 
 occasional attacks, which prohibit me for a
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 season to leave the house, and yield my 
 public services to that art which it is the 
 highest ambition of my soul to forward, by 
 all the legitimate means within my reach." 
 
 Much interest clusters round the histrionic 
 career of Mr. Reeves. To the present gene- 
 ration, this is perhaps the least known portion 
 of his eventful life. The facts are here set 
 forth in chronological order with a vivacity 
 and humour which will captivate the reader ; 
 moreover his association with the greatest 
 actors of a bygone day will prove not the 
 least interesting part of the narrative. 
 
 The determined stand made by Mr. Reeves 
 against the constantly increasing rise in musical 
 pitch is also referred to ; and, although much 
 diversity of opinion has existed in this country 
 on the question, his views were supported by the 
 highest musical authorities on the Continent. 
 Vested interests here, as elsewhere, blocked 
 the path to reform, and general assimilation 
 to the French or Normal Diapason is still 
 in the distant future. 
 
 The meridian of Mr. Reeves's career, 
 however, was, in his ripe manhood, when
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 delighting large audiences in Oratorio, not 
 only at the Great Handel and County Festivals, 
 but also in every large hall throughout the 
 United Kingdom and Ireland his name be- 
 came a synonym for perfection in the vocal 
 art. The story of his successes in this 
 domain, as also in the realm of Opera, both 
 English and Italian, is told con amore, and 
 will undoubtedly bring to many a mind recol- 
 lections of genuine pleasure never to pass 
 away. 
 
 THOMAS WARD, 
 
 Managing Director, London Music Publishing Co., Ld 
 LONDON, July, 1889.
 
 CHAPTER I.
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 SEVERAL of my friends have done me the 
 honour to make me the subject of biographical 
 sketches, and even of full biographies. These, 
 however, have all in some respects been incom- 
 plete ; and now that I am entering upon the 
 fiftieth year of my professional career, it may 
 possibly interest a portion of that public from 
 which I have received so many marks of favour 
 to hear, as it were, from my own lips, the true 
 story of my life. Nor, in this autobiography, 
 is it by any means my intention to speak of 
 myself alone. My fate has naturally thrown 
 me among the greatest singers of the last half 
 century, nearly all of whom have been per- 
 sonally known to me. I have been brought 
 
 into contact, moreover, with no inconsiderable 
 
 B 2
 
 4 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 number of composers, conductors, and managers ; 
 and, without departing too much from the 
 thread of my own history, I may often find 
 occasion to speak of my various associates in 
 connection with the musical art. If fifty years 
 have passed since I sang for the first time in 
 public, it is nearly sixty since I first went to the 
 opera ; for I was in the habit of attending the 
 performances at the King's Theatre (as the 
 theatre now known as Her Majesty's was 
 then called) when I was a mere boy. 
 
 My father was a musician ; and he not only 
 practised the divine art, but also taught it, in a 
 manner which was anything but divine to me. 
 I had learnt the musical notes almost with the 
 notes of the alphabet ; and when I was a child 
 I had to rise, take my bath, dress, and be ready 
 for my pianoforte lesson by five o'clock in the 
 morning. I believe my father taught me well, 
 but I am sure that he taught me strictly and 
 severely. A false note on the piano was 
 speedily followed by a blow from his violin bow, 
 which, directed at my knuckles, never missed 
 its aim. Of course I had no business to make a 
 mistake : but often the means adopted for
 
 A music lesson
 
 OE, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 5 
 
 setting me right threw me into the greatest 
 confusion ; and sad, indeed, was my fate when 
 blunders were followed by correction, and 
 correction again by blunders. I must add that 
 iny father, in spite of his harsh mode of tuition, 
 had the greatest possible affection for me. If 
 he was ready to give me my lesson at five, 
 ought not I, who went to bed so much earlier, 
 to have been always ready by that time to 
 receive it ? while, as for false notes, it was his 
 first duty, as a teacher, to prevent them, and 
 the means he used were those which, unfor- 
 tunately for the children of that time, were 
 then in fashion. I shall print in its proper 
 place a letter from my father, glowing with 
 affection, on the subject of one of my greatest 
 operatic successes. 
 
 Besides being taught the piano, and soon 
 afterwards the organ, I learnt at a very early 
 age to sing. When I was a boy of ten I could 
 play all Handel's organ accompaniments from 
 the original figured bases ; and at the age of 
 fourteen I was appointed to the post of organist, 
 or at least performed an organist's duties, at 
 North Cray Church. I also had charge of the
 
 6 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 church choir, which had been trained with 
 considerable care. 
 
 On one occasion when I was singing in the 
 choir, we received a visit from some distin- 
 guished amateurs, with the late Lord Shaftes- 
 bury, then Lord Ashley, among them, who had 
 come from London specially to hear us. I 
 had not quite liked their patronising ways, 
 and I remember, as I looked pointedly at his 
 lordship, singing out at the top of my voice, 
 and with genuine fervour, this line from one 
 of the hymns in use : 
 
 " Boom for the proud, ye sons of clay." 
 
 I was by no means the only member of my 
 family who could sing. Both my brothers had 
 excellent voices. Both, afterwards, became 
 tenors. One of them, Henry, sang for many 
 years with great success in the United States ; 
 the other, Edwin, enjoyed great reputation as 
 a teacher. 
 
 The rector of North Cray, the Reverend 
 Edgell Wyatt Edgell, and his sister, Miss 
 Louisa Edgell, took great interest in the choir.
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 7 
 
 It was only on certain occasions that I played 
 the organ ; and my ordinary duties were those 
 of maestro di capella and of principal soprano 
 singer. My brother Henry was the second 
 soprano. An excellent musician, he also played 
 the harp accompaniments, as arranged by my- 
 self, to several hymns and anthems. 
 
 I have already said that both my brothers, 
 when they grew up, had tenor voices. It 
 cannot often happen that three tenor singers 
 are found in one family. We had all three, 
 moreover, genuine tenor voices, and sang in the 
 proper tenor register : not the half counter- 
 tenor voices of the present generation. 
 
 Mr. Lloyd, and Mr. J. Atkins, a basso, would 
 frequently come down professionally to assist us 
 in our extra performances. On these occasions 
 we had what we termed a field day ; and the 
 rector would invite friends from the neighbour- 
 hood and from London to hear the perform- 
 ances. Men of eminence and rank were often 
 present ; and I have already said that I was 
 not always pleased at their words of praise, 
 which, as I fancied, savoured too much of 
 patronage.
 
 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 My injured feelings, however, soon recovered 
 from the shocks unwittingly inflicted upon 
 them ; and when I came to reflect I could see 
 nothing in the praises bestowed on my voice 
 and singing but incentives to further study 
 with a view to success on a larger scale. At 
 this time, as ever afterwards, I attached the 
 greatest importance to enunciation. To express 
 with appropriate feeling the full meaning of the 
 words was my first aim ; and I did my best to 
 impress my colleagues with my own convictions 
 on this subject. 
 
 Our performances soon brought us no little 
 reputation, and my brother Henry and myself 
 were frequently engaged to sing at private 
 parties in the neighbourhood. The fees derived 
 from this source, together with the liberal 
 assistance of the good rector and his sister, 
 enabled us to provide ourselves with good 
 masters. 
 
 My brother and I were frequent visitors at 
 the rectory, where we sometimes remained for 
 weeks together. On these occasions Mr. Edgell 
 did not allow us to neglect our studies. Certain 
 hours were every day set apart for educational
 
 North Cray Church
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 9 
 
 purposes, when we received instruction in 
 English, Latin, French and Italian. 
 
 We were, I am sorry to say, far from being 
 diligent students, and we had now and then 
 recourse to a bit of cheating. Thus, we would 
 write our exercises on very long strips of paper, 
 and so fasten them under the collar of our coat 
 that either one of us could repeat his lesson 
 without having learnt it, by reading it from 
 the back of the other. I regret these acts of 
 dishonesty even to this day. Our devices, 
 which seemed at the time nothing but ingenious, 
 strike me now as mean. The rector was so 
 good, so patient, that it was disgraceful to take 
 advantage of him. 
 
 The only time I found Mr. Edgell really 
 angry was when I had committed a terrible 
 breach of confidence. He was the owner of a 
 very beautiful thorough-bred mare. From 
 time to time, my brother one day, and myself 
 another, were allowed to ride her, accompanied 
 always by the groom. But on the occasion in 
 question I took French leave, and, saddling the 
 mare myself, mounted her and boldly rode 
 forth. I soon found that she was awfully
 
 10 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 fresh, and I had not been out more than a 
 quarter of an hour when she suddenly pricked 
 up her ears, stood stock still, listening intently 
 for about half a minute, and then bolted. 
 Unable to hold her I gave her the reins, and 
 thought only of sticking to her until she got 
 tired. The secret of her sudden start was that 
 she had heard at no great distance the cry of a 
 pack of hounds. I was too much occupied at 
 the time with my own precarious position to 
 hear them. Away, meanwhile, she flew till all 
 at once a labourer with an enormous faggot of 
 wood on his back came suddenly before us. 
 She shied, swerved round, and made a big leap ; 
 which had the effect of throwing me upon a 
 heap of stones prepared for the mending of the 
 roads. I might have been hurled head first 
 upon the mass of flints with their points up- 
 wards. Fortunately, I landed in a sitting 
 posture. I was much cut, and bled a good 
 deal, and there were sundry rents in my gar- 
 ments. Had I fallen on my head, there might 
 have been an end of young Sims Eeeves, and, 
 in the words of Pope : 
 
 " The world had wanted many an idle song."
 
 North Cray Rectory.
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 11 
 
 Fortune, however, favoured me as, with a 
 generous hand, she has done throughout my 
 long career. 
 
 The mare found her way back to the stable, 
 I following her, much hurt and very much 
 dejected. The return of the mare riderless 
 created considerable alarm at the rectory. 
 When I, in my turn, arrived, I was at once 
 summoned to the study, where I received a 
 sound box on the ear and a doubtless equally 
 sound lecture, though I was not in a condition 
 to appreciate it at the time. I really, however, 
 felt very sorry for the fault I had committed ; 
 and on the following day I endeavoured to 
 make up for my disobedience (for we had been 
 cautioned against riding the mare without 
 express permission) by doing my utmost. I 
 worked with heart and soul ; for I loved the 
 rector, and I felt that I could not do enough 
 to atone for my misconduct. 
 
 This, during our long intercourse, was the 
 only disagreeable incident that took place. 
 Not only were my brother and myself con- 
 stantly entertained at North Cray Rectory ; 
 we were also frequent visitors at the Misses
 
 12 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 Edgell's house in London. They lived at No. 40, 
 Lower Grosvenor Street, and here we frequently 
 sang and played at the parties given by the 
 rector and his sisters. Here, also, we were 
 often put through our studies. The ladies had 
 a box at the King's Theatre, where, as I have 
 previously mentioned, my brother and myself 
 were often taken. Here we heard all the great 
 Italian singers of the time, including Grisi, 
 Persiani and Brambilla ; Rubini, Ivanoff, Mario 
 and Moriani ; Tamburini, Colletti and Forna- 
 sari ; Lablache, and many others. 
 
 I never liked Tamburini ; his style was 
 affected and meretricious. He looked and 
 carried himself well on the stage ; but Giorgio 
 Konconi, to use a slang expression, knocked 
 him into a cocked hat both as actor and singer. 
 
 We were taken by our dear good friends 
 to all that was worth seeing and hearing in 
 London ; picture galleries, theatres and con- 
 certs. Occasionally, too, we went with them 
 into the country, to the seat of the rector's 
 father, Mr. Wyatt Edgell, of Milton Place, 
 Egham. 
 
 At archery meetings, musical soirees, and
 
 The North Gray Choir
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 13 
 
 other social gatherings, my brother and myself 
 were indeed made much of. Those were veri- 
 tably happy days. How different was the 
 society of fifty years ago from that of the 
 present time ! So at least it appears to me. 
 
 During the years 1837 and 1838, while con- 
 tinuing my studies in London, I used to go 
 down to North Cray on Wednesdays and 
 Sundays in order to direct the performances 
 of my choir. The larger London theatres soon 
 became familiar to me ; and before long I was 
 enamoured of the smell of the footlights, and 
 had quite made up my mind to adopt the stage 
 and dramatic singing as my profession. I tried 
 my luck as an amateur, and succeeded so well 
 that I made an application to an agent, a Mr. 
 Tumour, who occupied apartments in Little 
 Russell Street, Covent Garden, and who, on 
 inscribing my name in his books, promised to 
 do his best to assist me. Without much delay, 
 he procured me an opening at the Theatre 
 Royal, Newcastle-on-Tyne ; and here, in the 
 month of December, 1839, I made my first 
 appearance on any stage. Before speaking of 
 my d&jut, I may mention that I had studied
 
 14 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 harmony and counterpoint under Mr. H. Callcott, 
 and that my principal pianoforte professor was 
 Mr. John Cramer. I had also mastered more 
 than one orchestral instrument, including the 
 violin, violoncello, oboe, and bassoon. All 
 Bach's fugues I could now play by heart. I 
 was a particularly good violinist ; so good, 
 indeed, that at the beginning of my public 
 career I not unfrequently undertook the duties 
 of orchestral leader. 
 
 Although I resolved for my own part to be a 
 singer, my father thought it prudent to teach 
 me a trade on which, in case of failing in my 
 profession, I could fall back. The precaution 
 was a wise one, though happily it was not 
 needed ; and it would be well if all fathers 
 would remember the fact that in connection 
 with every art there is a craft. A youth who, 
 in his ambition wishes to become a great 
 historical painter, may find it useful to be 
 qualified to earn money as a wood engraver. 
 An unappreciated poet may save himself from 
 starvation by a sufficient knowledge of short 
 hand to enable him to report speeches ; and in 
 like manner it is well that a composer or a
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 15 
 
 "% 
 
 singer without any private means to live upon 
 should, in case of non-success, be in a position 
 to turn an honest penny by the exercise of one 
 of the many trades connected with the musical 
 art. I was taught to engrave music plates, 
 and, had I suddenly lost my voice, could have 
 earned my living by that occupation. That I 
 was much dissatisfied at being taught a mere 
 trade will readily be believed. But I was 
 sufficiently conscientious in this, as I hope in 
 other matters, to consider it my duty to carry 
 out my father's wishes. I accordingly set to 
 work with a will and determination to do 
 my best ; and I succeeded in mastering the 
 business which, in case of failure as a singer, 
 I was to take up. 
 
 Meanwhile, I had not neglected my musical 
 studies, working at them most diligently after 
 business hours. In a comparatively short time 
 I had met with enough success as a singer to 
 justify me in abandoning all thought of trade 
 to which I had always entertained the strongest 
 objection ; and great was my joy when I found 
 myself at liberty to devote myself entirely to 
 the only career I cared for.
 
 CHAPTEK II.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN my musical education, one strange mistake 
 liad been made. I had been trained as a bari- 
 tone ; and it was not until after I had sung for 
 some time on the operatic stage that Nature, 
 and my own self-consciousness, taught me that 
 I was a tenor. There have been instances, as 
 I have elsewhere remarked, of singers coming- 
 out as tenors and finding afterwards that they 
 had baritone voices. Lablache, for example, is 
 said to have played the part of Count Alma- 
 viva in his youth, of Figaro in middle age, and 
 of Dr. Bartolo when he was beginning to get 
 old ; thus falling from tenor to baritone, and 
 from baritone to bass. But apart from my 
 own case, I never knew any instance of a 
 
 singer beginning as a baritone and afterwards 
 
 c 2
 
 20 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 becoming a tenor until a few years ago I 
 found that the eminent vocalist, M. Jean de 
 Reszke, had gone through precisely the same 
 experience. 
 
 In 1839, when I had just entered upon my 
 eighteenth year, I appeared for the first time 
 on the public stage at Newcastle as the Gipsy 
 boy in Guy Mannering. the performance being 
 given for the benefit of a tenor of that time, 
 the late George Barker. This was during a 
 starring engagement of Mr. and Mrs. Woods. 
 
 I at once succeeded ; in proof of which it 
 need only be mentioned that I was offered 
 immediately afterwards the important parts, 
 baritone parts, be it observed, of Count 
 Rodolfo, in the Sonnambula, and of Dandini 
 in La Cenerentola. My impersonations were 
 much applauded. But I was destined some 
 years later to call forth far greater enthusiasm 
 in the character of Elvino, the tenor, in 
 Bellini's delightful opera. 
 
 When the season at the Newcastle-on-Tyne 
 theatre was at an end, I went to Worcester, 
 where I played walking gentleman, small parts 
 in tragedies, and tenor, not baritone, parts in
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 21 
 
 operettas, and even a part in the pantomime. 
 Anything that was assigned to me I cheerfully 
 undertook, determined to make my way, anxious 
 to improve my experience, and always looking 
 forward to higher things, though they might 
 not be immediately within my reach. 
 
 At the end of the Worcester engagement, I 
 came back to London, where I accepted an 
 engagement at the Grecian Theatre. This I 
 did mainly with a view to stage practice ; and 
 not caring to appear in my own name I adopted 
 the familiar one of Johnson. Having now 
 found, through personal experience, the true 
 register of my voice, I placed myself in the 
 hands of Mr. Hobbs and Mr. T. Cooke for train- 
 ing as a tenor ; and before long I was offered 
 an appearance at Drury Lane, then under the 
 direction of Macready. 
 
 The history of Macready's management fills 
 a bright page in the annals of the drama, and it 
 was an honour to be engaged at his theatre, no 
 matter in what capacity. All I was offered 
 was the post of second tenor. I gladly accepted 
 it. Though I was nominally in a subordinate 
 position, my duties involved the singing of such
 
 22 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 parts as that of Ottocar in Der Freiscliiitz. On 
 many occasions, too, I was called upon to sing 
 the vigorous, expressive air, " Come, if you 
 dare," in Purcell's King Arthur. This war-song 
 of the Britons has survived the rest of the 
 work, which dates from two centuries back, 
 having been first produced in the year 1691. 
 
 The pleasure produced by Purcell's music is 
 derived, as Dr. Burney well puts it, " from 
 his having turned to the true accents of his 
 mother tongue those notes of passion which an 
 inhabitant of this island would breathe in such 
 situations as the words describe. And these in- 
 digenous expressions of passion Purcell," he con- 
 tinues, " had the power to enforce by the energy 
 of modulation, which, on some occasions, was 
 bold, affecting, and sublime." Without going so 
 far as Dr. Burney, who maintains that in " the 
 accent, passion, and expression of English words 
 the vocal music of Purcell is sometimes as 
 superior to Handel's as an original poem to a 
 translation," I could not be blind to the 
 energy and appropriateness with which our 
 English composer has marked in music the 
 accent and the true meaning of the words he
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 23 
 
 was setting. The famous war-song being 
 entrusted to me, I could not but seek to do 
 justice to it ; and having, in the character of a 
 British warrior, to address a host of enemies 
 threatening me from the rear, I, of course, 
 knew that in singing defiance to them I must 
 not shun their gaze. 
 
 It was equally necessary, however, that I 
 should not turn my back upon the audience. 
 This, on rare occasions, an actor may be justified 
 in doing. But for a singer to do so at any time 
 would be a positive absurdity. We sing that 
 we may be heard, and for that reason cannot 
 under any circumstances turn our back directly 
 upon the audience. 
 
 In my difficulty I adopted one of those com- 
 promises which art so constantly requires. I 
 stood sideways so that I could at the same time 
 menace the advancing foe and allow my menaces 
 to be heard by the attentive audience. Why, I 
 wonder, did not the intelligent manager arrange 
 for my enemies to enter from one of the side 
 wings? This, however, did not suit the stage 
 picture as conceived by him ; and nothing 
 would satisfy him but that I should sing my
 
 24 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 war-song in such a position that though my 
 daring adversaries would hear it the audience 
 would not. 
 
 At the end of the performance Mr. Macready 
 fell into one of his customary rages and gave 
 me my dismissal. I had not, however, been 
 long absent from the theatre when he sent for 
 me and asked me to resume my engagement. 
 But I was to do so only on conditions, and these 
 conditions were to be imposed absolutely by the 
 tyrannical manager : for this, with all his merit, 
 Macready emphatically was. Delighting in the 
 exercise of arbitrary power, the stern director 
 informed me that for disobeying his orders I 
 was sentenced to pay a fine of five pounds ; and 
 on consenting most unwillingly to be mulcted 
 in this sum I was at liberty once more to play 
 the part of Ottocar and to sing (more or less 
 with my back to the audience) Purcell's mag- 
 nificent war-song. 
 
 In vain had I remonstrated with him on his 
 injustice ; and I ended by telling him that 
 though I was only beginning my career, I might 
 some day be in a position as distinguished as 
 his own, and that, the opportunity presenting
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 25 
 
 itself, I should feel bound to mark my sense of 
 his conduct in a befitting manner. Many years 
 afterwards, when Mr. Macready, on his retire- 
 ment from the stage, was arranging a farewell 
 benefit, he wrote to ask me to sing for him. In 
 declining to do so I did not fail to remind him 
 of the circumstances which left me no option 
 but to pursue this coarse. 
 
 But the vexation caused to me by Macready 
 when he not only deprived me of money justly 
 earned, but treated me moreover as though my 
 arguments and representations were worth 
 nothing as opposed to his absolute word, my 
 reason undeserving of a moment's consideration 
 when in contradiction to his will, this can 
 never blind me to the fact that he was indeed an 
 admirable manager. He reformed the theatre 
 too, not in an artistic sense alone. Objectionable 
 characters were excluded from the audience de- 
 partment. Macready for the first time rendered 
 an English theatre a place which decent women 
 could attend without fear of being shocked by 
 gaudy neighbours. 
 
 There is no record, I believe, of Mr. Mac- 
 ready's life, except the one written by himself,
 
 26 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 and the admirable memoir by Sir Frederick 
 and Lady Pollock ; and in neither of these 
 works should we look for any of his domineering 
 habits, which sometimes caused pain to his 
 subordinates, and at other times placed the 
 great man himself in very comic situations. 
 
 When, for instance, he was playing in Othello 
 at Birmingham, he was rarely satisfied at 
 rehearsals with the position taken up on the 
 stage by Mr. G. V. Brooke, the lago of the cast. 
 " Be good enough to stand there, sir," he ex- 
 claimed, indicating a particular spot. 
 
 Mr. B. went sufficiently near, but did not 
 stand on the precise point which Macready had 
 in his eye. 
 
 " There, sir ; I said there ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 lago changed his position, but somehow did 
 not succeed in standing exactly where Othello 
 wished to see him. 
 
 " Bring a nail, carpenter," cried Macready at 
 last ; " a nail and a piece of chalk." 
 
 "The carpenter brought the nail, drove it 
 into the boards, and with the piece of chalk 
 made a small circle round it. 
 
 " There, sir, there can be no mistake now,"
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 27 
 
 cried Macready ; "let us go on with the 
 rehearsal." 
 
 lago stood firmly, perhaps too firmly, on the 
 spot marked out for him : but Macready was 
 satisfied, and all went well. When, however, 
 in the evening, the performance took place, the 
 first scene between Othello and lago was played 
 with variations which took the public by sur- 
 prise. Instead of looking at Othello, lago 
 gazed inquisitively on the ground, walked to 
 and fro, and appeared lost in an anxious search 
 for some object he could not discover. At last 
 Macready's patience, never of a very enduring- 
 kind, gave way, and he called out : 
 
 " Mr. Brooke, for God's sake be quiet; what 
 are you doing ? " 
 
 " I am looking for the nail, Mr. Macready," 
 replied Mr. Brooke, in a stentorian voice. 
 
 The audience was mystified, but also much 
 amused, while Macready was, of course, in a 
 towering rage. 
 
 When Mr. Brooke had sufficiently enjoyed the 
 situation, he dismissed all thought of the nail 
 and went on with his part in the usual manner. 
 
 Mr. Brooke was not the only actor who pre-
 
 28 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 ferred to forfeit his engagement rather than 
 put up with Macready's intolerable insults. 
 There was an old man at the - Theatre, 
 
 who, being short, slim, and more or less boyish 
 in figure, had been cast for the part of Albert, 
 Tell's son, in Sheridan Knowles's drama of 
 William Tell. At the rehearsals he had not 
 stood with the apple on his head precisely as 
 Macready wished : nobody ever did stand ex- 
 actly in accordance with that gentleman's 
 desires. The veteran Albert was cuffed, 
 shaken, sworn at, but could not be made to 
 stand in what his tormentor deemed a suitable 
 position. At last, however, he was forced into 
 something like an appropriate attitude, and 
 Macready told him, with a final curse, at 
 his peril to stand otherwise when, that same 
 evening, the public performance took place. 
 
 Meanwhile, the aged boy had determined to 
 have his revenge ; and when William Tell's 
 great scene arrived, and the famous actor, who 
 had by this time fully persuaded himself that 
 he was not William Charles Macready but 
 William Teh 1 was about to fire the traditional 
 arrow, the wicked Albert, instead of standing
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 29 
 
 like a good child to be shot at, exclaimed, " No 
 yer don't," and suddenly dipped and dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 The outburst of rage called forth by Albert's 
 treacherous conduct will scarcely bear de- 
 scription. 
 
 Strangely enough, this passionate man did 
 not consider himself sufficiently irascible by 
 nature to depict anger on the stage, and there- 
 fore employed (as I myself have seen) two 
 unfortunate supers, whose business it was to 
 make faces at him, tread on his toes, kick him, 
 and otherwise provoke him until he was in a 
 state of exasperation bordering on the demoniac. 
 
 " More ! " he would growl, as he stood at the 
 wing preparing to make a terrific entry; " more, 
 you beasts ! " until an exceptionally severe kick 
 happening to coincide with the moment for his 
 sudden appearance, he would knock down each 
 of his hired tormentors and rush upon the stage 
 like a maniac. 
 
 " When, some years later, Macready was 
 playing at the Princess's Theatre under the 
 management of Mr. Maddox, he was once sub- 
 jected to a practical joke of rather an elaborate
 
 30 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 kind. Although the direction of the theatre 
 was in the hands of Mr. Maddox, Macready 
 could tolerate no superior; and in regard to his 
 principal actor the master of the establishment 
 was un maitre qui obeit. 
 
 Mr. Maddox longed to be revenged upon Mr. 
 Macready for the harsh treatment that he had 
 from time to time experienced at his hands. 
 He did not dare to offend him openly. He was 
 resolved, all the same, to have some sport at 
 his tormentor's expense ; and with much sly- 
 ness and subtlety he at last carried out his 
 design. 
 
 Mr. Macready, the intimate friend of Sir 
 Edward Bulwer (as the author of PelTiam was 
 called in those days), Charles Dickens, Serjeant 
 Talfourd, and other distinguished writers of the 
 time, prided himself on his literary faculties (he 
 once edited Pope), and on his keen literary 
 perceptions. It was on this point that Mr. 
 Maddox had determined to wound him. There 
 was at that time a singer at the Princess's 
 Theatre named Sinclair Jones, if I remember 
 rightly : a basso profondo, an impersonator, 
 in any case, of inferior characters. In his
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 31 
 
 leisure moments, which, as his parts were 
 of 110 importance, must have been abun- 
 dant, Mr. Jones occupied himself with play- 
 writing. He had several tragedies in his 
 portfolio, and had of course asked Mr. Maddox 
 to produce them. Equally, as a matter of 
 course, Mr. Maddox had declined to do anything 
 of the kind. One day, however, pondering over 
 an insult, or perhaps a mere slight, which he 
 had received at the hands of Macready, Mr. 
 Maddox bethought himself of Sinclair Jones's 
 tragedies. He sent for Jones, and suggested to 
 the delighted Basso that it might be a good 
 idea to read one of his plays to Macready. 
 
 Jones jumped at the notion, and asked which 
 of his plays he had better submit to the great 
 actor. Mr. Maddox, who had not read one of 
 them, told the hitherto unacted author to 
 choose the one which seemed to him most 
 suitable. Jones selected what he considered 
 his masterpiece, Caractacus, I believe it was 
 called, and hurried with it at the end of the 
 second act to Macready 's dressing room. 
 
 Maddox seems to have told Sinclair Jones 
 that to ingratiate himself beforehand with
 
 32 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 Macready he would do well to consult him 
 about his costume as one of the minor char- 
 acters in Henry VIII. ; and, without at the 
 time saying a word about the drama which he 
 proposed to inflict on the unconscious tragedian, 
 he begged Macready's permission to present 
 himself in his dressing-room before appearing 
 on the stage, in the hope that his dress, which 
 he declared he had chosen with every regard 
 to historical and pictorial propriety, might meet 
 with the approbation of so eminent a judge. 
 Macready was making up for the part of 
 Cardinal "Wolsey, painting his face, powdering 
 his chin, and muttering to himself, according 
 to his habit, with the view of inducing perfect 
 self-delusion as to the character he was on the 
 point of assuming : "I am not Macready ! I 
 am Wolsey; Cardinal Wolsey !" when suddenly 
 a tap was heard at the door. 
 
 " Come in, Henry the Eighth," he called out. 
 " Can it be Harry, my royal master ? " 
 
 Enter Sinclair Jones, grotesquely but, in his 
 own opinion, magnificently attired, bearing 
 beneath his arm a huge roll of manuscript. 
 
 The illustrious tragedian, still making up for
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 33 
 
 his part, continued to mutter, as he powdered 
 his chin : " I'm Wolsey, Cardinal Wolsey, I'm 
 not Macready," when suddenly he became 
 conscious of his visitor's presence. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Sinclair Jones ! You want me to 
 look at your costume ? " 
 
 He turned slowly round, and, staring at the 
 apparition before him, exclaimed : " Mother 
 Shipton, by God ! " 
 
 Poor Sinclair Jones had produced a bad first 
 impression. But, without losing his presence 
 of mind, he unfolded the manuscript, which 
 Macready had probably mistaken for Mother 
 Shipton's famous prophecy, and began to 
 explain that the mysterious scroll was a drama, 
 written specially for the most celebrated actor 
 of modern times, and that Mr. Maddox had 
 told him to read it to the eminent tragedian 
 without delay. 
 
 Macready, when he had recovered from his 
 astonishment, reflected that there might per- 
 chance be some merit in Mr. Jones's play ; 
 otherwise, indeed, how would the manager 
 have had the presumption to commend it to 
 his notice ? 
 
 D
 
 34 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 " In how many acts?" asked Macready, turn- 
 ing over the leaves of the manuscript. 
 
 " Five, sir ; the regulation number. It is a 
 poetic drama," replied Mr. Jones. 
 
 " Ah, I see; it is in blank verse," replied the 
 tragedian. " The verse limps at times," he 
 continued, as he read the opening speech, 
 " indeed, it halts consumedly." 
 
 Mr. Jones explained that he was no slave to 
 pedantic rules, and that some of the first of 
 modern poets had ventured at times to trifle 
 with metrical symmetry. 
 
 " Well, well," replied Macready ; " but your 
 piece is long. Not only are there five acts, 
 but each act has the dimensions of two ordinary 
 ones." 
 
 " That need not matter, sir ; not in the 
 least," replied Mr. Jones. " I have written it 
 freely ; but, an actor myself, I know what 
 stage requirements are, and you are at liberty 
 to cut it wherever you think fit." 
 
 At this unauthorlike suggestion, Macready 
 exploded. 
 
 " Do you know, man," he cried, rising from 
 his chair, and pointing to the door, " do you
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 35 
 
 know that Sir Edward Bulwer passes sleepless 
 nights polishing a single sentence for me ? 
 And you talk of writing freely, and of not 
 caring whether your work be cut ! Leave me 
 this instant, and take this thing with you." 
 
 Mr. Jones retired with as much dignity as 
 he could command under such trying circum- 
 stances, and hastened to tell Mr. Maddox of 
 the uncourteous reception he had met with at 
 the hands of the eminent tragedian. 
 
 Another joke, this one purely of a practical 
 kind, which was played upon Mr. Macready 
 when he was at the Princess's, had no humour 
 to recommend it, unless, as was suggested at 
 the time, Mr. Maddox was at the bottom of it. 
 An inferior actor, seeing Macready at the foot 
 of the staircase, and, mistaking him for an inti- 
 mate friend attired in a similar costume, seized 
 him by the back of the trousers and the scruff 
 of the neck and ran him upstairs. The mis- 
 take may or may not have been due to the 
 prompting of the keen and vengeful manager. 
 
 Macready was in any case run upstairs in 
 the manner described, and it is said that, 
 
 when he found himself at the top of the stair- 
 
 D 2
 
 36 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 case, he turned round and uttered a solemn 
 curse. 
 
 Mr. Maddox, as opera manager, produced 
 several interesting works, including a ver- 
 sion of Flotow's Martha, given in English 
 
 before the existence of the Italian version ; a 
 
 A 
 translation of the same composer's Ame en 
 
 peine, represented under the title of Leoline ; 
 and, above all, Edward Loder's excellent opera 
 The Night Dancers, on the subject of Giselle, 
 He once made me pressing offers, but I never 
 saw my way to accept them. 
 
 " Sixty pounds a week, my boy ! " he once 
 tempted me with ; and I told him (I was then 
 beginning my career) that if he wanted me only 
 to sing three times a week I would consider 
 his proposal. 
 
 " Always willing to meet your views, my 
 boy," he rejoined. " Six times a week would 
 keep you better before the public ; but I will 
 do anything to oblige you. Make it three a 
 week, and I will give you twenty-five." 
 
 At last Maddox proposed, as he put it, " to 
 split the difference," but still I could not accept. 
 
 He informed me, as a means of bringing me
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 37 
 
 to terms, that Rubini was studying English, 
 and would soon be in London to make his first 
 appearance in English opera, adding, with a 
 knowing wink, " but can he sing ? " This 
 daring suggestion, though it amused me, left 
 me unmoved. 
 
 Some days afterwards, when all negotiations 
 between us were at an end, he passed me in 
 the street, talking to a friend, and said in a 
 loud voice, without looking at me : " Tenors 
 are as cheap as mackerel. You can get them 
 three a shilling. They will soon be the price 
 of herrings, a penny a-piece all round." 
 
 I have certainly no prejudice against Jews, 
 among whom, I may add, I have found some 
 of my most enthusiastic admirers. Thus when 
 I have been singing at the Standard Theatre 
 the house has been half full of these ancient, 
 traditional lovers of music. Once, I remember, 
 when the doors had just been opened and the 
 theatre was already full, an ancient Israelite, 
 accompanied by his wife, most sumptuously 
 attired, presented himself at the box office, and 
 demanded two places, wherever they could be 
 given to him.
 
 38 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 " Everything is let," was the reply. 
 
 " But I must have them." 
 
 " You cannot," said the money-taker. 
 
 " But I have brought my wife," said the 
 Israelitish amateur. " There she is in her 
 turban, put on for the occasion. Look at her. 
 Isn't she beautiful ? Take ten bob, and let us 
 in. ... Yer can't do it ? Then I'll empty my 
 pocket. Take vot yer like." 
 
 It may fairly be supposed that my friend had 
 not in his pocket more than say fifteen shillings. 
 I believe his eloquence and his offers at length 
 procured him admission in some odd corner of 
 the immense building. 
 
 Macready would never tolerate visitors behind 
 the scenes, with the exception, of course, of 
 authors whose works were being performed or 
 were about to be produced. Sir Edward 
 Bulwer (Lord Lytton) was, I remember, fre- 
 quently in the green-room. But the rich idlers, 
 whose presence is not only permitted, but 
 encouraged and invited at some theatres, were 
 never, under Macready's management, allowed 
 to pass the stage door. 
 
 I have always set my face strongly against
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 39 
 
 the practice of those dissolute, unprincipled 
 managers, who, with a view to the replenish- 
 ment of their badly-filled exchequer, favour 
 the presence behind the scenes of men with as 
 little morality but more money than them- 
 selves ; men who attend the theatre simply to 
 pervert any vain or thoughtless girl they can 
 get to listen to them. 
 
 How often, some forty years ago, have I 
 seen with disgust at Her Majesty's Theatre 
 a certain painted and bedizened Duke seeking 
 to make as evil a use as possible of his 
 celebrated diamonds ; with several other pro- 
 fligates of the same stamp. 
 
 So strongly do I feel on this subject, that I 
 cannot refrain from here reproducing a story 
 which I have told before of incidents that 
 occurred at another theatre where English, not 
 Italian, opera was at the time being performed. 
 
 Preferring not to give the true name of the 
 corrupt manager, nor of his corrupting friend, 
 the haunter of the side scenes, I have called 
 the former Mr. Moncrieif, and the latter Lord 
 Fitz- Ordinary.
 
 40 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 During the height of the London season I 
 was singing in Fro, Diavolo and other operas at 
 
 Theatre; the business was enormous, 
 
 money being turned away nightly at the doors. 
 
 Our manager was a clever business man, of 
 good appearance and manner ; a facile linguist 
 and penman, he occupied a prominent position 
 on two religious periodicals of high repute in 
 clerical circles. 
 
 Yet it was whispered that his private life was 
 far from stainless ; and though I knew of nothing 
 to justify these rumours, I could not bring my- 
 self to like or trust him ; and perhaps this 
 feeling became strengthened by the deference 
 which marked his bearing towards me. 
 
 His suaviter in modo pleased the public, 
 however, and Mr. Spicer Moncrieff was held in 
 high regard by the non-professional world. A 
 man over forty, he was always expensively, 
 though quietly dressed ; and enjoyed the privi- 
 lege of honorary membership at more than one 
 club. But "knowing ones" winked aside when 
 it was mentioned in the papers that Mr. Mon- 
 crieff had addressed another public meeting, 
 advocating principles of universal philanthropy.
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 41 
 
 " I'll tell his wife of his goings on," I heard 
 our leading baritone say once, during a rehearsal. 
 
 " You'll never get the chance," growled the 
 basso profundo, to whom this remark was ad- 
 dressed. " That invisible female resides some- 
 w^here among the Welsh mountains, and is 
 always kept at a remote distance from the 
 corrupting influence of the Drama, ahem ! " 
 
 These and like remarks denoted in what 
 manner this theatrical Pecksniff was esteemed 
 by his professional brethren ; however, a certain 
 nobleman, Lord Fitz-Ordinary, was his constant 
 associate. 
 
 That this wealthy peer advanced him large 
 sums of money, every one knew, or said they 
 knew ; but the cautious Moncrieff took care 
 that no evidence verbal or written of these 
 transactions should come to the knowledge of 
 the world in general; for the manager, editor, 
 and quasi-public moralist, belonged to that 
 class of men whose sole guiding principle is 
 Self and Self-interest. 
 
 This principle clearly denominated the terms 
 of Mr. Spicer Moncrieff 's agreement with my- 
 self; notwithstanding, I stipulated for an
 
 42 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 augmented chorus and orchestra, and that my 
 attendance at rehearsals should not be im- 
 perative, and with some little difficulty obtained 
 these concessions. 
 
 On the opening night of Fra Diavolo, I 
 happened, during a " wait," to be near one of 
 the side scenes, and my attention was at once 
 arrested by a female chorus singer, whom I had 
 not previously noticed. She was a girl of very 
 striking appearance, with a lovely face, and tall, 
 classically moulded form ; her nervous, ama- 
 teurish manner only seemed to make her beauty 
 more remarkable. 
 
 I listened with some curiosity for her voice, 
 and was surprised to hear, as it blended with 
 those of the other singers, that it was a rich 
 and resonant contralto of great power. That 
 there was something mysterious about the 
 young girl I instantly divined, and that it 
 would be a duty to shield her from evil was also 
 clear, for in the manager's box were Mr. Mon- 
 crieff and his friend Lord Fitz- Ordinary, both 
 closely watching her. 
 
 At the conclusion of the act, it was not 
 necessary for me to retire to my dressing-room,
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 43 
 
 presently Mr. Moncrieff and his noble friend 
 crossed the stage, and I found myself under- 
 going the honour of an introduction to the 
 latter. 
 
 Our salutations were brief, but not shorter 
 than, on my side at least, was desired ; subse- 
 quently I went into the green room, and there 
 stood the young chorus singer with downcast 
 eyes, and blushing painfully, while Lord Fitz- 
 Ordina-ry was apparently paying her the most 
 devoted attention. Mr. Moncrieff hovered in 
 the background, with an expression on his face 
 which made me long to thrash him then and 
 there. I crossed over to the girl, unheeding the 
 scowl which knitted the brow of the wretched 
 little sprig of nobility at my approach, and 
 said to her, " You have a beautiful voice ; would 
 you not like to become a leading singer?" 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Reeves," she replied, enthusiasm 
 overcoming for a moment her nervous shyness, 
 " it is my one ambition." 
 
 " Have you sung in public before ? " 
 
 " No," she said, while her would-be admirer 
 fidgetted angrily at my temerity. 
 
 " Have you ever been on the stage ? "
 
 44 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 "Never until to-night." 
 
 " Your voice has been trained, though." 
 
 " It has," she admitted, with an embarrassed 
 air. 
 
 " May I ask by whom ? " 
 
 " Stage waits, Mr. Reeves," shouted the call- 
 boy ; and I hastened from the room. 
 
 Evidently my entrance and conversation had 
 been the reverse of pleasing to the manager 
 and his friend ; indeed the latter was heard to 
 mutter most uncomplimentary things concerning 
 singers in general and one tenor in particular. 
 
 Never was encore so bitterly distasteful to 
 me as the one I received in this act, the 
 public, insisting on the repetition of my song, 
 little imagined the state of my feelings while 
 responding. 
 
 The ordeal over, I hurried to the green 
 room, but no sign could I see of the chorus 
 singer, the manager, or his " noble " friend. 
 Time passed, and the curtain rose on the last 
 act, still they came not, and I would have given 
 a thousand pounds for knowledge of their 
 movements ; it provoked me so much that it 
 became a personal feeling, and I swore that
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 45 
 
 neither Moncrieff nor his friend should com- 
 pass their ends if it were in my power to 
 prevent them. At last the curtain fell, and as 
 I was leaving the stage I happened to en- 
 counter the ballet mistress. 
 
 " Madame," I said hastily, " can I speak with 
 you a moment ; it is concerning the new lady 
 chorus singer." 
 
 "I don't know her, sir, nor the chorus master 
 very well." 
 
 " But you know Lord Fitz- Ordinary." 
 
 "Rather," she said, with a quick glance out 
 of the corner of her eye. " Where is he ?" 
 
 " He went away some time ago with Mr. 
 Moncrieff, but the manager will have to come 
 back for the closing of the house, he has to look 
 after that." 
 
 This was cold comfort ; still, it somewhat 
 lessened my apprehension. 
 
 " Whispering my suspicions, and taking some 
 money from my purse, I said, " You understand 
 now, and will let me know anything that 
 happens." 
 
 " You are very kind, Mr. Reeves ; I'll do 
 what I can."
 
 46 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 I rushed to the dressing-room, hastily 
 changed my stage costume, and hurried down- 
 stairs. I found the ballet mistress waiting for 
 me ; she whispered, " The manager's carriage is 
 standing in Bedford Street, with Lord F. and 
 the lady inside." 
 
 " Come with me at once," I said. 
 
 As we reached the spot Mr. Moncrieff was 
 leaving the vehicle, which was on the point of 
 starting ; I ran to the horse's head, and the 
 coachman instantly pulled up; while, taken com- 
 pletely aback, Mr. Moncrieff remained speechless 
 as I opened the door. 
 
 When she saw me, the frightened girl leaned 
 forward eagerly, saying in an appealing voice, 
 " Take me away ; oh ! do take me away ! " 
 
 "What the devil do you want here?" shouted 
 his lordship, in a fury. I made him no answer, 
 but merely saying " Come " to the girl, I helped 
 her out of the carriage before he could detain 
 her. 
 
 " Will you tolerate this audacious intrusion, 
 Moncrieff V said he savagely to the manager. 
 
 His confederate, who was as enraged as him- 
 self, endeavoured to seize the poor, scared
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 47 
 
 creature, and to threaten me ; but placing her 
 in charge of the ballet mistress, I turned to him 
 and said, " I do not fear you or any man, and 
 if you have any grievance in the matter, bring 
 it into a court of law." 
 
 Happily restored to her parents, the deluded 
 girl has never since attempted to follow a 
 theatrical career. I am not at liberty to speak 
 further of her story, but she was of good 
 family, her parents being intimate friends of 
 Mr. Moncrieffs invisible wife; and whenever I 
 happen to meet her, her downcast eyes and 
 mantling cheeks bear evidence that the' occasion 
 of our first interview is not yet forgotten.
 
 CHAPTER III.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I NOW knew quite enough about singing to be 
 sure that I was in need of further instruction ; 
 and in 1843 I went to Paris, in order to take 
 lessons of a very distinguished master, Signer 
 Bordogni, well known even to this day by his 
 Exercises for the Voice, and by his Singing 
 " Method." After a time I went, by Signer 
 Bordogni's advice, to Milan, where I placed 
 myself under Signer Mazzucato, director of the 
 Milan Conservatorio, where he was also pro- 
 fessor of aesthetics, and principal singing master. 
 Mazzucato was a man of great ability and the 
 composer of several operas, which, I am afraid, 
 met with no permanent success, but which 
 were much admired by friends at the time of 
 
 their production. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 Compared with the past, how different is 
 the present mode of travelling. When, for 
 instance, I journeyed to the Continent forty- 
 five years ago, I went from London to Dover 
 by coach, and put up for the night at the Ship 
 Hotel. The next morning I made an early 
 start, and, carried out to the small boat on the 
 back of a sailor, had then to be rowed some 
 distance to the steamer, which was to take us 
 across the channel to Calais a most uncom- 
 fortable passage in a miserable vessel, the 
 journey occupying two hours and a half 
 thence by diligence to Paris. Here I made 
 a long stay, occupying myself with my 
 singing lessons, and with visits to all the 
 theatres, museums, and whatever else was at 
 that time to be seen. Then I started off to 
 Milan. I found the journey from Paris to 
 Milan very trying. The diligence was so stuffy 
 and uncomfortable that I frequently changed 
 from the interior to the exterior. I found the 
 change refreshing; but as it was in the depth of 
 an almost Siberian winter, the exposure to the 
 weather was somewhat hazardous. To make 
 matters worse, a snow-storm began, and con-
 
 53 
 
 timied for seven or eight hours. By the time 
 we reached Chambery the snow was so deep that 
 we had to remain there for forty-eight hours. 
 The question now arose whether it was wise to 
 proceed further, since the St. Gothard Pass 
 had been pronounced dangerous ; but after long 
 hesitation we determined to risk it. Our ex- 
 periences were now the reverse of cheerful. 
 We were brought to frequent standstills, unable 
 to move another inch until some drift of snow 
 had been cleared away. We grew terribly 
 fatigued, and our irritation was increased when 
 at length the sun shone out so powerfully that 
 it made our faces smart to a painful degree. 
 However, we plodded on for the rest of the 
 journey, and I shall never forget my feeling of 
 satisfaction when we arrived at the Hotel 
 de Ville in Milan. I at once ordered the 
 attendant to prepare a hot bath ; and after 
 enjoying this luxury, took a good stiff 
 tumbler of hot brandy and water and went to 
 bed, where I remained for four days, my bones 
 racked with aches and the skin peeled off my 
 face by the rays of the sun. 
 
 On the fifth day after my arrival I roused
 
 54 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 myself from the lethargy into which the journey 
 had thrown me, and, after a bath and a hearty 
 breakfast, felt as well as possible. The first 
 visit I made was to the house of II Maestro 
 Mazzucato, to whom I delivered the letter of 
 introduction kindly given me by Bordogni. 
 Then I sauntered round the city, which is full 
 of interest, and made notes of whatever arrested 
 my attention. I returned to the hotel and 
 looked into the visitors' book, where I found 
 the name of Lord Ward, who was then travel- 
 ling in Italy. I had the pleasure of making his 
 acquaintance. He was very amiable, but very 
 eccentric and self-opiniated, and he laughed at 
 the idea of an Englishman attempting to sing 
 in Italy like many others whom I afterwards 
 met in Milan. But I had gone there determined 
 to try my luck. Force of will kept me steadily 
 at my work ; and the satisfaction of finding 
 that I was improving in style and production of 
 voice, gave me courage to treat with in- 
 difference the opinions of the incredulous. 
 During my stay at Milan I availed myself of 
 every opportunity that presented itself of visiting 
 the art treasures, deriving immense gratification
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 55 
 
 and a store of that kind of knowledge and 
 experience which can so well be woven into the 
 work of a lyric artist. 
 
 The next day Mazzucato called upon me. 1 
 found him agreeable and very intellectual. We 
 had a long discussion upon singing and singers. 
 We spoke in particular of the timbre of voices, 
 and agreed that each voice had a distinct 
 quality, so that an experienced master could 
 at once pronounce its character by the 
 timbre alone, not by its extent or range, 
 since many voices with a tenor quality 
 cannot reach higher than F or G ; though, 
 with proper tuition, the compass may be 
 extended to A natural or B flat. A baritone 
 or bass can sometimes sing with great facility, 
 in a falsetto voice, right away up to B natural 
 or C, but the quality of the voice is still bari- 
 tone or bass. Lablache, for instance, could 
 sing even higher than this in falsetto, and 
 imitate a soprano voice extremely well. I 
 would here caution all students against the 
 injudicious practice of straining the voice for 
 the sake of reaching high notes. This is fre- 
 quently done, with the false idea that the high
 
 56 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 notes may be lost for want of practice. On the 
 contrary, these notes should be economized with 
 the greatest care. 
 
 At Milan I studied hard, while at the same 
 time leading a joyous life. The students at the 
 Conservatorio, and those outside as well, were of 
 all nations ; and at our convivial meetings there 
 was a Babel-like confusion of tongues. Some- 
 times we dined together at a restaurant, where 
 the cooking was in thoroughly Italian style, 
 while the prices were remarkably moderate. 
 For about two shillings per head the proprietor 
 would serve us a repast which was really 
 excellent, with wine, the pleasant Italian 
 wine so exhilarating and so little "heady,"- 
 at discretion. 
 
 Sometimes, too, we entertained one another, 
 turn by turn, at our own rooms. Looking 
 back on these occasions, our gaiety, I fancy, 
 must at times have been of a somewhat reck- 
 less kind. I possessed a favourite dog, which 
 went astray and for some time could nowhere 
 be found. One day, when I was entertaining 
 a party of fellow-students, enquiries were made 
 as to my lost setter. The roast meat had just
 
 OR, FIFTY YEAES OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 57 
 
 been served, and a horrible idea suddenly 
 occurred to me. 
 
 "He came back," I replied, "but I was so 
 enraged with him that I killed him, and you 
 have just eaten a portion of the animal in that 
 excellent roast." 
 
 My friends turned pale, and it almost seemed 
 desirable to send for a doctor. But I did not 
 leave them long 1 in their delusion, and the next 
 dish was sufficiently good to dispel all thought 
 of the former one ; which, thanks to the decep- 
 tion I had practised, had excited some qualms. 
 
 In those days, Milan was under the rule of 
 Austria, the Austrian domination had still 
 indeed sixteen long years to run ; and patriotic 
 songs, shouted forth with genuine enthusiasm, 
 played a part in all our meetings when the 
 dinner was at an end. 
 
 Meanwhile, I had become known, not only to 
 the professors and students of the Conserva- 
 torio, but also to the impresario of the famous 
 opera-house, La Scala, who considered that my 
 voice, expression, and style fitted me to take 
 the part of Edgardo in Lucia, an opera which 
 was then at the very height of its popularity.
 
 58 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 Duprez, the greatest dramatic tenor of his 
 time, had created the part, and had produced 
 in it the most powerful impression. How 
 I sang it I shall not be expected to say. 
 Suffice it to record the fact that I was 
 received with enthusiasm, and that at 
 the end of the performance the illustrious 
 Rubini came to my dressing-room to con- 
 gratulate me on my success. I have at 
 times, in the course of my long career, been 
 exposed to the jealousy of Italian tenors ; but 
 in this connection I have always been able to 
 console myself by remembering that from two 
 of the greatest of Italian tenors, Rubini and 
 Mario, I always met with the fullest appreciation 
 and the warmest cordiality. 
 
 One incident which happened to me during my 
 engagement in Milan recalled to me the despotic 
 rule of Frederick the Great, when Madame 
 Mara, having refused to sing one night at the 
 Berlin Opera House on the plea of indisposition, 
 was taken from her bed, and carried on a mat- 
 tress, under military escort, to the theatre. I 
 was suffering from a sore throat, and was quite 
 unable to sing. The doctor attached to La
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 59 
 
 Scala was, however, of a contrary opinion, and, 
 after inspecting my larynx, said that I could 
 sing if I liked. But, as I still refused to make 
 the attempt, the authorities resolved to make 
 me sing by force. A squad of gendarmes 
 called at my lodgings with a carriage, took me 
 down to it, and drove me to the theatre. I 
 was firm, however, in my resolve neither to 
 injure my voice nor to pain the ears of a public 
 which had hitherto applauded me. Frederick 
 the Great succeeded in making Madame Mara 
 sing ; but the Austrians in Milan were less 
 successful with me. 
 
 Rubini had played at the Scala the very 
 part which I had just undertaken, and, by 
 doing so, had greatly increased his already 
 immense reputation. The more welcome, for 
 that very reason, was the praise he so kindly 
 bestowed upon me both in the character of 
 singer and of actor. 
 
 "Donizetti's most admired opera" (to quote 
 from a previous work), containing some of the 
 most beautiful melodies in the sentimental 
 style that he has composed, and altogether 
 his best finale, had been produced ten years
 
 41 
 60 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 before at Naples, with Duprez in the part of 
 Edgardo, and Madame Persiani in that of 
 Lucia, and its popularity was then at its 
 height. Of late years, the Italian operatic 
 stage has not boasted one tenor who has 
 been able to produce, in the important part of 
 Edgardo, such effect as seemed to proceed 
 naturally from the singing of the eminent 
 vocalists who made their mark in the part 
 during the first dozen years of the opera's 
 existence. The public, at that time, used to 
 wait anxiously for the grand scena with which 
 the opera terminates, and which was generally 
 regarded as the most interesting and most 
 exacting portion of the work. This scena 
 is, in fact, a great dramatic scene, in which 
 the singer has only to deliver so many 
 bars of recitative, leading to a conventional 
 andante or adagio, which will, in its turn, be 
 followed by the inevitable cabaletta. The 
 scene is, in a picturesque sense, highly im- 
 pressive ; and the moonlit cemetery in which 
 the formerly love-stricken, then indignant and 
 enraged, now despondent and broken-hearted 
 Edgardo has come to meditate and die, pre-
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 61 
 
 pares the audience for the melodious " Swan 
 Song" so appropriately introduced by the 
 solemn, plaintive strains of the four horns. 
 
 " Edgardo has to utter no mere soliloquy in 
 so many divisions. The scena, as before ob- 
 served, is highly dramatic ; and particularly 
 fine is the effect produced by the sudden arrival 
 of the chorus, which, interrogated by the des- 
 perate man, tells him in a placid melody, 
 strongly contrasting with his passionate ex- 
 clamations, that Lucia is no more, and thus 
 precipitates his end. Duprez, E-ubini, Moriani, 
 were admirable in this scene ; but in the 
 ordinary way the glory of the part, formerly 
 so much admired, would seem to have passed 
 away : a result due partially, no doubt, to the 
 striking success achieved by a series of very 
 charming Lucias, Madame Adelina Patti, 
 Madame Christine Nilsson, and Catherine 
 Hayes ; but also, and above all, to the diffi- 
 culty of finding an adequate representative of 
 Edgardo." 
 
 Poor Donizetti, his triumphs were fast draw- 
 ing to a close. Or rather, I should say, his life ; 
 for to this moment there are several operas of
 
 62 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 Donizetti's that still keep the stage, with 
 Lucia, Lucrezia Borgia, La Favorita, and 
 Linda di Chamouni among them. In 1843, 
 when I was singing at Milan, Donizetti was 
 composing his last works, Linda di Chamouni 
 and Don Pasquale, both produced in 1843, the 
 former at Vienna, the latter at Paris. It was in 
 this year, when Donizetti was at the very 
 height of his reputation, that he paid a visit to 
 his old master, Simon Mayr, at Bergamo ; but 
 of this such an interesting account is given by 
 my good old friend, the king of his instrument, 
 Signor Piatti, in a letter addressed to me up- 
 wards of four years ago, that I cannot refrain 
 from producing it exactly as it stands. 
 
 " Dear Reeves," writes Signor Piatti, " I 
 think Mr. Saltus would like to have something 
 concerning yourself for his ' Life of Donizetti.' 
 However, as you ask me if I remember anything 
 about him, being my townsman, I shall be very 
 pleased if a few recollections are of any use. 
 At the age of six years I remember seeing 
 Donizetti in Bergamo. He came to superintend 
 the mise en scene of L'Ago neW imbarazzo. It 
 was the Carnevale, 1828, and a bitterly cold
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 63 
 
 winter. The poor young maestro came to the 
 first rehearsal without a great coat, for the 
 simple reason that he had none at the time, nor 
 the money to buy one. At last a friend took 
 pity on him and lent him his own, which, being 
 rather small, did not fit his stately figure, and 
 felt a,nd looked very awkward. When he left 
 Bergamo he was not much better off in money 
 matters, as I believe they only paid his own 
 expenses. He was in very different circum- 
 stances when I saw him again in Bergamo, in 
 the year 1843. In the height of his reputation 
 he came to see his old master, Simon Mayr. A 
 grand dinner was given to him, after which he 
 proposed to go and fire a serenade to old Mayr. 
 On the way some strolling musicians consented 
 to part for a while with their instruments, and 
 Donizetti took possession of a double bass, on 
 which he grinded away with such force that 
 poor Mayr appeared at the window begging 
 that we would leave off such an awful row. I 
 suspect my violin and Donzelli's guitar were not 
 less culprits than the double bass. I think 
 poor Donizetti never enjoyed himself so much. 
 What a difference when I met him for the last
 
 64 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 time on the St. Gothard, reclining in his car- 
 riage, prostrate, helpless, with no remains of 
 intellect in him, unable to speak and even to 
 look up ! .... And yet in Bergamo, before he 
 died (1848), one has seen him shed some tears 
 when they played to him the romanza of 
 Pierotto in Linda di Chamouni. I used to see 
 him in Vienna when, surrounded by friends, he 
 was composing the above opera and Don 
 Pasquale, at the same time taking no small 
 part in the conversation. 
 
 " I am afraid all this will be of no use to Mr. 
 Saltus ; I merely did it to show you my willing- 
 ness to do what you asked me. With kind 
 regards to all your family, 
 
 " Believe me, sincerely yours, 
 
 " ALFRED PIATTI." 
 
 On the conclusion of the term for which I 
 had been engaged at La Scala, I signed an 
 agreement with Merelli, who, like Barbaja at 
 an earlier date, directed opera houses in various 
 parts of Italy, together with the Imperial 
 Opera House at Vienna. By the terms of the
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 65 
 
 contract, he had, according to the custom in 
 Italy, the right of moving his singers from any 
 one theatre to any other under his manage- 
 ment. This was only the touring system in 
 a limited form ; and, under Merelli's direction, 
 I travelled much, and sang at several of the 
 principal theatres in Italy. At last, Merelli 
 assigned me to his establishment at Vienna, 
 and I prepared to make my debut in the 
 Austrian capital. Unfortunately, though in 
 many ways an able manager, Merelli was a bad 
 paymaster ; and when I arrived in Vienna he 
 owed me five months' salary. My contract 
 with him had been cunningly drawn up, so 
 that, although I had the right to recover, if I 
 could, any money that might be due to me, I 
 could not, by reason of non-payment, at once 
 terminate my engagement. I was determined 
 not, if I could avoid it, to go on singing for 
 nothing. But I could not leave Vienna 
 without getting my passport properly vised, 
 and it was doubtful whether, since I was under 
 engagement at the Imperial Opera House, 
 permission to quit Vienna would be given to 
 
 me without the consent of my director. 
 
 F
 
 66 MY JUBILEE. 
 
 In this difficulty, I had recourse to the good 
 offices of Lord Burghersh, afterwards Earl of 
 Westmoreland, whose acquaintance I had made 
 at our Royal Academy of Music, an institution 
 of which he was one of the principal and earliest 
 patrons. Lord Burghersh was at that time 
 ambassador at Vienna ; and when I explained 
 my case he at once obtained for me the neces- 
 sary visa
 
 CHAPTER IV.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AFTER my return to London, I accepted, in 
 December, 1847, an engagement from Monsieur 
 Jullien, who, turning his attention for a time 
 from Promenade Concerts, had organized an 
 English Opera Company, with a view to per- 
 forming original English works and translations 
 of the best foreign ones. The popular con- 
 ductor had heard of my successes at Milan and 
 elsewhere in Italy in the part of Edgardo ; and 
 it was in that character that he wished me to 
 appear at Drury Lane. For the part of Lucia, 
 he engaged Madame Dorus Gras, who, ten or 
 eleven years previously, had made a marked 
 success at the Paris Opera House as Alice in 
 Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable, but whose voice 
 was now somewhat on the wane. As designer 
 
 O
 
 70 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 of costumes Alfred Croquill was engaged. I 
 have the most agreeable recollections of him, 
 and here reproduce an amusing letter which he 
 once sent me. 
 
 "August 12th, 1867. 
 
 " Dear Reeves, Thank you for your very 
 excellent photo. It is as fine as any thing I 
 ever saw. I was at a party when I received it. 
 The young ladies thereat made such exclama- 
 tions about the ' dear thing/ that out of 
 respect to your wife's feelings I omit them. 
 The middle-aged ladies were equally enthu- 
 siastic, and said something about ' charming,' 
 but whether they meant you or your voice 
 I did not ask, as their husbands were present. 
 One old lady, who ought to have had her 
 epitaph written years ago, said, ' Pooh, pooh ! 
 the fellow's very well.' One old gentleman 
 said he was told that he should have had a 
 voice equally like yours, if it hadn't been for 
 something in his throat. Rest satisfied with 
 this, and 
 
 "Believe me, yours sincerely, 
 
 " ALFRED CROQUILL."
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 71 
 
 For the responsible post of conductor he had 
 retained the services of Hector Berlioz, a genius 
 beyond doubt, but at that time an unappre- 
 ciated one. In all his writings Berlioz has 
 professed an absolute horror of Italian Opera ; 
 and in one of his works he expresses, apparently 
 in good faith, his regret that when the Italian 
 Opera of Paris was burnt down, the accident 
 occurred during the daytime and not in the 
 evening when La Gazza Ladra, or some other 
 opera of Rossini's, was being performed. 
 
 Berlioz was undoubtedly a good conductor ; 
 but like all the conductors I have met with in 
 England, except Costa, Balfe, Alfred Mellon, and 
 Arditi, he thought too much of his orchestra 
 and too little of the singers. 
 
 I met Berlioz frequently in private, and 
 although he was always lively in general con- 
 versation, he gave me the idea of being a 
 disappointed man. This, indeed, he must of 
 necessity have been, seeing that such works as 
 his Damnation de Faust, his " dramatic sym- 
 phony " of Romeo and Juliet, and his Requiem, 
 which now find honoured places in concert 
 programmes wherever music is cultivated, were,
 
 72 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 during his own lifetime, regarded, except by a 
 select few, as of no account whatever. 
 
 Every Sunday afternoon I used to meet 
 Berlioz at the house of Jullien, where we heard 
 portions of La Damnation de Faust, and other 
 works of his ; though it was his Faust music 
 that left upon me the deepest impression. 
 Berlioz, I may here remark, did not play the 
 piano. He, indeed, rather piqued himself on 
 not doing so; and he maintained, probably with 
 some truth, that composers who were pianists 
 ran the risk of being led away by their own 
 pianoforte playing into the writing of con- 
 ventional passages. 
 
 He was very anxious that Jullien should 
 produce Gluck's Iphigenia in Tauris, and the 
 work was promised in the official prospectus. 
 
 Berlioz somehow conceived the idea that I 
 objected to the production of this work, or at 
 least that I was unwilling to sing in it ; and in 
 one of his published letters he attributes its 
 ultimate rejection to ill-will "on the part of the 
 tenor," who did not find in his part sufficient 
 opportunities for display. As a matter of fact, 
 I was not only willing, but eager to appear in
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 73 
 
 Gluck's great work. The matter was referred 
 to a select committee, formed by Jullien as a 
 sort of parliament or council for consulting pur- 
 poses alone, and included among its members 
 Sir Henry Bishop, Sir George Smart, Mr. 
 Planche, and Jullien himself. When the 
 question of presenting Iphigenia in Tauris was 
 discussed in solemn conclave, the conclusion 
 arrived at was that it would never pay. Ac- 
 cordingly, it was never put into rehearsal. 
 
 This fine work was, however, at a later 
 period produced with great success by Halle 
 at Manchester, with Santley and myself as 
 bass and tenor, and Catherine Hayes as so- 
 prano. 
 
 But I am passing over my first appearance 
 at Drury Lane ; which introduced me for the 
 first time to the London public at a leading 
 theatre, and in a leading operatic character. 
 Yet how am I to speak in detail of my own 
 success ? It would be ungrateful not to 
 recognize the fact that it was very great; 
 and according to some authorities, it was 
 unprecedented. 
 
 "The most remarkable event of the evening,"
 
 74 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 wrote the critic of the Times the morning after 
 the first performance, " was the debut of Mr. 
 Sims Reeves in the character of Edgardo. So 
 rare a success has seldom been achieved by an 
 English vocalist. To a voice of excellent 
 quality, flexible in the highest degree, he adds 
 the advantage of sedulous study in Italy ; and 
 comes before the public with all the style of an 
 Italian singer. The duet in the first act 
 showed the complete management of the voice, 
 and the ability of the artist to adapt it to the 
 softest expressions of tenderness ; but it left an 
 impression that he would scarcely be equal to 
 the terrible passion of the second act. But this 
 act was his triumph. The malediction, delivered 
 with the greatest force, took the audience 
 greatly by surprise ; and the zeal with which 
 he abandoned himself to the strong emotion of 
 the scene produced an electrical effect. We 
 have seldom seen so much passion so naturally 
 assumed. It was Edgardo himself, with all his 
 native fierceness, all his torments. The sor- 
 rows of the third act were rendered with the 
 most touching pathos, and with the nicest 
 skill ; the piano being sustained perfectly. At
 
 Sims Reeves as Edgardo.
 
 OB, FIFTY YEARS OF AUTISTIC LIFE. 75 
 
 the fall of the curtain the first impulse of the 
 audience was a universal cry of ' Reeves.' ' 
 
 Nor can I pass over the opinion pronounced 
 on my singing and on my performance generally 
 by so competent a judge as Hector Berlioz, 
 who, in his Correspondance intdite, p. 153, 
 writes as follows to one of his friends in 
 France : 
 
 " The Bride of Lammermoor, with Madame 
 Gras and Reeves, cannot, in my opinion, fail to 
 go well. Reeves has a beautiful natural voice, 
 and sings as well as it is possible to sing in this 
 frightful English language." " The opening of 
 our grand opera has had," he afterwards writes, 
 "great success. The English press praises it 
 with one accord. Madame Gras and Reeves 
 the tenor were re-called four or five times with 
 frenzy ; and really they both deserved it. He 
 has a charming voice of an essentially dis- 
 tinguished and sympathetic character ; he is a 
 very good musician; his face is very expressive, 
 and he plays with all his national fire as an 
 Irishman." 
 
 Why Hector Berlioz insisted on regarding
 
 76 MY JUBILEE J 
 
 me as an Irishman, I never could make out. It 
 may be that the French, unwilling as a rule to 
 admit that anything good can come out of 
 England, are more tolerant in regard to Ireland 
 and Scotland. 
 
 When Lucia had had what in those days was 
 considered a long run, it was set aside for a new 
 opera by Balfe, in which the tenor part had 
 been assigned to me. As the subject of the 
 opera was identical with that of Flotow's 
 Martha (both being founded on the ballet of 
 Lady Henriette ou le Marche de Richmond, 
 played at Drury Lane under Mr. Bunn's man- 
 agement as Lady Henrietta; or, the Statute 
 Fair), I found myself cast for the character cor- 
 responding to that of Lionel in the work of the 
 German composer ; but there was nothing in 
 my part at all equal to the romance of Lionello 
 in the Italian version, known as M'appari. 
 Balfe, moreover, though an Irishman, had 
 omitted to introduce the "Last Rose of Summer," 
 which contributed so largely to the success of 
 Flotow's lively and graceful opera, Balfe had 
 gone to work on a good operatic subject ; but 
 the libretto which Fitzball had prepared for him
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 77 
 
 on this subject was by no means good. The 
 doggerel which this " lyric poet " (so he once 
 described himself in a court of law) had given 
 Balfe to set was in many places absurd beyond 
 measure. When set to music, what a ludicrous 
 effect had such words as these, 
 
 " We'll come when you ring the bell, 
 With a curtsey to the floor, 
 And do, 
 And do 
 Whatever you may tell." 
 
 Why, moreover, was I made to sing a song 
 about a chair, in no way connected with the 
 opera, presumably introduced with the view of 
 finding favour in the eyes of the music pub- 
 lishers ? The sentimental song entitled, " In 
 this old Chair my Father sat," proved, all the 
 same, one of the successes of the work ; indeed, 
 its only success. 
 
 Balfe, with all his facility, all his gift of 
 tuneful invention, was strangely, culpably care- 
 less as to the words he accepted for musical 
 setting ; and with equal carelessness did he set 
 them, sometimes without taking the least heed 
 as to whether or not such meaning as they
 
 78 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 might possess would be brought out in the 
 music. 
 
 On one occasion, when I was singing the part 
 of Thaddeus in the Bohemian Girl, with Balfe 
 as musical conductor, I ventured to make an 
 attempt towards bringing into something like 
 harmony the words and the music of the 
 opening lines in the song, " When the fair land 
 of Poland ;" but my endeavour met with no en- 
 couragement from the composer. 
 
 The words of Mr. Bunn's extraordinary 
 poetical effusion run literally as follows : 
 
 " When the fair land of Poland was ploughed by the hoof 
 
 Of the ruthless invader ; when Might, 
 With steel to her bosom and flame to her roof, 
 Completed the triumph o'er Eight," etc. 
 
 I studied the words, anxious, as I always was, 
 to give dramatic significance to whatever I hap- 
 pened to be singing; and not liking them in 
 themselves, could make of them absolutely 
 nothing in connection with the music. It was 
 bad enough to have a pause after the word 
 " hoof," which thus became separated from the 
 words " ruthless invader ;" but it was intoler- 
 able that the nominative " Might " should be
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 79 
 
 separated from its verb by drums and trumpets, 
 as in Balfe's setting is really the case. Think- 
 ing the matter over, I found that it would be 
 possible to make sense out of what, as it stood, 
 was nonsense, by finishing the first clause at the 
 word " invader," distributing the two final 
 syllables of " invader " over five notes. Then 
 came the close, emphasized by the before- 
 mentioned drums and trumpets ; and I began 
 the next section of the phrase with " When 
 Might, with," etc., delivering the words as un- 
 accented syllables, and beginning the fifth bar 
 on the word " steel." 
 
 This was surely better than singing 
 
 "Of the ruthless invader; when Might." 
 
 Balfe, however, did not think so. 
 
 " What Was the matter with you to-night, 
 Jack. What did you mean by breaking up the 
 words in the ' Fair Land of Poland/ as you 
 did?" 
 
 I explained to Balfe how absurd it was to 
 close the musical period in the middle of an 
 uncompleted verbal phrase. He shook his 
 head, however, and said,
 
 80 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 " I prefer it the old way, dear boy." 
 As another instance of Balfe's carelessless as 
 to the meaning of the words he set to music, I 
 may mention that in composing " Come into 
 the garden, Maud," he treated Tennyson's 
 beautiful line, 
 
 " Queen Rose of the rosebud garden of girls," 
 as though the poet had written, 
 
 "Queen of the rosebud garden of girls." 
 
 To go back to Jullien's enterprise, it would 
 be difficult to say why it did not succeed ; for 
 no manager ever took more trouble than he did 
 to secure effective representations. With a full 
 recollection of the performances given by Mr. 
 Mapleson and Mr. E. T. Smith some ten years 
 afterwards at Her Majesty's Theatre (when 
 Macfarren's Robin Hood and Wallace's Amber 
 Witch were brought out), and of Mr. Carl 
 Rosa's excellent performances, I hold that 
 Jullien did more than any other manager has 
 done towards securing perfect representations 
 of operas native and foreign. Balfe's Maid of
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 81 
 
 Honour, however, fell flat ; and no work was 
 ready with which to replace it. 
 
 When it was at last found necessary to 
 abandon the undertaking, the theatre was 
 closed, and an animated correspondence took 
 place in the newspapers between Madame 
 Dorus Gras, who had not received the whole 
 of her salary, and M. Jullien, who gave prac- 
 tical proof of his inability to pay it by 
 appearing in the bankruptcy court. " But," 
 said Madame Dorus Gras, " the manager 
 found means to pay Mr. Reeves." This was 
 not exactly the case. M. Jullien, however, 
 replied to the accusation made against him of 
 having given me my due by a letter, in which 
 he wrote as follows : 
 
 " In justice to Mr. Reeves I cannot omit 
 publicly acknowledging my gratitude towards 
 him for his kind and considerate conduct 
 during the many difficulties which have arisen 
 in the course of the season ; he has at all 
 times used his utmost exertions to serve the 
 theatre, and has on several occasions waived 
 
 privileges for the general good, which, as an 
 
 G
 
 82 MY JUBILEE. 
 
 artist of his standing, he might well have 
 exacted." 
 
 London was now once more in its usual 
 condition as regards English opera : it had 
 none.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 G 2
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I HAD sung at concerts, I had sung in Italian 
 opera, among the Italians and in translated 
 Italian opera, as well as in English opera 
 among the English ; but I had not attempted 
 sacred music until, at the beginning of 1848, I 
 resolved to appear in oratorio. The work 
 selected for my debut in this, to me, entirely new 
 line, was Judas Maccabceus. It was performed 
 at Exeter Hall, under the conductorship of Mr. 
 John Hullah, an excellent musician, a gentle- 
 man, and above all, a fine and enthusiastic lover 
 of his art ; and I had studied my part with so 
 much earnestness, and with such a determina- 
 tion to bring out its full dramatic significance, 
 that I could scarcely fail to make some im- 
 pression on the public. As a matter of fact, I
 
 86 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 achieved a striking success, as to which I must, 
 as in the case of Edgardo, let others speak for 
 me. 
 
 " Mr. Beeves," said the Musical World, 
 " was listened to with great anxiety. His de- 
 clamatory powers in recitative singing no one 
 could doubt, but it was feared his operatic style 
 would not happily consort with the solidity and 
 breadth of Handel's music. Besides this, the 
 songs for the principal tenor parts in Judas 
 MaccabcBUs were written in the composer's 
 peculiar florid style, and required a flexibility 
 of voice that few who had heard Mr. Beeves in 
 Lucia or the Maid of Honour had given him 
 credit for. Nevertheless, Mr. Beeves soon set 
 aside all fears on that score, and proved himself 
 in no wise less efficient in the interpretation of 
 Handel's music than in that of Donizetti or 
 Balfe. In the two florid songs, ' Call forth thy 
 powers,' and ' Sound an alarm/ which require 
 great flexibility and rapid enunciation, he was 
 admirable. Nor was he less happy in the 
 beautiful air, * How vain is man,' which was 
 given with the utmost expression, and ex- 
 hibited his cantdbile to perfection. Mr. Beeves
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 87 
 
 obtained enthusiastic demonstrations from the 
 audience after each song." 
 
 I now accepted an engagement from the 
 Sacred Harmonic Society, and appeared once 
 more as Judas Maccabaeus at the opening con- 
 cert. The performance was for the benefit of 
 the English workmen who, on the principle of 
 "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity" being pro- 
 claimed by the Republic of 1848, had at once 
 been expelled from France. The Musical World 
 was kind enough to say on this occasion that 
 the principle attraction of the evening was " the 
 appearance of Mr. Sims Reeves. This gentle- 
 man," it added, " on whom it seems now to be 
 understood that the mantle of Braham is 
 destined to fall, was vociferously applauded 
 throughout the evening. His best effort was 
 the first song, " Call forth thy powers," which, 
 although not one of Handel's divinest inspira- 
 tions, is admirably calculated to seduce the 
 singer to obey the injunction given forth in the 
 title." 
 
 I may here observe, what is perhaps not 
 generally known, or by those who once did 
 know it has been forgotten, that at one of the
 
 88 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 London Wednesday Concerts given by Mr. Stam- 
 mers, I sang a duet with Braham. "Gallop on 
 gaily " was the piece selected for the occasion, 
 which was interesting, as exhibiting the great 
 tenor of the past side by side with one whom 
 his friends had already proclaimed the tenor of 
 the future. Out of respect for Braham, I made 
 no endeavour to outshine him by the display of 
 those qualities of voice which, as a young man, 
 I naturally possessed. The room was full of 
 venerable amateurs, and many of them seemed 
 well satisfied at the idea of their man, whom 
 they had applauded at a hundred triumphs, 
 eclipsing the young upstart of a later age. At 
 last I heard some one near me in the orchestra 
 whisper to a neighbour, " The old one has the 
 best of it." This, I confess, aroused me. I had 
 no wish to humiliate ; but I certainly did not 
 desire to be beaten. I exerted all my powers ; 
 and this outburst was followed by universal 
 applause. I am happy to say that the first who 
 congratulated me in private was Braham 
 himself. 
 
 Incledon, who had a purer voice and more 
 sustained style than Braham, said of the great
 
 OR, FIFTY YARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 89 
 
 tenor when he sang with him " Gallop on 
 gaily" (the duet which, at a later period, I 
 sang with Braham at Exeter Hall), that he was 
 too florid and had too many runs. "There is 
 no catching him," he added ; " he hops about 
 lik a torn- tit in a gooseberry bush." 
 
 This suggests to me a remark made by 
 Braham himself on the singing of Sapio, a 
 vocalist who had a voice something like that of 
 Monsieur Chollet, a baritone in the chest voice 
 with the head notes of a tenor, and between 
 these two different registers a sort of blank. 
 
 Asked what he thought of the new vocalist 
 who was singing at the Haymarket Theatre, he 
 said, " Well, he sings very high, he sings very 
 low, and he sings very middling," 
 
 Another singer I used often to hear as a lad 
 was Templeton, who was a good vocalist, but 
 awkward and without expression as an actor. 
 Such histrionic power as he managed at times 
 to display was due entirely to the teaching 
 and personal influence of that great dramatic 
 vocalist, Malibran. Occasionally she received 
 valuable assistance from the stage manager, a 
 one-legged man, who, though unfitted by his
 
 90 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 accident for heroic impersonations, had a certain 
 courtly bearing which was quite wanting in 
 Templeton. Once, when Malibran had in vain 
 attempted to make the awkward tenor execute 
 a graceful bow, the stage manager stumped 
 with his wooden leg across the boards, stood 
 before Templeton, and, with mingled dignity 
 and grace, made the obeisance just as Malibran 
 had desired it should be made. 
 
 "What a pity, Tempy," said the lively prima 
 donna, " that you haven't a wooden leg ! " 
 
 In connection with my first appearance in 
 oratorio, I may be allowed to republish an 
 article which appeared at the time in the 
 Morning Post on my singing in sacred and in 
 operatic music. 
 
 "It is not too much to say," observed the 
 writer, " that in the character of Edgar of 
 Bavenswood he had positively electrified the 
 town, crowds actually being melted into 
 tears night after night by his exquisitely 
 pathetic delivery of the slow movement of 
 Edgar's plaintive air, which may be said to 
 form the finale of Lucia. It was held that a 
 calmer, and what was thought to be a more
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 91 
 
 scholastic, style would be better adapted to 
 the rendering of Handel's masterpiece ; and 
 Mr. Beeves had to struggle at first against a 
 certain amount of prejudice on the part of the 
 hearers, and also, it must be added, against an 
 imperfect and partially mistaken Handelian 
 tradition. Every one knows that the great 
 master, whom we look upon as half an English- 
 man, yielded so far homage to the taste of 
 his age that he indulged in frequent rolling 
 passages, which used to be commonly regarded 
 as mere ornaments and Jioriture extraneous to 
 the general bearing of the piece. On the con- 
 trary, Mr. Reeves, endowed in a very high 
 degree with the gift of spontaneous sympathy, 
 which is the first essential for the great artist, 
 felt instinctively that the passion of the song, 
 joy, sorrow, anger, patriotic spirit, be it what 
 it might, must be breathed through every 
 measure of the strain, not artificially and ob- 
 trusively, as is sometimes done by his imitators, 
 but by the magic of that artistic inspiration 
 which our French neighbours call le feu sacre. 
 Curious it was to see the vast number of 
 admirers, rapt beyond themselves by the musi-
 
 92 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 clan's spell, responding enthsiastically to tender 
 exultation or fervent praise, and then doubting 
 whether the spell had not been unlawful, and 
 whispering to one another that this was not 
 quite the true oratorio style after all. Of 
 course, it has long been acknowledged that 
 this was, and is the only oratorio .style of 
 singing worthy of the name." 
 
 When, in 1856, steps were taken towards 
 establishing a Handel Festival, or at least 
 towards giving one grand performance in com- 
 memoration of Handel's death, which took 
 place, I need scarcely say, in 1759, it was 
 resolved to begin by giving a preliminary 
 Festival, by way of testing the resources of 
 the Sacred Harmonic Society, which had taken 
 the matter in hand, and of the various provin- 
 cial societies which were to work in co-operation 
 with it. I took part, as I shall, in the proper 
 place, set forth, in the preliminary Handel 
 Festival, in the Festival of 1859, and in all 
 subsequent Handel Festivals until the year 
 1877, when, in consequence of a postive refusal 
 on the part of Mr. (afterwards Sir Michael) 
 Costa to lower his abnormally high pitch to the
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 93 
 
 so-called " normal pitch " of the French and 
 other continental nations, I refused any longer 
 to sing. 
 
 I shall also have to tell, in some detail, how 
 I created the tenor parts in Costa's oratorios of 
 Eli and Naaman. 
 
 In the brief chapter, which I now conclude, 
 my only object has been to give some account 
 of my first appearance as an oratorio singer ; 
 as important an event, according to my view, 
 as my first appearance in Italian opera, or, 
 indeed, my first appearance as a singer of no 
 matter what music.
 
 CHAPTER Vf.
 
 CHATTER VI. 
 
 '"''? ! 
 
 ONE of my most successful parts in Italy had 
 been that of Carlo in Linda di Chamouni ; and 
 in this part, as in others, I appeared at Her 
 Majesty's Theatre under Mr. Lumley's direction 
 in the year 1849. Linda, one of Donizetti's 
 latest, is also one of his most characteristic 
 operas. There is a Swiss atmosphere about it, 
 and the little part of Pierotto is full of charm. 
 Linda has at least one brilliant air to sing, the 
 well known "0 luce di quest' anima;" and her 
 love-duet with Carlo, which has such a dramatic 
 effect when it is repeated towards the end of 
 the opera as Linda returns to reason, is one of 
 Donizetti's happiest inspirations. As Carlo, to 
 judge from the applause of crowded audiences, 
 
 and from the warm eulogiums published in 
 
 H
 
 98 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 the newspapers, I made a very favourable 
 impression; though the tenor part in Linda is 
 far from being one of the greatest in Italian 
 opera. 
 
 I had been cast for the part of Edgardo, with 
 Jenny Lind as Lucia, but I was told by some- 
 one in authority that my success had been too 
 great in Linda, and it was thought I might 
 make too much success in Lucia with Mr. 
 Lumley's star. I went to the theatre for 
 rehearsal, having received my call the previous 
 night. When I arrived I found Gardoni had 
 been given the part, quite unsuited to his 
 means. I consulted with my friends, and the 
 next day threw up my engagement. Some 
 good-natured people put it down to caprice ; 
 but my retirement was caused by an insult 
 and a breach of faith on the part of Mr. Lumley. 
 In those days the rivalry between Her 
 Majesty's Theatre and the Royal Italian Opera 
 was very keen, and most singers of eminence 
 found themselves pursued by offers from both 
 the contending managers ; at one house Mr. 
 Benjamin Lumley, at the other Mr. Frederick 
 Gye.
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 99 
 
 In 1849 I sang for the first time at Mr. Gye's 
 establishment, making my debut as Elvino in 
 La Sonnambula, the part of Amina being under- 
 taken by Madame Persiani, one of the most 
 brilliant light sopranos of the time. 
 
 In a pamphlet not generally known on the 
 subject of " Bellini and the opera of La 
 Sonnambula" its author, Dr. T. L. Phipson, 
 calls attention to the merits of Romani's well- 
 constructed libretto, and of the expressive 
 poetry which it presents at every page. The 
 ingenious and pathetic story of La Sonnam- 
 bula is known to have been invented by that 
 admirable dramatist, Eugene Scribe. But 
 Romani had to put Scribe's interesting little 
 drama into operatic form, and, above all, he 
 had to write the songs ; and I agree with Dr. 
 Phipson that in La Sonnambula " the words 
 and the music are so intimately blended, so 
 extremely suitable the one to the other, even 
 in the most unimportant passages, that it is 
 quite impossible to translate this opera into 
 any other language without depriving both 
 words and music of a considerable portion of 
 their charm." 
 
 H 2
 
 100 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 Happily,! had to sing the Sonnainbula music 
 in its native Italian ; and I may without vanity 
 say that I aroused the audience to enthusiasm in 
 the great tenor air, "Tutto e scioho" with its im- 
 passioned sequel, "Ah perche non possb odiarti" 
 What a difference between the Italian words of 
 Elvino's burst of despair and the words of the 
 miserable English translation. In the Italian 
 each word fits each syllable, and the accented 
 high note falls upon the third syllable of 
 "odidrti" Here there is a true climax; and the 
 correspondence between words and music is 
 perfect. In the English translation, on the 
 other hand, Elvino's highest not of despair falls 
 on the first syllable of the word " stealing." 
 
 In the Italian, music is "wedded to immortal 
 verse ; " in the English, it is tied to worthless 
 doggerel. 
 
 A tenor, singing in English, "Still so gently 
 all my senses stealing," can never produce the 
 effect of a tenor singing in Italian, "Ah perche 
 non possb odiarti" It is not my business to 
 translate Italian libretti. But the opening 
 of Elvino's famous song ought to have been 
 rendered, " Tell me, traitress, why I cannot
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 101 
 
 hate thee?" or at least by some line in which 
 "PercM non posso odiarte" would have been 
 replaced by " Why I cannot hate thee." 
 
 The French translation of "Ah perche" &c., is, 
 as Dr. Phipson points out, scarcely better than 
 the' English; though, in "Que ne puis-je de mon 
 awe'' the singer has the advantage of an open 
 A for his hio-h chest note. Let me here tell 
 
 o 
 
 the reader, who is possibly without information 
 on the subject, that El vino's air is now gene- 
 rally sung one-third lower than it was originally 
 written. In Bellini's manuscript, as preserved 
 in Messrs. Ricordi's most valuable collection of 
 manuscripts at their great Milan establishment, 
 Elvino's air is written in the key of E flat. 
 Consequently the passionate note, which falls 
 upon the third syllable in "odiarti," was origin- 
 ally sung (by Kubini) on C ; the highest note 
 in the air being E flat, which, it is needless to 
 say, no genuine tenor could possibly deliver 
 with the chest voice. 
 
 For some time past, since the general decline 
 in operatic tenors, Elvino has ceased to be a 
 part of primary importance. This is a true 
 absurdity : for Elvino has as important a part
 
 102 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 in the opera, and sings as important music, as 
 Amina herself. Everything, however, is now 
 sacrificed to the prima donna, and tenors of 
 inferior capacity do not, I suppose, care to 
 enter into competition with that lady. El vino, 
 under these circumstances, has shared the fate 
 of Edgardo. Many tenors could not sing 
 Elvino's music. Others who could get through 
 it more or less well seemed to be afraid of 
 entering into competition with a too brilliant 
 Amina ; who, it must be admitted, has the 
 advantage of a singularly beautiful scene 
 entirely her own. 
 
 I knew the Lucia as a work before going to 
 Italy, and had heard Rubini sing the part of 
 Edgardo at Her Majesty's Theatre. Rubini 
 had an extraordinary tenor voice of the finest 
 quality, but his high notes, extending to E flat 
 and even F, were quite beyond the tenor 
 register. He struck the high F in the tenor 
 part of the Jinale to / Puritani. Bellini is 
 known to have composed this opera, as well as 
 La Sonnambula, with Rubini by his side ; and 
 often Rubini sang his part as Bellini wrote it. 
 In the final piece he had written the note
 
 OB, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 103 
 
 D flat in the tenor part, and Kubini, looking 
 over his shoulder misread it, singing F natural 
 instead. 
 
 "If you can sing it, you shall have it," said 
 Bellini ; and he at once altered the passage so 
 as to give Rubini his exceptionally high note, 
 which at the first performance is said to have 
 had a thrilling effect. 
 
 Rubini was no actor. But he was a truly 
 dramatic singer, the dramatic effect being pro- 
 duced by the tone, the accent, the intense 
 feeling with which he sang. Duprez, on the 
 other hand, produced his dramatic effects by 
 purely histrionic means, though it must be 
 admitted that he was in every sense of the 
 word a fine dramatic singer. 
 
 Independently of the beauty of the music, 
 the part of Edgardo interested me so much by 
 its romantic character that before going to 
 Italy I studied it, not only with care but with 
 enthusiasm, and in the midst of the most 
 appropriate surroundings. Thus I meditated 
 over the final scene, that of the cemetery, in 
 the precincts of Muckress Abbey, so picturesque 
 and so impressive.
 
 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 I had gone on an operatic tour through 
 Ireland with Mr. and Mrs. Alban Croft, both 
 very good singers ; and from Cork we were 
 invited by Mr. Cronin of Killarney Park to give 
 ft concert at Killarney. I received, moreover, 
 from Mr. Cronin an invitation to stay with him 
 at the Park, and much enjoyed his fortnight's 
 hospitality. It was during this visit that I 
 made the acquaintance of the abbey which so 
 muck impressed me, and beneath whose shadow, 
 as before stated, I imagined, studied, and 
 thought out the part of Edgardo. 
 ' During my stay at Killarney Park we as- 
 cended all the neighbouring heights, and one 
 day we made a special ascent of Mangerton 
 mountain on ponies in order to hear the echoes 
 which are awakened on all sides. I remember 
 that when we were on the summit we ; saw 
 beneath us a cloud from which rain was falling 
 fast, we in the higher atmosphere being free 
 from any such inconvenience. 
 
 With how many Lucias have I played the 
 jmr-fe of Edgardo; all good, and some excellent, 
 &S vocalists; many charming both as actresses 
 and singers; but only one perfect!
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 
 
 My Lucia at the Royal Italian Opera was the 
 famous Persiani, who had wonderful execution, 
 but habitually sang sharp, so that it was quite 
 painful to take part with her in concerted 
 music. 
 
 Frezzolini, with whom I sang at Her Ma- 
 jesty's Theatre, was a finished artist ; but she 
 had already seen her best days, and her voice 
 was sadly worn. She continued, however, to 
 sing for some time afterwards, and undertook 
 the part of Leonora in II Trovatore when that 
 work was produced for the first time at the 
 Theatre des Italians under Verdi's personal 
 direction in 1855. 
 
 Jenny Lind, but for one fault, in the shape 
 of an unwarrantable liberty taken with the 
 composer's design, would have been an ideal 
 Lucia. Although I was once cast for the 
 part of Edgardo to her Lucia, I, for reasons 
 already mentioned, did not appear. Had I 
 done so I should have felt bound to object 
 to a highly novel incident which she thought 
 fit to introduce. At the end of the mag- 
 nificent finale to the second act, the finest 
 piece of dramatic music that Donizetti ever
 
 106 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 wrote, Lucia appeals to the indignant Edgardo, 
 who throws her back into her brother's arms ; 
 upon which the curtain falls. Jenny Lind, 
 however, as if to concentrate all attention on 
 herself, rushed to the front of the stage, indi- 
 cated by her gestures and general demeanour 
 that she was losing her reason, and remained, 
 as if demented, before the footlights, while the 
 curtain fell behind her. 
 
 When, soon after Jenny Lind's great success, 
 I was playing the part of Edgardo at Her 
 Majesty's Theatre, Madame Frezzolini wished 
 to make the quite illegitimate point which 
 had gained for Jenny Lind most unmerited 
 applause. But I guessed her intention, and 
 checked her by quite legitimate means. As she 
 was appealing to the lover she had betrayed, 
 previously to letting her hair down and going 
 through all the stage process of losing her 
 reason, I seized her by the wrist and held her 
 as in a vice. She struggled, and as she did so 
 the public applauded the agitated scene, which 
 seemed perfectly natural. I looked to the 
 wing, gave the man in charge of the curtain a 
 signal to let it down, and, as it began to fall,
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 107 
 
 threw Lucia, still of sound mind, into the arms 
 of the infamous Ash ton. 
 
 Another mistake is constantly committed in 
 the representation of Lucia. I say nothing 
 about the omission of the vigorous challenge 
 duet for Edgardo and Ashton at the beginning 
 of the third act, which I always sang in Italy, 
 and which is probably omitted in England as 
 too fatiguing for the tenor, who, as a rule, finds 
 it necessary to reserve himself for the great 
 final scene. What strikes me as so inartistic 
 in the present customary division of the opera 
 is the dropping of the curtain after Lucia's 
 great scene, the so-called "mad scene/' followed 
 immediately by Edgardo's final scene. No 
 argument is possible on this point, the one rule 
 in such a case being that the work must be 
 played according to the composer's own in- 
 tention. Lucia is an opera in three acts ; but 
 in order to give greater prominence to the 
 prima donna, the curtain is made to fall after 
 her principal scene, to the great detriment of 
 the work as a whole. If the prima donna be a 
 star of the first magnitude, the public, knowing 
 that she will not appear again, and not caring
 
 108 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 to' -sit out the third long entr'acte, go home; 
 and Edgardo is left to sing to empty benches 
 a most dramatic scene, which should be re- 
 garded as a scene, and ought not to be 
 treated as a separate act. The opera is un- 
 necessarily, unjustifiably, prolonged ; and the 
 effect of the scene which the composer meant 
 to follow without interval or pause, the scene 
 of Lucia s madness, is greatly injured. 
 When I was playing the part of Edgardo at 
 the Roval Italian Opera, I was obliged, after 
 6vercoming my difficulty with the self-willed 
 tucia in the scene of the contract, to state 
 plainly to the manager, towards the close of the 
 mad scene, that if he lowered the curtain I 
 would not sing the final scene at all. He knew 
 that I should keep my word, and the opera was 
 played as the composer intended it to be 
 played. 
 
 Never could I dream of introducing into my 
 part anything that it did not originally contain ; 
 and I have the strongest objection to mutila- 
 tions and wanton changes, by whomsoever 
 made. - 
 . I have not yet spoken of the Lucia who
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 109 
 
 was the best of the many with whom .it 
 has been my good and ill fortune to play. 
 Very interesting, fragile, but graceful, arid 
 essentially ladylike, Catherine Hayes was a 
 finished vocalist, and sang the music of the 
 part throughout most perfectly. She was, 
 in fact, the beau ideal of Lucia. With hdr 
 I really felt myself Edgar of Raven swood 
 and her Lucy Ash ton. She was a charming 
 woman in every sense ; extremely good to her 
 family, and especially affectionate towards her 
 mother, a very pretty. Irishwoman with . a 
 
 *J L if i 
 
 musical voice and a delightful brogue. 
 
 I shall never forget Mrs. Hayes's introduction 
 to my old friend Hogarth, musical critic of the 
 Daily Neivs. She seated herself by his side 
 somewhat nervously, and with quite a reveren- 
 tial air ; and, as soon as she felt able to speak, 
 said to him : 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Hogarth, I am indeed proud to 
 make the acquaintance of so great an artist. I 
 am longing to see the lovely pictures you have 
 painted. Would you some day be kind enough 
 to show them to me ? " 
 
 Hogarth's puzzled face was quite a study.
 
 110 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 Fortunately, some one came up at that moment, 
 and, changing the subject of conversation, saved 
 the poor lady from the distress she would 
 have experienced on discovering her innocent 
 blunder. 
 
 I say again that I have sung with many 
 Lucias in my time, but Catherine Hayes was 
 the sweetest of them all. 
 
 Barbieri-Nini, whom I have not yet men- 
 tioned, was just the reverse. She was old and 
 ugly ; her figure was coarse ; her acting and 
 general demeanour not only unpoetical, but 
 positively rough. Yet she was an excellent 
 vocalist.
 
 CHAPTER VII.

 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CATHERINE HAYES, always received with the 
 greatest applause in England, used, in her 
 native Ireland, to be applauded with the 
 wildest enthusiasm. The London public ad- 
 mired her without troubling itself as to her 
 origin. But when she sang at the Dublin 
 Theatre, her Irish descent was always borne 
 in mind ; and a disposition was shown to do 
 battle for her when nothing like fighting was 
 required. 
 
 When she was at the height of her reputa- 
 tion, Thackeray, publishing some reflections on 
 the subject of popularity, or rather notoriety, 
 spoke of the unhealthy interest taken by the 
 public in such persons as " Greenacre and 
 Catherine Hayes." Without pausing to con- 
 sider whether Thackeray could possibly have
 
 114 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 meant to couple a charming vocalist with an 
 atrocious murderer, the Irish press attacked 
 him in the most savage manner for his supposed 
 brutality towards a vocalist who, among many 
 other merits, possessed, in the eyes of Irish 
 critics, the supreme one of being an Irish- 
 woman. It seems strange that Thackeray, who, 
 besides being a man of the world, was not only 
 a great novelist, but also a practised journalist, 
 an occasional contributor to the Times and the 
 Morning Chronicle, and a regular contributor 
 to Punch, who might be presumed, therefore, 
 to know what was going on in London 
 at the opera and elsewhere, it seems strange 
 that Thackeray should never have heard of 
 Catherine Hayes, the accomplished prima 
 donna, but only of a former Catherine Hayes, 
 who committed some peculiarly horrible 
 murder. 
 
 I assisted in the, to me, unusual character 
 of spectator at Catherine Hayes's first appear- 
 ance before a Dublin audience. It was at the 
 old Thea,tre Royal, where I had just concluded 
 a most successful engagement. I was bound 
 for the south, and, having sent my luggage
 
 OB, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 115 
 
 on, I dined, and afterwards went with a few 
 friends to hear the opera. Lucia was the work 
 to be performed, Catherine Hayes being, of 
 course, cast for the prima donna part, which 
 she had played with remarkable success in 
 Italy. The house was crowded in every part. 
 The representative of Edgardo was a Signor 
 Paglieri, who did not seem to be a favourite. 
 A portion of the audience, that lively section 
 which usually occupies the gallery, affected to 
 regard the Italian primo tenore as a fellow- 
 Irishman. .But though they addressed him as 
 " Leary," and better still, as " Paddy Leary," 
 they were evidently not proud of their com- 
 patriot. 
 
 " Is that Mr. Leary singing, or is it the gaas 
 iscapin' ? " was asked at one moment ; while 
 at another the vocalist was suggestively in- 
 formed that the coach would leave Dublin in 
 half an hour. 
 
 At last the unfortunate vocalist was seriously 
 hissed. With such an Edgardo the new Lucia 
 would have no chance ; and the manager deter- 
 mined immediately to replace Signor Paglieri 
 
 by a tenor named Damcke who happened to be 
 
 I 2
 
 116 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 at hand, an announcement being made to that 
 effect. 
 
 The mere announcement of Damcke's name 
 was enough to tickle the humour of the Irish 
 audience, already in a mood for laughter. The 
 last syllable of the singer's name suggested 
 jokes on the word " key," while the name as a 
 a whole called to mind, especially when the 
 vocalist began to sing, its resemblance to " don- 
 key." Such remarks as, " You haven't got the 
 kay, Mr. Donkey ; " " It's down in your boots, 
 Mr. Donkey," soon resounded from all parts of 
 the house ; and it became evident that the 
 second Edgardo, like the first, would have to 
 resign his part. 
 
 I was at the time at the back of my box 
 with Miss Lucombe, soon to become my wife, 
 and Mr. Whitworth, the baritone. A keen- 
 sighted amateur had detected my presence, 
 and it was soon known throughout the theatre 
 that I was among the audience. The rest may 
 be told in the words of the Dublin correspon- 
 dent of the Times. 
 
 " There were loud cries of 'Beeves! Reeves! ' 
 and a general wish manifested that he should
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 117 
 
 fill the character sustained by him with such 
 eclat during his engagement. 
 
 " Mr. Calcraft came forward, and said that 
 he found the audience were not satisfied with 
 the singing of the gentleman who had ap- 
 peared before them (cries of ' Reeves ! ') and 
 it was only justice to the gentleman to state 
 that he had undertaken the character very 
 unexpectedly, and at very short notice. How- 
 ever, Herr Damcke, who had also been engaged, 
 would be prepared to appear in the other acts, 
 and the opera would be resumed as soon as it 
 would be possible. 
 
 " There were here loud and repeated cheers 
 and calls for ' Reeves ! ' 
 
 " Mr. Calcraft, when the storm had partly 
 subsided, said that he had no control over Mr. 
 Reeves ; the engagement with him. had ter- 
 minated, arid he was there that evening as a 
 private gentleman. 
 
 " The excitement here became very great ; 
 and Mr. Calcraft then added that Mr. Reeves, 
 although asked, had declined to sing upon this 
 sudden emergency (cheers and renewed con- 
 fusion).
 
 118 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 i 
 
 " Mr. Reeves, addressing the house from the 
 private box, said he though it but right to 
 defend himself from the observations which 
 had just been made by the manager. 
 
 " These few words added to the excitement 
 already prevailing, and continued cheering fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 " Mr. Calcraft, who made several attempts 
 to be heard, again mentioned that he had no 
 control over Mr. Reeves, whose engagement 
 had terminated (' Hear,' and confusion). 
 
 " Mr. Reeves then said, with emphasis, that 
 if the public desired it he would sing for them ; 
 but certainly not to oblige Mr. Calcraft. 
 
 " Mr. Calcraft then observed that Mr. Reeves 
 might decline to sing to oblige him ; but he was 
 glad to find that he consented to sing, par- 
 ticularly as it was to support their gifted and 
 talented young countrywoman (cheers). 
 
 " If the theatre presented a novel appearance 
 during these proceedings, the public fervour 
 seemed to increase with each new incident ; 
 and, Mr. Calcraft having retired from the stage, 
 Mr. Reeves descended from his box in order 
 lo dress for the part thus suddenly assumed,
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 119 
 
 Several minor incidents occurred, one being the 
 substitution of Mr. Lavenu for Mr. Benedict 
 as conductor. 
 
 " When the curtain rose, Miss Hayes and Mr. 
 Reeves appeared to go through again a portion 
 of the first act ; and for the want of a previous 
 rehearsal there was a momentary hesitation, 
 but this ceased as quickly ; and the opera, so 
 far as relates to the leading parts, was rendered 
 with great success. The incidents, however, 
 connected with the debut of the prima donna 
 were so peculiar and annoying, and so calculated 
 to discompose even the most self-possessed 
 person, that we do not mean to give any 
 detailed notice of the opera or of the singing 
 of Miss Hayes. It was manifest that until 
 the last act she had not become altogether 
 reassurred ; but the maniac song she rendered 
 with a charming expression and finish, and 
 the clear, ringing soprano notes, in the highest 
 register of her voice, told with fine effect. 
 She was called for at the close of each act, as 
 was also Mr. Reeves. The latter, in that which 
 ought to be one of his most favourite characters, 
 fully sustained his deserved reputation.
 
 120 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 "After the opera, Mr. Calcraft came forward, 
 and for a short time could not obtain a hearing. 
 When silence was restored he commenced by 
 saying that he thought no misconception should 
 go abroad in reference to the words of Mr. 
 Reeves, that he should sing to oblige the pub- 
 lic, but not to oblige the manager. It might 
 be conceived from this expression that there 
 was some secret difference, some subject mat- 
 ter of complaint which had not been explained. 
 
 " Mr. Reeves, at this juncture, and dressed 
 in stage costume, came forward and took his 
 place near Mr. Calcraft, regarding him very 
 fixedly as he addressed the audience. 
 
 " Mr. Calcraft proceeded to observe that to 
 remove any erroneous opinions that might go 
 abroad, it was necessary to state that he had 
 fulfilled his engagement with Mr. Reeves, and 
 that he had paid him what had been stipulated. 
 
 " There had been delays in the production of 
 an opera, delays for which neither he nor Mr. 
 Reeves were answerable, although the result 
 had been to take money from the pocket of the 
 manager. So far from any unkindly feeling 
 existing, he had engaged with Mr. Sims Reeves
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 121 
 
 to sing, after his return from provincial engage- 
 ments, the week before Christmas ; and he was 
 therefore much surprised to find that gentleman 
 so emphatically declaring that he would be 
 quite willing to oblige the audience, but cer- 
 tainly not to oblige the manager. 
 
 "A voice from the gallery, 'Make it up, 
 both of you.' (cheers and laughter.) 
 
 " Mr. Reeves observed that he had nothing 
 to make up ; but, as a matter of justice to 
 himself, it was right that the public should be 
 fully apprised of what had occurred. He had 
 come to the theatre that evening as a private 
 individual, and when the curtain fell and the 
 performance had abruptly stopped, he was 
 asked by a gentleman who was concerned in 
 the management of the present engagement, to- 
 gether with Mr. Calcraft, to sing in the opera 
 ('Hear'). He stated in reply that the call was 
 quite unexpected and that he had just come 
 from dinner, and that he had 110 dress ready ; 
 and upon declining to appear, the person who 
 had waited on him said that he considered his 
 conduct was ungentlemanlike. This, of course, 
 incensed him ; and when Mr. Calcraft after-
 
 122 MY JUBILEE. 
 
 wards spoke to him, his manner seemed much 
 excited and not calculated to remove the im- 
 pression already made. 
 
 " Mr. Calcraft here interposed, and, ad- 
 dressing the conductor, observed that Mr. 
 Lavenu was present on the occasion, and he 
 appealed to him to say if his manner was 
 excited. 
 
 " The conductor, more skilled in chords than 
 discords, although called for by the house, did 
 not respond to the appeal. 
 
 " Mr. Calcraft added that he felt happy at 
 the opera having terminated, and was obliged to 
 Mr. Reeves for singing in it ; and he bore no 
 animosity to that gentleman for what had 
 occurred. Mr. Calcraft then extended his 
 hand to Mr. Reeves, which the other took ; 
 and there were repeated cheers at the termi- 
 nation of what at one time seemed a very 
 decided difference. 
 
 " Some private conversation then took place 
 between these persons, after which Mr. Reeves 
 bowed and retired."
 
 CHAPTER VIII.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SOME day, it may be hoped, we shall have a 
 permanent establishment for the performance 
 of original English operas and foreign operas 
 translated into English. Meanwhile, per- 
 formances in English of native and foreign 
 operas take place from time to time ; and in 
 the winter of 1849 I was once more engaged 
 to appear at an English opera house. The 
 enterprise did not, however, last very long ; 
 and I accepted, for the second tune, an en- 
 gagement for the summer season of 1850 at 
 Her Majesty's Theatre, where Ernani was 
 given for my first appearance. 
 
 I must leave others to speak of the effect 
 of my performances ; and on this occasion, 
 according to the Musical World, " the reception
 
 126 MY JUBILEE J 
 
 afforded to Mr. Sims Reeves was enthusiastic. 
 Hands clapped," continued this journal, " hats 
 and handkerchiefs waved, and throats vocifer- 
 ated. Every species of active demonstration 
 was evinced in favour of ' our great dramatic 
 tenor/ who continued bowing his acknowledg- 
 ments for several minutes. Nothing could be 
 more unanimously boisterous ; nor could any- 
 thing more plainly exhibit the position in 
 which Mr. Sims Reeves stands before the 
 
 London public Mr. Sims Reeves was in. 
 
 great voice, and sang with unusual energy and 
 dramatic feeling. His first cavatina, 'Come, 
 rugiada al cespite,' was rendered with intense 
 expression, and brought down the loudest 
 applause. The delicacy and purity of his 
 singing in the duet ' Ah ! morir potessi adesso ' 
 (with Elvira) evoked an unanimous encore, 
 maugre the absence of all kind of merit in 
 the composition. In the two ' grand ' jinales to 
 the first and second acts, Mr. Sims Reeves 
 displayed all that breadth of style, power of 
 voice, and manly vigour for which he has been 
 celebrated. The audience, pleased beyond 
 measure, applauded to the echo, and recalled
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 127 
 
 the singer vociferously. The greatest hit, 
 however, during the performance was in the 
 last scene, where the composer had given a 
 sentimental passage, a la Bellini, to the tenor, 
 followed by an important and noisy trio, the 
 whole concluding with an elaborate death 
 scene. Mr. Sims Reeves acted and sang with 
 decided power in this scene, thus finishing a 
 very excellent performance with a climax which 
 set the seal upon it, and confirmed the singer's 
 
 triumph beyond all doubt At the fall of 
 
 the curtain Madame Parodi, Signer Beletti, 
 and Mr. Sims Reeves came forward twice. A 
 call then being raised for 'Reeves!' that gentle- 
 man appeared alone, and was cheered for 
 several seconds." 
 
 In February, 1851, I once more visited 
 Dublin, where I was engaged to sing with 
 Madame Grisi. But she was suddenly taken 
 ill ; and being declared by the necessary 
 medical certificate to be " totally unable to 
 fulfil any professional engagement," it was 
 essential to secure another prima donna forth- 
 with. Fortunately, my wife was with me ; 
 and we now took part together in a series of
 
 128 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 operatic representations. She played succes- 
 sively the part of Lucia to my Edgardo, of 
 Amina to my Elvino, of Elvira (in I Puritani) 
 to my Arturo, and of Elvira to my Ernani. I 
 played, moreover, the part of Captain Mac- 
 heath in the Beggars Opera. In this work my 
 wife did not appear.
 
 CHAPTER IX.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MR. LUMLEY was at this time, like Merelli 
 when I was singing in Italy, and, at an earlier 
 period, like Barbaja, the manager of more than 
 one Italian opera house. Barbaja directed at 
 the same time the San Carlo of Naples, the 
 Scala of Milan, and an Italian opera house 
 which he had himself established at Vienna. 
 Merelli conducted simultaneously the Italian 
 opera at Vienna and a number of opera houses 
 in various parts of Italy. Mr. Lumley was the 
 lessee of only two Italian opera houses : Her 
 Majesty's Theatre in London, and the Theatre 
 des Italiens in Paris. He had engaged me for 
 both his enterprises ; and on my arrival at the 
 French capital, I was introduced to my new 
 public at a concert, where I made a very favour- 
 able impression. The next morning I received 
 
 K 2
 
 132 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 a letter from Mr. Lumley, in which he wrote, 
 " You will have a great success in Ernani. I 
 was delighted to find the real hold you had 
 obtained over the Parisians by your singing at 
 the last concert." 
 
 In Ernani, the opera chosen for my debut, a 
 prima donna, destined for a brilliant though 
 brief career, made her first appearance before a 
 Paris public in the character of Elvira. " Her 
 debut," wrote the Paris correspondent of one of 
 the London musical journals, "as Donna Sol in 
 the ranting opera of Ernani was triumphant " 
 [the genius of Verdi, it may be admitted, was 
 not yet mature]. " Mr. Sims Reeves played 
 Ernani ; Colini, Carlo V. ; and Scapini, Silva. 
 The English tenor was in splendid voice, and 
 rose higher than ever in the opinion of the 
 abounds." 
 
 Among other parts sung by me at the 
 Theatre des Italiens during this engagement 
 were those of Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia, and 
 Carlo in Linda di Chamouni. According to 
 one of the Paris correspondents, who de- 
 scribed the Linda performance, the house at 
 times " literally rang with applause." The part
 
 On, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 133 
 
 of Linda was taken by the famous Sontag, who, 
 after making a seemingly brilliant marriage, 
 and retiring from the stage, had been 
 obliged by circumstances to return to it ; and 
 the correspondent just referred to declared that 
 " in the duet with Madame Sontag, Reeves was 
 cheered enthusiastically." 
 
 I had sung the part of Carlo again and again, 
 both in Italy and in England. To Madame 
 Sontag, however, the part of Linda was wholly 
 new, the opera having been composed by Doni- 
 zetti in 1843, at a time when Madame Sontag 
 had ceased to be known by that name, and, as 
 Countess Rossi, lived with her husband, then 
 Piedmontese minister at St. Petersburg. Her 
 departure from the stage had caused great 
 excitement at Paris, where she was perhaps 
 a greater favourite than even in London ; and 
 the event had been made by Scribe and Auber 
 the subject of an opera, well known to all lovers 
 of Auber's music as L' Ambassadrice. 
 
 In L'Ambassadrice, the adored prima donna 
 finds so many obstacles thrown in the way of 
 her marriage with the ambassador, to whom she 
 has already plighted her faith, that at the last
 
 134 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 moment she tears up her marriage-contract, 
 and, in a burst of genuine artistic feeling, de- 
 clares that she will return to her first love, the 
 lyrical stage. 
 
 This is precisely what the charming Hen- 
 rietta Sontag did not do. She married Count 
 Rossi, keeping the marriage a secret for a year 
 or two that she might continue to appear at 
 theatres and concerts, and thus increase, in no 
 inconsiderable degree, her husband's by no 
 means boundless wealth. 
 
 Nor was Count Rossi an ambassador. He 
 was only a minister ; and it was in consequence 
 of the Italian Government's finding it necessary, 
 after the disaster of Novara, in 1848, to replace 
 her ministers everywhere by charges d'affaires 
 at much lower salaries, that the Countess Rossi 
 determined to return to the scenes of her former 
 triumphs. Negotiations towards this end were 
 carried on with Mr. Lumley by the Earl of 
 Westmoreland, then ambassador at the court of 
 Berlin, the Lord Burghersh of former days, 
 who had so kindly assisted me to get away 
 from my unprofitable, and indeed costly, en- 
 gagement at Vienna.
 
 OK, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 135 
 
 My performances at Paris were attended 
 with the most complete success. Yet here, as 
 in London, I found myself constantly exposed 
 to the jealousy of the Italians ; not necessarily 
 tenors, but for the most part friends and parti- 
 zans of tenors. Tamburini, for instance, did 
 his best to undervalue me in the interest of his 
 son-in-law, Gardoni ; while Lablache seemed to 
 hold, on general principles, that though Italians 
 were quite in place on the boards of a London 
 theatre, an Englishman was quite out of place 
 if he presumed to accept a leading position 
 among them. Rubini and Mario, as I have said 
 before, and as I take pleasure in repeating, 
 were always my very good friends. Rubini I 
 lost sight of after leaving Italy. But Mario 
 and myself were always, from the beginning of 
 my career until the end of his, on most amicable 
 terms. He was a gentleman, in the fullest 
 sense of the word, and, as such, was incapable 
 of meanness or of any sort of pettiness.
 
 CHAPTER X,
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THIS may be a fit place in which to introduce 
 some observations for the guidance of those 
 whose intention it is to study the art of 
 singing. 
 
 If there are charms in music, all reasonable 
 people must admit that they are possessed in a 
 far higher degree by the well-trained voice 
 than by any instrument however perfectly 
 played. Nature has so willed it, for the voice 
 is Nature's own instrument ; and Art has here 
 given Nature the most powerful aid, since, 
 through Art, the voice may be made to produce 
 sounds with greater nicety and exactness than 
 any instrument. The charm of the human 
 voice, even in speaking, is very powerful ; and 
 every one knows that in oratory a just modu-
 
 140 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 lation of it is of the highest importance. Every 
 lover of music, therefore, must wish to see the 
 voice brought to the greatest possible per- 
 fection, a result which is certainly not aided 
 by the present mode of shouting, so frequently 
 and so erroneously described as "splendid decla- 
 mation." Preposterous idea ! For this straining 
 of the voice not only destroys its beauty at the 
 moment, but in the long run ruins it alto- 
 gether. 
 
 As to the obstinacy, amounting almost to 
 insanity, of those who maintain that the pre- 
 sent monstrously high pitch is necessary by 
 reason of the brilliancy which, with such a 
 pitch, can be attained by our English, 
 French, or Italian orchestras, all that need be 
 said is that to sing to such a pitch must have 
 the inevitable effect of forcing up the voice and 
 putting upon it a strain which it cannot bear. 
 Thus the quality of tone is impaired, and the 
 worst fault of all, singing out of tune, follows 
 as a natural consequence. 
 
 For the faults of all singers, supposing 
 them to have begun with a fair allowance of 
 natural gifts, I hold the teacher to be alto-
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 141 
 
 gether responsible. When a defect declares 
 itself, it should be at once corrected. If the 
 student has a bad mode of delivery, or no 
 matter what fault, the teacher should at once 
 remedy it, and, failing to do so, he renders 
 himself answerable for the errors of his pupil. 
 From the first to the last, the master should 
 never forget that what he fails to correct he 
 thereby sanctions. 
 
 The pupil must, in the first place, gain a 
 good knowledge of his notes, the value of time, 
 &c. Then let the master do his utmost to 
 make him hit and sound the notes perfectly 
 in tune. A professor who has not a good 
 ear should not undertake to instruct ; as a 
 vocalist who has not got a good ear should not 
 attempt to sing. A singer who cannot sing in 
 tune had better give up studying at once, for 
 anything else he may learn will be of no real 
 use to him. 
 
 To gain the high notes, a singer should be 
 taught to ascend the scale by slow degrees, 
 taking care to swell each note from the softest 
 piano to the loudest forte, and from the loudest 
 forte to the softest piano. By this progressive
 
 142 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 exercise he should be able to acquire a good 
 messa di voce; and a good messa di voce never 
 fails to have an exquisite effect. 
 
 Locke illustrates the necessity of gaining 
 strength slowly and progressively by the story 
 of the famous athlete, Milo of Cretona ; who 
 began by carrying a calf, and gradually in- 
 creased his burden until at last he was able to 
 carry a cow. If, says Locke, he had begun by 
 carrying a cow, he would soon have been unable 
 even to carry a calf. 
 
 In extending the compass of the voice, the 
 student must bear in mind that the higher the 
 notes the more necessary it will be to touch 
 them with softness in order to avoid screaming. 
 He must be careful too, and ever on the watch, 
 to avoid singing through the nose or in a choked 
 manner in the throat. There are, I am sorry 
 to say, many throaty tenors now on the plat- 
 form, and there are numbers of people who 
 blindly applaud them. The faults of the singer 
 are not, however, justified by the ignorance of 
 his admirers. 
 
 The pupil should always sing to the French 
 pitch, the so-called diapason normal, in order
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 143 
 
 that he may acquire and preserve high notes. 
 How painful it is to watch some of the singers 
 of the present day as they strive to reach the 
 high notes, often with contortions ludicrous to 
 behold ! 
 
 The most perfect singer I ever heard, of 
 whom in a future chapter I shall have much to 
 say, was Jenny Lind ; and this lady, as natural 
 and frank as she was kind-hearted, was as 
 particular about singing with propriety of 
 demeanour as about singing absolutely in tune 
 and with the exact expression required by the 
 meaning of the words. On one occasion she 
 quietly asked a vocalist who indulged in dread- 
 ful contortions why she made such faces. 
 
 " I cannot reach the notes without doing so," 
 was the reply. 
 
 " " Then," said Jenny Lind, in her gentlest 
 manner, " you should not sing at all." 
 
 Let the master never be tired of making the 
 scholar sol-fa so long as he finds it necessary ; 
 for if he should permit him to sing upon the 
 vowels too soon he will commit a grave error. 
 Let the student sing on the three open vowels, 
 more especially on the first, but not always on
 
 144 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 the same ; from this constant exercise he will 
 learn not to confound one with the other, and 
 will arrive more easily at a correct enunciation 
 of words. 
 
 Singing demands such strict application that 
 one must study with the mind as well as with 
 the voice. Early correction is everything. 
 Let the student once acquire faults, and the 
 older he grows the worse his faults will become. 
 He should hear, as often as he can, the most 
 celebrated singers as well as the best instru- 
 mental performers, and should remember that at 
 the Conservatorio of Milan every instrumental 
 performer, in order to acquire a song-like 
 expression, is taught to sing. 
 
 Some young vocalists who are sent into the 
 profession before their time, who have scarcely 
 indeed finished their first most essential lessons, 
 sing their vowels in a most abominable manner, 
 with an affectation which suggests that they 
 must be ashamed to open their mouths. 
 Others, on the contrary, stretch their mouths 
 over much. 
 
 Words must be uttered in such a manner 
 that not a syllable is lost. If they are not
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 145 
 
 distinctly enunciated the singer deprives the 
 hearer of the greater part of such delight as 
 vocal music can give. 
 
 Finally, I cannot impress too much on the 
 student the absolute necessity of practising 
 every day. Let him not imagine, even if 
 he has attained a high position, that it will be 
 sufficient for him to exercise his voice simply 
 when he is called upon to do so in public. To 
 show that I follow my own precepts, I may 
 mention that since the beginning of my career 
 until now (except when, from cold or some 
 other form of illness, my voice has been out of 
 order) I have made a point of practising every 
 day. 
 
 By preference, the vocalist, whatever point 
 of perfection he may have reached, should 
 practice in presence of a master capable of 
 at once noticing and correcting any fault, of 
 whatever character, he may commit. The 
 singer can never hear himself as an attentive 
 and duly qualified professor can hear him. For 
 years it was my custom to sing daily in pre- 
 sence of Signor Alary, composer of Le Tre nozze, 
 and one of the best singing masters I ever knew.
 
 146 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 As regards the health of the voice, it is 
 necessary, of course, to avoid as much as possible 
 all risk of taking a cold. But this is not to be 
 done by remaining indoors, or by excessive 
 wrapping when in the open air. I have 
 always lived simply and regularly, and taken 
 plenty of exercise. Besides walking every 
 day, I frequently do my seven or eight 
 miles along a country road two or three 
 times a week. 
 
 It is insufficient to cultivate the voice unless 
 general intelligence be also cultivated. I 
 should recommend singers not to restrict them- 
 selves so much as most of us do to musical 
 society, in which the conversation is sure, 
 naturally enough, to turn for the most part 
 on musical subjects. Analagous advice might 
 be offered to painters, who are seldom to be 
 met with among musicians, just as musicians 
 are seldom to be met with among them. 
 
 Some of my pleasantest hours have been 
 passed at the Garrick Club, where, I venture 
 to say, there was better company to be found 
 in my younger days than there is now. When 
 I first joined it, Thackeray, Dickens, Talfourd,
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 147 
 
 Charles Kemble, Charles Kean, Albert Smith, 
 and Shirley Brooks, were constantly to be met 
 with in the smoking room. I wish I had kept 
 some of their letters. In its due place, 
 however, I shall be able to reproduce, at 
 least, one which I received from the genial 
 and witty Shirley Brooks. 
 
 L '2
 
 CHAPTER XI
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OF the many eccentricities of the human mind, 
 not the least strange is that by which it may so 
 habitually associate the performance of a certain 
 act with some external object that it at length 
 cannot perform the one in the absence of the 
 other. Between the act and the object there is 
 perhaps no connection whatever, independently 
 of habit. Thus Dr. Beattie mentions the case 
 of a clergyman who could not compose his ser- 
 mon unless he held a foot-rule in his hand 
 (though, perhaps, the sermon was measured off 
 into sections by this means) ; and of another 
 clergyman who, while engaged in study, would 
 incessantly roll between his fingers a packet of 
 peas. Locke, too, refers to a young man who, 
 in a particular room which contained an old
 
 152 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 trunk, could dance to perfection ; but in another 
 room, if it wanted such a piece of furniture, 
 could not perform a single step. In the Tatler, 
 again, we find an instance of an attorney 
 who, in his legal arguments, would always be 
 twisting about his finger a piece of thread, 
 which the wags, of course, called the thread of 
 his discourse. A client of his was once curious 
 to see how he would manage without it, and 
 stole it from him. The consequence was that 
 the orator became suddenly silent in the midst 
 of his speech, and the client expiated his joke 
 by the loss of his action. 
 
 But while admitting the possibility of this 
 phenomenon, the question yet remains as to 
 whether the particular instances recorded in 
 connection with it are always true. Mr. Maple - 
 son, in his racy, entertaining Memoirs, recently 
 astonished the world, and particularly myself, 
 by the assertion that I could not sing unless 
 I had previously swallowed, in a dressing-room 
 hung with a particular kind of chintz, a basin 
 of soup prepared at Birch's in Cornhill. Now, 
 to take the assertion for one moment in earnest, 
 the particular kind of chintz might have been
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 153 
 
 everywhere at my disposal ; but how on earth, 
 when singing, for instance, at the Theatre 
 Royal, Dublin, or, still less, on rny lengthened 
 Italian tour, could I have obtained the requisite 
 supply of soup, prepared at Birch's in Cornhill ? 
 
 Mr. Mapleson's assertion, however, is alto- 
 gether too droll to require any serious denial on 
 my part. The fact seems to be, that when a 
 vocalist, from indisposition or other valid cause, 
 is unable to sing, any fantastic explanation of 
 his non-appearance obtains readier credence 
 than the actual truth. 
 
 I may conscientiously say that I have never 
 broken an appointment with the public from 
 anything like caprice ; and while many journals 
 have been pleased to attribute my occasional 
 non-appearance to absolute whim, a few have 
 had the justice to defend me from such sus- 
 picions as those to which every vocalist of any 
 eminence has been at times exposed. 
 
 On the occasion of my playing Captain Mac- 
 heath in the Beggars Opera, "the house," wrote 
 Punch, " was literally crammed from floor to 
 ceiling by an audience whose enthusiastic tem- 
 perature increased in a graduated thermo-
 
 154 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 metrical scale, the overboiling point being 
 reached at the back row ; and this on a night 
 when in the boxes and stalls wrappers, fur 
 mantles, and ulsters were de rigueur, on account 
 of de rigour of the cold, and when the Messrs. 
 Gatti might have made a considerable addition 
 to their good fortune by sending round the 
 attendants with a supply of foot-warmers, hot 
 toddy and mulled claret, and other popular 
 drinks, at cheap prices. There he was, bright 
 and gay as ever, our tenner still unchanged, 
 and equal to any number of the most valuable 
 notes. 
 
 " En passant, the public has an idea that Mr. 
 Sims Reeves is ' a bird who can sing/ and often 
 capriciously ' won't sing.' Some even go so far 
 as to ask, ' Can't he be made to sing ? ' No one 
 wishes more sincerely than himself that on the 
 occasion when he is forced to refuse, he could 
 1 be made to sing.' It is no pleasure to any 
 man to lose money by being compelled to cancel 
 an engagement which is entered into on the 
 play and pay principle ; and it cannot but be 
 an unspeakable, or in his case urisingable, dis- 
 appointment to thousands who ' hang on his
 
 OB, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 155 
 
 lips.' It is no more a pleasure for a dis- 
 tinguished tenor to be laid up with a bad 
 throat than for a one-legged dancer, a la 
 Donato, to be prostrated by the gout in his one 
 solitary foot." 
 
 My well-known objection to encores has 
 exposed me, moreover, to demonstrations which, 
 though substantially complimentary, have also 
 presented something of a reproachful character. 
 Now, encores may be opposed on various 
 grounds. In an opera they destroy the balance 
 between the different scenes ; and the effect 
 of the singing, whether in an opera, an ora- 
 torio, a cantata, or a miscellaneous concert, is 
 never so good the second as the first time. 
 The encore system is particularly unfair, more- 
 over, towards a singer who, far from sparing 
 himself, throws his heart and soul into his 
 work. The more he exerts himself, that is to 
 say, to do his best, the more surely is he con- 
 demned to exert himself a second time with 
 the effect, probably, of rendering himself unable 
 to do justice in subsequent pieces. 
 
 Not only do I object to encores on my own 
 account. I dislike them generally and on
 
 156 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 principle ; and once I remember, at the very 
 beginning of my career, I, in conjunction with 
 another singer, took a very efficacious way of 
 preventing a third vocalist, Bedell by name, 
 from prolonging the performance by repeating a 
 lengthy and tedious song which he had evidently 
 resolved, on small provocation, to deliver a second 
 time. I and my companion were playing, 
 appropriately enough, the parts of conspirators, 
 in which character we wore long loose cloaks. 
 As Bedell was preparing to repeat his song, 
 " The Storm," we walked stealthily towards 
 him from one of the wings with our cloaks 
 hanging on our arms, threw the ample gar- 
 ments over his head, entangled him in their 
 folds, and dragged him off the stage ; when his 
 involuntary exit was taken as a signal for the 
 curtain to come down. 
 
 Our impromptu coup de theatre took the 
 audience by surprise, and we were rewarded for 
 our happy thought by a loud spontaneous burst 
 of applause. 
 
 So well was the affair managed that Bedell 
 never found out who the two conspirators really 
 were.
 
 CHAPTER XII.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I HAD been singing six or seven years at the 
 Sacred Harmonic Society, when Sir Michael 
 Costa, who had hitherto distinguished himself 
 only as a composer of ballet music and of opera 
 (Alma was considered his best work in the 
 former, and Mcdek Adel in the latter style), 
 accepted a commission to write an oratorio 
 for the Birmingham Festival of 1855. The 
 subject was Eli, and the tenor part was to 
 be written for me. 
 
 In composing his oratorio Sir Michael (then 
 Mr.) Costa cannot be said to have been much 
 helped by his librettist. The story is without 
 connection, and the incidents, neither plentiful 
 nor striking, are not of a kind to suggest musi- 
 cal illustration. There is of necessity, then, a
 
 160 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 want of unity in the work. There are two 
 situations, however, which at once appeal to 
 the musician ; and these Costa turned to 
 good account. The first is where Eli over- 
 hears his two sons, Hophni and Phineas, 
 riotously singing- to the women assembled at 
 the door of the Tabernacle ; the second where 
 Saph, a valiant warrior of Gath, summons the 
 Philistines to battle. There is nothing novel in 
 the idea of a war song any more than in that 
 of a drinking song, or a song about love. But 
 a war song can and must be set to music ; and 
 Saph's inspiriting call to battle was treated by 
 Costa with fine effect. It is written in the 
 newspapers of the time that "the singing of 
 Mr. Sims Reeves and the chorus induced the 
 audience to overthrow the barriers of etiquette 
 and take from the hands of the president the 
 assumed right of encore. The solo and chorus 
 of the Philistines, ' Hark the trumpet sound- 
 ing,' carried everything before it ; and the 
 audience were quite unable to suppress their 
 emotions. Mr. Sims Reeves gave the solo with 
 electrical effect; the chorus answered in a voice 
 of thunder, and the applause was such that, as
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 161 
 
 before stated, the president was obliged to con- 
 sent to a repetition." 
 
 I have elsewhere mentioned what I must here 
 repeat, that among the audience, listening 
 with critical attention, were three famous 
 tenors, Mario, Gardoni, and Tamberlik. 
 
 At the end of the oratorio the greatest of 
 the three, in the presence of his artistic col- 
 leagues, complimented the successful composer. 
 
 " But you have insulted us ! " he added 
 jokingly. 
 
 " How ? " inquired Costa. 
 
 " By giving the tenor part," replied Mario, 
 " to an English singer. . . . But you were 
 right after all," he continued, " for no Italian 
 could have done justice to it." 
 
 Three years later Mr. Costa produced his 
 second oratorio, Naaman, which, like Eli, was 
 composed expressly for the Birmingham Festi- 
 val. As in Eli, moreover, the tenor part was 
 written specially for me. My associates in the 
 work were Adelina Patti, Miss Palmer, an 
 excellent contralto of that time, now forgotten, 
 and Mr. Santley. 
 
 Patti made a brilliant success, and the corn- 
 
 M
 
 162 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 poser could not but congratulate himself on 
 having found such a representative for his 
 Adah. 
 
 One of the best pieces in the oratorio was 
 the quart ett, " Honour and Glory," sung with 
 the greatest effect by the four principal 
 vocalists. 
 
 " Nothing more unanimous," wrote one of 
 the critics present at the Festival, " nothing 
 more spontaneous was ever witnessed, than the 
 overwhelming demand for an instant repetition 
 of this wonderfully striking and effective piece. 
 It was, moreover, superbly executed. In the 
 delivery of the opening phrase, alternately 
 taken up by the other voices, Mr. Sims Reeves 
 electrified his hearers ; every note was an 
 ' Armstrong ' ; then the youthful, sympathetic, 
 and penetrating notes of Mdlle. Adelina 
 Patti's exquisite soprano rang through the hall 
 like sounds of a silver trumpet. In the bass 
 part Mr. Santley was incomparable ; while Miss 
 Palmer, the contralto, by her correctness and 
 intelligence showed how thoroughly she felt 
 the honour of being in such company." 
 
 Adelina Patti sang on this occasion for the
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 163 
 
 first time in oratorio, and there were no two 
 opinions as to her success, which was, indeed, 
 triumphant. To restrict myself, however, to 
 my own share in the work, it is recorded, in 
 the journals of the time, that "all the martial 
 music which forms part of the paraphernalia 
 attending the several appearances of Naaman, 
 including the splendidly instrumental triumphal 
 march with chorus in the first part, and a 
 purely instrumental march, both original and 
 characteristic, in the second, is as vigorous and 
 spirited as could be wished. Naaman's last 
 solo, ' Blessed be the Lord God,' a sort of 
 prologue to the imposing final chorus, is a 
 grand piece of musical declamation. It is 
 doubtful whether any other tenor than Mr. 
 Sims Reeves, who, in his reading, imparts 
 almost as much dramatic significance as if he 
 were surrounded by all the accessories and 
 appointments of stage representation, could be 
 found to make Naaman the striking character 
 he makes him. Never has this artist been 
 more completely master of his resources than at 
 this festival ; and never did he exert his rare 
 
 powers with more assiduity and success than 
 
 M 2
 
 164 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 on behalf of Mr. Costa's new work. ' There is 
 but one Reeves,' was the remark on all sides 
 after his noble delivery of the first phrase in 
 the inspiring quartett. . . . Mr. Costa had 
 secured for his oratorio a cast of unprecedented 
 strength. Besides the four artists already 
 named, Madame Sainton Dolby was provided 
 with a part which, if dramatically unimportant, 
 contained two very beautiful airs, ' I sought the 
 Lord,' and ' I dreamed I was in Heaven.' ' 
 
 The performance was scarcely at an end 
 when Costa paid me a visit, in order to 
 thank me for what he afterwards called my 
 invaluable aid. As I was not in, he left his 
 card, on which he had written the words, " In 
 paradise non si canta meglio." 
 
 For some time I was as closely identified 
 with the war-song in Eli and with Naaman's 
 Dream, the last solo, " Blessed be the Lord 
 God," as with the recitative in St. Paul, "Men, 
 Brothers, and Fathers, hearken to me," and the 
 Handelian airs, " The enemy said" and "Sound 
 an alarm." 
 
 Costa was in the habit of sending every year 
 to Rossini a Stilton cheese in fine condition.
 
 OK, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 165 
 
 After the production of Eli he forwarded him 
 the usual cheese accompanied by the score of 
 his new work. . What Rossini wrote in reply I 
 do not know ; but a friend of the great Italian 
 composer, hearing of the presents he had 
 received, asked him what he thought of Costa's 
 oratorio. 
 
 " The cheese was excellent," he replied. 
 
 At a later date an oratorio which greatly 
 interested me was Sir Arthur Sullivan's Pro- 
 digal Son. The work contains so much music 
 of an elevated character that, thinking of it, 
 one cannot but ask whether Sir Arthur, at 
 least from the art point of view, would not have 
 done well to write more oratorios and fewer 
 operettas. Of serious opera it would be useless 
 in this connection to speak ; since, with all our 
 boasted love of music, we are unable to keep 
 going, except at long intervals, and then only 
 for a few months at a time, a national English 
 Opera house. 
 
 We have plenty of operetta theatres, and 
 the reckless way in which they are conducted 
 as regards the singers, makes me feel it my duty
 
 166 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 to enter a protest on the subject. Many of the 
 composers, especially the most distinguished of 
 them all, Sir Arthur Sullivan, write with a 
 view to brilliancy of effect very trying passages 
 for the sopranos and tenors ; passages which 
 involve a constant strain on the upper notes of 
 the voice. This would not matter so much 
 were not the same singers called upon to sing 
 night after night. No opera manager expects 
 a vocalist to appear more than three times a 
 week; the manager, however, of an operetta 
 theatre is insatiable, inexorable. His singers 
 
 o 
 
 must sing for him every night, not at the risk 
 but with the absolute certainty of ruining 
 their voices. I will not mention names. Let 
 any one who remembers the sopranos and 
 tenors who during the last ten or twelve years 
 have appeared in operetta recall some of the 
 best, and ask himself what has become of 
 them. 
 
 Operetta, trivial and unpretentious as it may 
 seem, has, through the practice of giving the 
 same work with the same cast night after 
 night, destroyed more voices than Verdi, 
 Meyerbeer, or even Wagner. I quite under--
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 167 
 
 stand that it is to the advantage of a manager 
 to play night after night the same operetta 
 with the same singers until they are exhausted 
 and done for. But on this point the interests 
 of singers and managers are not identical. 
 
 A vocalist might sing three nights a \veek 
 without injury to his voice, but the strain of 
 six nights a week is absolutely sure to ruin it. 
 All voices succumb, more or less rapidly, to 
 this treadmill work, which serves merely to put 
 money into the pockets of the composer, the 
 librettist, and the manager. What do these 
 gentlemen care if they destroy the voices of 
 their victims ? They will tell you there are 
 plenty more vocalists to be found.
 
 CHAPTER XIII.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FROM the year 1845, when I made my first 
 appearance in opera, at La Scala. Milan, 
 until 1860, when I created the part of Kobin 
 Hood in Macfarren's opera of that name, I sang 
 much more frequently on the stage than on 
 the concert platform. Since 1860, I have sung 
 but little in opera. But I continued to sing 
 without intermission at the most important of 
 our musical festivals and at the performances of 
 the Sacred Harmonic Society. 
 
 My greatest achievements, however, in sacred . 
 music have been at the Crystal Palace, amidst 
 the grandest surroundings by which the 
 impressiveness of sacred music has ever been 
 enhanced. Preparations for a grand centennial 
 commemoration of Handel's death were begun
 
 172 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 as early as 1856, in view of 1859 ; it was in 
 1759, at the age of seventy-four, that the 
 great composer died. I may here point out, 
 what the student of musical history already 
 knows, that Handel's sublime oratorios were 
 all written during the last eighteen years of 
 his life. Like the setting sun, he shed his 
 richest, his most glowing rays, when he was 
 about to disappear. 
 
 Beginning his creative work as a very young 
 man, he occupied himself for thirty-six years 
 with the composition of operas, not one of 
 which except here and there, by a single air 
 is now known. A very large number of his 
 oratorios, on the other hand, survive as popular 
 works, familiar to every one in England who 
 cares for music. 
 
 The hundredth anniversary of Handel's birth- 
 day had been celebrated (some months before 
 the proper time) at Westminster Abbey in 
 1784. When the hundredth anniversary of the 
 great man's death was at hand, the Sacred 
 Harmonic Society, under the direction of 
 Robert Bowley, resolved, three years before- 
 hand, to commemorate it with a solemnity
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 173 
 
 worthy of the occasion. After much considera- 
 tion, it was determined to give a preliminary 
 series of performances in 1857'; a sort of re- 
 hearsal of what should take place, possibly on a 
 grander scale, in 1859. 
 
 In June, 1857, the preliminary Handel 
 Festival was held at the Crystal Palace, and I 
 sang the tenor music in each of the three 
 oratorios performed the Messiah, Israel in 
 Egypt, and Judas Maccabceus. These three 
 works were repeated under the same conditions, 
 except that the chorus and orchestra were both 
 increased, at the centennial festival in 1859: 
 officially the first of the festivals given every 
 three years until the present day, and destined, 
 we may be sure, to be repeated so long as 
 music shall be cared for in England. 
 
 At the historical festival of 1859, the solo 
 singers were Madame Clara Novello, Miss Dolby, 
 Mr. Weiss, Signer Beletti, and myself. The 
 oratorio of the first day, the Messiah, was given 
 with the greatest possible success. But it was 
 on the second day, in Judas, that I made 
 the deepest impression. The audience and 
 orchestra, according to the Musical World,
 
 174 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 received Sims Reeves "with thunders of ap- 
 plause, the former, indeed, ' rising at him ' as 
 the pit at Drury Lane were wont to do at 
 Kean. The selection from Judas comprised the 
 chorus, ' Oh, Father, whose Almighty power ;' 
 the recitative and aria, ' Sound an alarm ;' the 
 chorus, 'We hear, we hear, the pleasing dread- 
 ful call ;' the recitative and air, ' From mighty 
 kings ;' the duet and chorus. ' Oh, never, never 
 bow we down ;' and the trio and chorus, ' See 
 the conquering hero conies.' Mr. Sims Reeves 
 created an immense sensation in that most 
 stirring of all martial airs, ' Sound an alarm/ 
 and was encored in a hurricane of applause." 
 
 Great, however, as was my success on this 
 occasion, I attained a crowning triumph on the 
 third and concluding day. Israel in Egypt was 
 the work performed, and in it I, according to 
 the Musical World, " sang transcendently. He 
 literally surpassed himself. His execution of 
 ' The enemy said ' was indeed, the great 
 vocal feat of the festival. It even went 
 beyond ' Sound an alarm/ in Judas Mac- 
 cabceus." 
 
 In June, 1859, I was doing a great deal of
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 175 
 
 work ; so much that I look back to it with a 
 sort of retrospective alarm, wondering how it 
 was that I got through it all without breaking 
 down. 
 
 I had been singing, under Mr. Buckstone's 
 management, at the Hayrnarket Theatre, where, 
 among other works, a new opera, called Bertha, 
 by Henry Smart, was produced, but without 
 financial success. Auber's already well-known 
 opera of Fra Diavolo was, on the other hand, 
 received with constant applause. In the part 
 of the hero, I made no small impression. Her 
 Majesty the Queen and Prince Consort did us 
 the honour to attend one of the performances ; 
 and Her Majesty seemed particularly pleased 
 with my delivery of the serenade, "Young 
 Agnes." 
 
 During the same month, I had been singing at 
 the Handel Festival for an entire week; from the 
 grand public rehearsal, that is to say, until the 
 third day of the festival properly so-called ; and 
 I was engaged to sing on the evening of the 
 third day at the Court concert, when suddenly, 
 to my consternation, I learned that one of the 
 pieces for which I was set down in the pro-
 
 176 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 gramme was the serenade in Fra Diavolo, 
 which Her Gracious Majesty had heard me 
 sing shortly before at the Haymarket Theatre. 
 I should, in the course of the day, have to 
 sing "The enemy said," in Israel in Egypt, 
 and should in all probability have to sing 
 it twice; and after an air so trying as this 
 one, when sung as I was in the habit of singing 
 it, with all the force, all the feeling at my 
 command, it would be quite impossible for me 
 to do justice to Auber's charming serenade, 
 with the demands it makes on the delicate 
 upper notes of the voice. The thing could not 
 be done; and I was obliged, very reluctantly, 
 but of absolute necessity, to decline. I sug- 
 gested some other piece. 
 
 But my declination was not accepted, and 
 I was given to understand that I must obey 
 Her Majesty's command. 
 
 In the evening Costa saw Prince Albert, and 
 represented to His Royal Highness that after 
 singing all the week, after singing that very 
 day, in Israel in Egypt, and singing twice, as I 
 had foreseen might be the case, the great, and, 
 under the circumstances, really most exhausting
 
 Sims Beeves as Fra Diavolo
 
 OB, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 177 
 
 air, " The enemy said," it was impossible for me 
 to render justice to the delicate, yet exacting 
 music of Auber's Serenade. After every effort 
 there is necessarily a reaction ; and I had used 
 my upper notes with so much vigour in the 
 oratorio that I no longer possessed that full 
 command over them which would be indis- 
 pensable for the proper rendering of the piece 
 set down for me. 
 
 Always kind-hearted and ready to oblige, 
 the Prince went to Her Majesty. Soon after- 
 wards Costa came to me and showed me a 
 programme in which the Queen had underlined 
 the Fra Diavolo serenade, and had written in 
 the margin the significant letters, " V.R." 
 Costa pointed with a smile to the Royal com- 
 mand so concisely given, and said " You see 
 there is no help for it." 
 
 Most unwilling to attempt what I knew I 
 could not satisfactorily perform, I asked my 
 wife to speak on the subject to Mrs. Anderson, 
 wife of Mr. Anderson, director of Her Majesty's 
 private band. But she could not venture, she 
 said, to make any representations to Her 
 Majesty respecting the proposed change in the
 
 178 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 programme. She knew that the Queen was 
 determined to hear the serenade. 
 
 " When Her Majesty has once written 
 'V.B.,' " she explained, " she has made up her 
 mind and will not alter it." 
 
 Fortunately Her Majesty had not ordered me 
 to sing the air in the original key ; and I took 
 the liberty of transposing it to a lower one. 
 The melody lost, no doubt, much of its bright- 
 ness ; but my voice was fatigued, and I had 
 done my best in a difficult position. When I 
 had finished singing Prince Albert came to me 
 and said : 
 
 " The Queen is much obliged to you. You 
 sang the air beautifully, though in too low a 
 key." 
 
 1 had treated it in fact very much against 
 my will, as an air not for the tenor, but for the 
 baritone voice. 
 
 While on the subject of oratorio, I may men- 
 tion that I was the first to sing in England the 
 whole of the tenor part in Bach's Passion Music. 
 That great work was given some five-and-twenty 
 years ago at St. James's Hall, I think, for the
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF AUTISTIC LIFE. 179 
 
 first time in complete form. Sterndale Bennett, 
 who loved Bach's music, and took the greatest 
 interest in the performance, conducted the 
 work. But for him, indeed, the production 
 would not have taken place ; certainly not at 
 that time. The singers were Madame Lemmens- 
 Sherrington, Miss Dolhy, Weiss, and myself. 
 The tenor part, however, is in many places so 
 unvocal, and the intervals are so awkward to 
 take, that I was obliged to re-note it: without, 
 of course, disturbing the accents or making it 
 in any way unsuitable to the existing harmony. 
 As soon as I had finished my work, to which I 
 had devoted the greatest possible care, I sub- 
 mitted it to Bennett, who, except in one place, 
 approved of all that I had done ; and it is my 
 version of the tenor part which was sung at 
 Bennett's memorable performance, and which is 
 still sung even to this day. All the most dis- 
 tinguished musicians and amateurs in London 
 were present that evening ; one of the most 
 interesting that I remember. 
 
 To return for one moment to Fra Diavolo. I 
 have often appeared with great success in this 
 
 opera, but never under such peculiar conditions 
 
 N 2
 
 180 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 as once when I met with so serious an acci- 
 dent that I could scarcely go through the 
 concluding scene. I had introduced new busi- 
 ness, in which Fra Diavolo, after his hurried 
 retreat from the bridge, leaps, as the soldiers 
 fire at him, into the stream below. There is of 
 course no danger in such a leap when four men, 
 holding a feather bed, are ready to break the 
 fall. But for some reason or other my re- 
 cipients were not in their appointed places, and 
 I came down on hard boards with the result of 
 spraining, and indeed dislocating, my ankle. 
 Immediately afterwards I had to reappear 
 on the stage, and though suffering the most 
 acute pain I somehow managed to limp along. 
 Every moment I thought I should have been 
 forced to give up. I struggled on, however, 
 stimulated, perhaps, by the very agony I was 
 suffering, and finished the opera as though 
 nothing had happened. But when the curtain 
 fell, without any one perceiving my bodily dis- 
 tress, I was in a fainting condition, and had to 
 be carried to my room. The effect must have 
 been gratifying to the audience. The applause 
 at the termination of the opera was quite over-
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 181 
 
 whelming, and the call most enthusiastic. In a 
 few minutes I was sufficiently recovered to 
 respond, and was carried on the back of Mr. 
 Henry Corri, who had been playing the part of 
 Beppo, to receive the approbation of the audi- 
 ence. Mr. Corri afterwards explained the cause 
 of this unusual exhibition. 
 
 I have said at the beginning of this volume 
 that I once had a narrow escape of my life 
 through being thrown from the back of a run- 
 away horse on to a heap of sharp flints. Many 
 years later, when I was playing the part 
 of Edgardo at the Lyceum Theatre with 
 Mrs. Reeves as Lucia, I was in a terrible rail- 
 way accident which resulted in seven or eight 
 persons being killed, while a great many were 
 badly wounded. We had been singing at 
 Brighton, and the train was just entering 
 Croydon station Avhen the collision took place. 
 
 I telegraphed to Mr. Allcroft, at that time 
 manager of the Lyceum, saying that it would 
 be impossible for us to get to him in time for 
 the performance. The audience had waited at 
 least half an hour beyond the time announced 
 for commencing the opera when, without having
 
 182 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 time to eat more than a hasty snatch, my wife 
 appeared on the stage to sing the cavatina, I 
 following her soon afterwards to take part in 
 the duet. The danger we had passed through 
 being generally known, we were received with 
 the utmost enthusiasm. I shall never forget 
 Allcroft's excitement when we reached the 
 theatre. He rushed on to the stage, pressing 
 his Gibus hat with a great bang upon his 
 stomach, calling out in a loud but trembling 
 voice : " He's here, The beggar's here ! " 
 
 On another occasion at Cork, and once more 
 in the opera of Fra Diavolo, I narrowly escaped 
 severe injury by being fired into point-blank by 
 the soldiers. Fortunately, I was not quite so 
 close to them as I might have been. I was 
 near enough, however, to receive several wads, 
 which went through my cloak, pierced my 
 jacket, and inflicted upon me severe contusions, 
 from which I did not recover for several days. 
 
 Mention of the Cork Theatre reminds me of 
 another incident in which the danger was not 
 for me but for a small portion of the audience 
 who had been disturbing the performance. 
 Some officers of the garrison, who had taken
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 183 
 
 boxes near the stage, persisted in smoking. 
 This, besides being discourteous, interfered 
 with my singing. I looked significantly into 
 the box but without any effect, except that the 
 audience observed my silent protest. At last 
 I could stand it no longer, and, addressing the 
 audience, said that unless the officers desisted 
 from smoking I must have the curtain let down. 
 Upon this the house rose, there was a general 
 exit, and the officers, chased from their boxes, 
 were pursued for some distance. They suc- 
 ceeded, fortunately for themselves, in getting 
 away. Then the audience returned to the 
 theatre, and the performance went on without 
 further interruption.
 
 CHAPTER XIV.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 I WAS always glad to assist in any well-designed 
 endeavour that might be made to establish 
 English opera; and in 1860 I willingly accepted 
 an engagement from Mr. E. T. Smith, who, in 
 partnership with Mr. Mapleson, had arranged 
 to bring out a new work by G. A. Macfarren 
 to a libretto by Mr. John Oxenford, on the 
 subject of Robin Hood. 
 
 Mr. E. T, Smith was not a manager who 
 did things by halves. He had a preference, 
 indeed, for doing things by doubles. He once 
 arranged a double performance of II Trovatore 
 with two stages, an extra one built up above 
 the ordinary stage, as in the last act of Aida, 
 and in more than one melodrama of an earlier 
 period. A double cast of Verdi's popular opera
 
 188 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 had been provided ; and while Grisi, at the 
 head of one quartet, sang the part of Leonora 
 on the ground floor, Titiens, at the head of 
 another quartet, was to sing it on the floor 
 above. 
 
 At another time, Mr. Smith planned an 
 equestrian performance of this same work, in 
 which Leonora, Azucena, Manrico, and the 
 Count di Luna were all to appear on horseback. 
 The representation did not come off; though 
 some of the singers would probably have done 
 so had it taken place. 
 
 At Her Majesty's Theatre, however, in the 
 year 1860, Mr. E. T. Smith did really succeed 
 in giving a double performance, which must 
 have been quite after his own heart, the more 
 so, as it was on one side at least attended with 
 genuine success. In order to give himself 
 a two-fold chance, while economizing in his 
 orchestral expenditure, he planned two sets of 
 operatic representations, one in English the 
 other in Italian, with, of course, two separate 
 companies, but with a single orchestra. There 
 were two conductors. Signor Arditi acted in 
 this capacity for the Italian company, with
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 189 
 
 Titiens as prima donna, Madame Lemaire as 
 contralto, Giuglini as principal tenor, and 
 Beletti as leading baritone ; Mr. (now Sir 
 Charles) Halle officiated as conductor to the 
 English company, which included, for Robin 
 Hood, Madame Lemmens-Sherrington, Madame 
 Lemaire (who did double duty), Mr. Santley, 
 Mr. Patey, Mr. Honey, Mr. Parkinson, and 
 myself. In addition to the vocalists who were 
 to take part in Macfarren's new work, 
 the English company comprised Mademoiselle 
 Parepa (afterwards Madame Parepa Rosa), 
 Mademoiselle Jenny Bauer, Miss Laura Baxter, 
 Miss Fanny Huddart, Mr. Swift, Mr. George 
 Perren, Mr. Patey, and others. 
 
 It was said at the time that in consequence 
 of the enormous success of Robin Hood, it 
 interfered with the receipts of the Pyne and 
 Harrison company at Govent Garden ; which 
 called forth the remark from Mr. E. T. Smith 
 that it was not " Robin Hood, but robbin' 
 Harrison." 
 
 "The undertaking," wrote the Musical World, 
 in reference to Mr. E. T. Smith's double com- 
 bination, " is curious and important, and may
 
 190 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 prove hazardous. We think it somewhat bold 
 in Mr. Smith, after securing so capital an 
 English company, one, indeed, which almost 
 ensures success a priori, to engage an Italian 
 company to interfere with that success. Mr. 
 Sims Reeves no doubt is a powerful attraction, 
 and he has a public of his own which will not 
 be moved from him by any Italian allurements. 
 But we cannot hide from ourselves the fact that 
 an immense temptation is proffered to the 
 public in being afforded a means of hearing 
 Mademoiselle Titiens and Signor Giuglini at 
 playhouse prices." 
 
 "Mr. E. T. Smith," continued our lively con- 
 temporary, after the manager had opened Her 
 Majesty's Theatre with his two-fold enterprise, 
 " is in the position of a skilful sportsman who 
 shoots with a double-barrelled gun. If one 
 barrel miss fire the other is sure to hit, that is, 
 provided the aim be straight and the gun 
 properly loaded. But sometimes even with 
 these provisions, though the hand be steady 
 and the sight be clear and well directed, 
 though the powder be from the best mills, 
 and the shot be undeniably spherical, the
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 191 
 
 object is not hit, if hit, to no purpose, the 
 bird flies away unscathed and leaves the 
 sportsman to lament over his bad luck; for 
 what sportsman would admit that the failure 
 was to be attributed to himself?" 
 
 " As regards Mr. Macfarren's new opera," 
 said the same periodical a week or two later, 
 " a greater and more legitimate success than that 
 achieved by this work we never witnessed. 
 The crowd was immense, the excitement un- 
 usual, the expectation on tiptoe. That Mr. 
 John Oxenford was the author of the libretto 
 gave a new interest to the performance, and all 
 the musicians and poets in London, and many 
 far from London, were in their places, anxious 
 and expectant, long before the curtain rose. 
 Moreover, the cast of the parts presented an 
 unusual attraction in itself. Mr. Sims Reeves, 
 who, except during his annual visit to the 
 National Standard in the Oriental suburbs, has 
 not appeared for years on the London boards, 
 was to play the principal character; and 
 Madame Lemmens-Sherrington, who has never 
 appeared on the stage at all, was to make her 
 d&out. Mr. Santley, too, and Mr. George Honey,
 
 192 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 from the Royal English Opera, were both in- 
 cluded in the cast. 
 
 " The pieces which received most applause 
 were the overture, encored and repeated ; the 
 duet for Locksley and Marian, ' When lovers 
 are parted/ exquisitely warbled by Mr. Sims 
 Reeves and Madame Sherrington ; the song for 
 Marian, ' True love, true love, in my heart,' 
 the subject of which is frequently employed 
 throughout the opera; Locksley's song, 'English- 
 men by birth are free,' magnificently sung by 
 Mr. Sims Reeves, who refused to accept the 
 encore called for by the entire audience ; the 
 finale to the second act commencing with the 
 round, ' May the saints protect and guide thee,' 
 Robin Hood's song, ' The grasping, rasping, 
 Norman race,' another splendid piece of vocali- 
 zation ; the whole fair scene at Nottingham, a 
 masterpiece throughout; Locksley's ballad, 'Thy 
 gentle voice would lead me on,'' the most 
 graceful and flowing air in the opera, given to 
 perfection by Mr. Sims Reeves ; the finale to 
 the second act, the most elaborate and powerful 
 composition in the opera ; and Locksley's grand 
 scena in the prison.
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 193 
 
 " Of Mr. Sims Reeves it is impossible to 
 speak too highly. He was never in finer voice, 
 never sang- more magnificently, nor, in the 
 course of his lengthened career, did he ever 
 create a more profound impression. The music 
 of Robin Hood is extremely varied ; and 
 whether as the sentimental lover wooing Mar- 
 ian, as the free-born Saxon denouncing foreign 
 oppression, or the doomed outlaw in the gaol 
 lamenting his approaching fate, the singing of 
 Mr. Reeves was equally admirable." 
 
 In a subsequent notice the same paper 
 wrote : " Robin Hood continues to draw im- 
 mense audiences, and the interest the per- 
 formance created on the first night increases 
 with each successive repetition. As the music 
 is heard oftener, its beauties become more 
 apparent, and its purpose is rendered more 
 distinct. This is the best compliment that 
 could be paid to the opera, and proves that its 
 merits are not superficial nor its attractions 
 merely of the ad captandum kind. So great 
 indeed is the success that it weakens in some 
 respects the prestige of the alternate Italian 
 
 nights ; and Mr. Sims Reeves, Madame Lem- 
 
 o
 
 194 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 mens-Sherrington, etc., now warble to more 
 multitudinous ears than Mademoiselle Titiens 
 and Signor Giuglini, even with the aid of Don 
 Giovanni. It is lucky for Mr. Buckstone 
 that the Haymarket Theatre is so near Her 
 Majesty's. The ' overflows ' to Robin Hood 
 have helped to ' cram ' the elegant little temple 
 of comedy opposite. Of the principal singers 
 engaged in the performance of Robin Hood we 
 cannot speak too favourably. Mr. Sims Reeves 
 was never better suited ; and besides his 
 wonderfully spirited declamation of the songs 
 elsewhere quoted, gives the arduous scena of 
 the prison, late as it appears in the opera, with 
 an enthusiasm that imparts itself to the audi- 
 ence, and encourages the belief that he could 
 go through the whole of his music again with 
 the utmost ease, so fresh and vigorous is his 
 voice, so unabated his' energy.' 
 
 About this time, in the month of December, 
 1860, I had the misfortune to lose my father, 
 and for a time I ceased to appear in public. I 
 have, at the beginning of this volume, spoken 
 of the strictness, indeed the severity, with which 
 my father enforced discipline in connection with
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 195 
 
 my earliest music lessons. Let me here show 
 what an affectionate heart he possessed, what a 
 tender interest he took in all that concerned 
 my welfare, and how delighted he was to think 
 that the pupil over whose beginnings he had so 
 carefully watched had at last achieved as 
 great a success as a singer could well obtain. 
 
 "NoBTH CBAY, 
 
 March 25th, 1850. 
 
 "My Dear Boy, For a fond parent to have to 
 congratulate a child, requires some considera- 
 tion, as too much excitement on the father's part 
 may lead him to express himself too warmly on 
 a subject dear to his heart. However that 
 may be, I cannot refrain from giving vent to 
 my feelings upon your most triumphant debut on 
 this last occasion at Her Majesty's Theatre. 
 You know of what excitable materials I am 
 composed, judge then of the unequivocal satis- 
 faction and delight with which I read the 
 public journals in which your success was lauded. 
 Had I the tongue of Peel or the pen of Scott, 
 
 all I could say or write would fall far short to 
 
 o 2
 
 MY JUBILEE J 
 
 convey to you the unmitigated delight I felt at 
 the magnificent reception you met with. It is 
 seldom that I can sit down to express my 
 sentiments on personalities, but on this occasion 
 I cannot, must not refrain, if I did, apathy 
 would become a crime, and render me unjust 
 both to you and myself. Accept then, my 
 dear boy, this languid tribute to your splendid 
 talents ; receive it with a sincerity that 
 emanates from my heart's very core, and believe 
 me, were I dying, I would say that I never on 
 any occasion felt such sublime felicity. For 
 your future glory and renown I most devoutly 
 pray, and commit you to that Omnipotent 
 keeping in which are the issues of life and 
 death, and most religiously pray that you 
 may be spared many years to be a national 
 ornament, and a blessing and comfort to your 
 most affectionate father, 
 
 "J. S. BEEVES." 
 
 When, after a period of absence, I returned 
 to Her Majesty's Theatre, the Daily Telegraph 
 published the following article : " On Tuesday 
 night, Mr. Sims Reeves made his first appear-
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 197 
 
 ance in public since the loss of his father 
 deprived the public of his invaluable services. 
 We constantly hear reflections made on the 
 capriciousness of artists, and as in most cases 
 these observations are totally unfounded, we 
 are always glad of an opportunity to give full 
 credit to those who do their very utmost to 
 keep faith with the public. It ought to be 
 made known that Mr. Sims Reeves has 
 throughout the season strained every nerve in 
 order to avoid disappointing his audiences. 
 During the run of Robin Hood, he has con- 
 tracted no other engagement ; indeed, he has 
 never once sung at the concerts at which he 
 usually appears, as he was expected to do on 
 the off- nights of Her Majesty's Opera, fearing 
 lest the additional exertion might possibly 
 prevent his doing full justice to the part he had 
 undertaken to perform. Mr. Reeves has thus 
 made real and tangible sacrifices for the sake of 
 aiding the success of national opera, and this 
 proof of self-denying devotion to his art will be 
 fully appreciated by all. Certainly the warmth 
 of the reception accorded to him last night 
 seemed to express sympathy with the man as
 
 198 MY JUBILEE. 
 
 much as admiration for the artist. Mr. Sims 
 Reeves was in splendid voice, the enforced rest 
 having exerted an evidently beneficial influence, 
 and he never sang with more expression or 
 effect. ' Thou art my own, my guiding star/ 
 was deliciously rendered, and vehemently ap- 
 plauded, while the spirited drinking song was 
 given with immense vigour ; it was, however, 
 in the long and arduous scena of the prison 
 that the exquisite taste and consummate skill 
 in vocalization of the great tenor were both 
 most remarkably displayed."
 
 CHAPTER XV.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 IN 1862 I gave a grand concert, at which a 
 cantata by Balfe, on the subject of Mazeppa, 
 was produced. The work had been composed 
 for me, and it was well spoken of at the time of 
 its production. It is recorded, for instance, in 
 the journals of the time that piece after piece 
 was applauded with warmth and unanimity. 
 Mazeppa's opening air was particularly success- 
 ful. But the cantata, as a whole, had no 
 lasting success. Few cantatas, indeed, have 
 been destined to meet with the popularity 
 which so many operas enjoy. Even Sterndale 
 Bennett's beautiful May Queen, though cer- 
 tainly not forgotten by musicians, is now rarely, 
 if ever, played in public. The form is unsatis- 
 factory in every cantata. There is generally
 
 202 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 some attempt at dramatic interest, but even the 
 best of these works are merely operas unacted, 
 and for the most part unactable. 
 
 My best recollections of the year 1862 are 
 connected with a concert tour undertaken in 
 company with the most perfect singer it has 
 been my lot to hear. This lady, the late 
 Madame Jenny Lind, was also one of the best 
 and most charming women it has been my good 
 fortune to meet. 
 
 Apart from her singing, Jenny Lind was an 
 excellent musician. She played the piano 
 beautifully, and improvised wonderfully. 
 
 She had a strong sense of duty in all matters, 
 great and small ; was kind-hearted and deeply 
 religious. What particular form of religion she 
 professed I do not know. She said her grace 
 (which she never, under any circumstances, 
 omitted to do) in the simplest English form. 
 
 As regards this question of Jenny Lind's 
 religion, I remember that when she was singing 
 at Norwich in Elijah, she delivered in quite an 
 inspired manner the beautiful passage, " Holy, 
 holy, holy is God, the Lord." The Bishop of 
 Norwich was sitting next Mrs. Reeves, and
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 203 
 
 said to her, as Jenny Lind finished the 
 
 phrase, 
 
 "A string of pearls, and all of the same size." 
 More struck by the singer's devotional 
 
 feeling than even by the perfection of her style, 
 
 mv wife said, 
 
 / * 
 
 " I wonder of what religion she is ? " 
 
 " She is a Christian," replied the Bishop. 
 
 As a travelling companion Jenny Lind was 
 delightful. Her temper was equal, her feelings 
 always under control. I never knew any one 
 so strict in the observation of self-prescribed 
 rules. Sometimes, in the evening, when there 
 was no concert, she would join in a game of 
 cards. The first time she did so we went on 
 playing until, precisely at ten o'clock, she placed 
 her cards on the table, and smilingly wished us 
 all good night. When she was not singing she 
 made a point of retiring to rest as the clock 
 struck ten. 
 
 On this first occasion we were astonished to 
 see that as she rose from her chair she stopped 
 up her ears with wool. 
 
 " What can be the meaning of this?" I asked. 
 
 She replied that there were noises in the
 
 204 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 street, and that she could not sleep unless 
 everything was perfectly quiet around her. 
 
 " But there is the danger of fire," exclaimed 
 my wife. 
 
 " Oh, if I am fated to be burnt, I shall be 
 burnt, and nothing can stop it," she answered. 
 " Besides," she added, " you sleep in the next 
 room, and if anything happened, you would be 
 sure to call me." 
 
 She was as particular about her diet as I 
 myself have always been. Under these circum- 
 stances she thought she might safely ask me 
 to dinner, even on the days when we were both 
 to sing, though, as a rule, she would receive no 
 one, and would sometimes even decline to speak 
 if she was to sing the same evening. 
 
 I prefer, when I have to sing at night, to 
 dine alone, partly because I can then con- 
 fine myself to such simple fare as best 
 agrees with me, partly also to avoid too much 
 conversation. Jenny Lind, however, argued, 
 with some reason, that as we both confined our- 
 selves to simple fare, and were both too prudent 
 to indulge in excessive talk, we might safely dine 
 together. As I still declined her most friendly
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 205 
 
 invitation, she at last rang the bell, and said to 
 the waiter, 
 
 " Place Mr. Reeves' s dinner on my table." 
 
 Although it is not very closely connected 
 with the main subject of my narrative, I may 
 here mention a strange thing that was once 
 done by a waiter in my presence. 
 
 I was travelling with a concert party directed 
 
 by Mr. . Singers who take any care 
 
 of themselves find it absolutely necessary to 
 dine some four or five hours before appearing 
 in public ; and our dinner had been ordered, 
 say for four o'clock. At the hour fixed there 
 were no signs or it, and, as the waiter did not 
 respond to an ordinary summons, Mr. - 
 rang violently and continuously until at last a 
 waiter, with a red face and excited manner, 
 entered the room. 
 
 "Who has been ringing that bell?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " I have," replied Mr. - . 
 
 " Then don't you do it again," replied the 
 waiter, who at the same time rushed out of the 
 room. 
 
 We all burst into a laugh, too much amused
 
 206 MY JUBILEE J 
 
 to take serious notice of such grotesque be- 
 haviour. 
 
 To return to my somewhat disconnected re- 
 collections of Jenny Lind. I took the greatest 
 pleasure in hearing her sing the scena from 
 Beatrice di Tenda. With what perfect execu- 
 tion, and, at the same time, with what depth of 
 feeling did she sing the air, and how dazzling 
 were her embellishments, many ornamental 
 passages being of her own invention ! Never 
 did I miss an opportunity of hearing her sing 
 this scena, whether at the public performance 
 or at the rehearsal ; Piatti and Beletti, 
 who belonged to our concert party, were as 
 eager to hear her as I myself. 
 
 Another marvellous performance of hers was 
 the air, with the concerted accompaniment of 
 two flutes, in the Camp of Silesia, afterwards 
 introduced into LEtoile du Nord, when Meyer- 
 beer introduced that remodelled work at the 
 Ope'ra Comique of Paris. How she did practise 
 the cadenza, singing it again and again until 
 every note, every nuance, was perfectly 
 right ! 
 
 " Was it not right before ? " I asked on one
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 207 
 
 occasion, when she had been repeating the 
 cadenza again and again. 
 
 " It was right in one sense," she replied ; 
 " but the notes were not all equal." 
 
 I had discovered her singing by herself in the 
 room adjoining the stage box in Her Majesty's 
 Theatre, the old building afterwards destroyed 
 by fire. She already knew the cadenza. She 
 already sang it, as any one but herself would 
 have thought, in perfection. But her singing- 
 did not quite come up to her own ideal ; and 
 she never looked upon her study as complete 
 while there was still some point of excellence 
 unattained. 
 
 She owed much to nature, but much also to 
 artistic training, and to her own unfailing 
 conscientiousness. Garcia, under whom she was 
 studying at the time, once said, in reference 
 to her and another of his pupils, an admirably- 
 endowed singer named Nissen, that if Jenny 
 Lind had Nissen's voice, or Nissen Jenny Lind's 
 intellectuality and application, the result in 
 either case would have been a perfect singer. 
 
 " But I will have the voice," said Jenny Lind, 
 in whose presence the remark was made.
 
 208 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 Her sense of the duty she owed to the public 
 was very strong. But she was tender-hearted 
 and reverential ; and once, when news of a 
 terrible calamity reached her as she was about 
 to sing at Chester, she scarcely knew whether 
 or not the concert ought to be postponed, 
 and in her difficulty appealed to the Bishop. 
 
 Prince Albert was dead, and the melancholy 
 intelligence had just been received by telegraph. 
 People were coming, however, from a great 
 distance, and consequently at considerable 
 expense, to the concert ; and the Bishop's 
 view, after due reflection, was that they ought 
 not to be disappointed. Scarcely any one in 
 the town knew of the sad event ; and when, at 
 the opening of the concert, Jenny Lind appeared 
 in black, and sang, with the deepest feeling, 
 " I know that my Redeemer liveth," no one 
 understood the signification of such a perform- 
 ance given in such a manner. 
 
 Let me here remark that Jenny Lind sang 
 this beautiful air in accordance with the inten- 
 tions of the composer, and with the require- 
 ments of common sense. She did not, that is 
 to say, take breath, as so many singers do, after
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 209 
 
 the word " my ; '' but bound word and note to 
 the word and note following. 
 
 No singer was ever less vain than Jenny 
 Lind. She was scarcely, indeed, satisfied with 
 herself, keeping always before her an ideal 
 which she found it difficult to attain. She 
 appreciated praise all the same, when it pro- 
 ceeded from any one whose opinion she valued, 
 and whom she knew to be sincere. 
 
 " Otto," she once said to her husband. " I 
 have sung well to-night." 
 
 "My dear, you always sing well," replied Mr. 
 Goldschmidt. 
 
 " No, but Mr. Reeves says that I sing well," 
 she continued ; " and he does not say such 
 things too often." 
 
 Had I told her how perfectly she sang when- 
 ever I felt impressed by that fact, my assurances 
 would have been frequent indeed. 
 
 Among the agreeable companions with whom 
 I have travelled on various provincial tours, I 
 must not forget to mention my old friend, Mr. 
 Santley. I first met him at one of the concerts 
 of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society. He at 
 that time played the violin in the orchestra,
 
 210 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 and also assisted in the semi-chorus. He intro- 
 duced himself to me in order to ask my advice 
 as to his relinquishing the orchestra for the 
 concert platform or the operatic stage. I asked 
 him to sing something to me, and found that he 
 had an exquisite baritone voice. I told him what 
 a very high opinion I had of his gifts, and 
 recommended him to continue for a time his 
 studies as a vocalist, after which I predicted for 
 him the greatest success. When I recom- 
 mended him to go to Italy, he asked me for 
 information as to where he would find the best 
 singing masters, what the cost of living would 
 be, and so on. By my advice, he went direct 
 to Milan, and there studied under an eminent 
 professor, whose "Method " he afterwards trans- 
 lated for Boosey. I had the pleasure of singing 
 with him on the occasion of his first appearance 
 in England. We have always remained the 
 best friends, and I never had a more congenial 
 companion on tour. 
 
 After my tours with Jenny Lind, I appeared 
 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Faust, then at the 
 very height of its success, and with Mademoiselle 
 Titiens playing the part of Margherita. I liked
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 211 
 
 the part, and may fairly say that I made a deep 
 impression in a character which so many tenors 
 of the highest position have tried to make 
 their own. 
 
 Here, again, instead of speaking for myself, I 
 must fall back on the public records of the time. 
 " Mr. Sims Reeves," wrote one of the best 
 critical journals of the day, " is, as an accom- 
 plished oratorio singer must be, great in reci- 
 tative. His excellence in this respect enables 
 him to put an interest in the opening scene 
 which it has hitherto lacked. His utterance of 
 the soliloquy of the old philosopher is full of 
 points which reveal a dramatic instinct. This, 
 added to the splendid energy which he throws 
 into the closing duet with Mephistopheles, 
 brings the first act into its proper degree of 
 prominence, and saves the story from seeming, 
 what most representatives have made it, a love 
 tale and nothing more. In the more exciting 
 scenes he is no less successful. No other singer 
 that we know unites the two qualities of 
 declamatory vigour and tenderness of expres- 
 sion. Both of these are wanted to make a 
 
 complete Faust, and in virtue of this combina- 
 
 P 2
 
 212 MY JUBILEE; 
 
 tion, all question of acting apart, it must be 
 allowed that no performance of the music has 
 yet come up to his. Mr. Reeves, moreover, was 
 in exceptionally ' good voice ' on Saturday last ; 
 his tone was magnificent. May this happy 
 state of his larynx continue till all musical 
 London has been to hear him." 
 
 I must not forget to mention that while I 
 was singing at the Royal Italian Opera, Mario 
 and myself appeared together for the first and 
 only time in Rossini's Donna del Lago; Mario 
 taking the part of Fitz-James, myself that of 
 Roderick Dhu. 
 
 There are not, indeed, many operas in 
 which parts for two first tenors of equal im- 
 portance are to be found. The two great tenor 
 parts in La Donna del Lago were written for 
 Davide and Nozzari, who were both engaged 
 under the famous impresario Barbaja at the 
 San Carlo of Naples, when Rossini composed 
 his work specially for that theatre. Two such 
 tenors as Nozzari and Davide being engaged in 
 the company, Rossini, of course, provided both 
 of them with suitable parts. It may be in- 
 teresting to note that these two tenors, though
 
 OE, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 213 
 
 of necessity rivals in their art, were always 
 excellent friends. They were both, moreover, 
 on the most intimate terms with liossini ; so 
 much so, that when the great Italian composer 
 married Mademoiselle Colbran, who created the 
 prima donna part in La Donna del Lago, they 
 accompanied the happy pair from Naples to 
 Bologna, in order to be present at the wedding 
 ceremony which the Archbishop of Bologna 
 desired to perform. 
 
 Now I think of it, there is one other opera 
 in which two leading tenor parts occur, Merca- 
 dante's Bravo. In this work the two tenors 
 have a duet which was once sung at a Court 
 concert by Signor Mario and myself. Still 
 another, " Otello."
 
 CHAPTER XVI.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A CHAPTER might be written on Festival inci- 
 dents, and especially Festival fun; for in the by- 
 gone days there were "mad wags" in the orchestra 
 who delighted in practical jokes. One of these 
 I well remember at Worcester. Just as the good 
 folk of that most staid and decorous town were 
 soberly, not to say solemnly, wending their 
 way to the morning oratorio in the Cathedral, 
 their vision was startled by a marvellous ap- 
 parition. Those who are acquainted with the 
 "faithful city" will not have forgotten a certain 
 hotel in one of the principal streets known as 
 the Golden Lion, whose proud effigy, carved in 
 wood and highly gilt, adorns, or adorned (for it 
 may now have disappeared), the front of the 
 edifice. On this occasion the noble beast 
 appeared in a novel guise, his head being decor-
 
 218 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 ated with a billycock hat perched jauntily on 
 one side, while his neck was encased in a high 
 collar surrounded by a so-called " Joinville " 
 tie, a showy sort of silk or satin cravat named 
 after the French prince who at that time 
 commanded his country's naval forces ; while 
 between his lips the king of the forest held a 
 short clay pipe. Who was the author of this 
 surprising jest it is not for me to say ; but the 
 leading trumpet-player of the day, or an equally 
 celebrated professor of the horn, could, I fancy, 
 throw some light on the subject. 
 
 At some of the Festivals the stewards seemed 
 to think that their principal duty consisted in 
 wearing rosettes and behaving officiously, not 
 to say fussily. On one occasion I felt it a duty 
 to my art and to the public to administer a 
 reproof to certain of these magnates who, seated 
 directly in front of the orchestra, talked in 
 tones that were not only audible as between 
 themselves, but which could be heard by every 
 one in their neighbourhood. Finding that the 
 sternest look I could command failed to awe 
 them into silence I made a dead stop in my 
 song, and keeping my eyes fixed on their
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 219 
 
 amazed countenances, said, in a sufficiently 
 loud voice, " When you have finished your 
 conversation I will go on with my singing." 
 This piece of information reduced them at once 
 to silence ; and the hearty applause which 
 followed showed how completely the audience 
 approved of the step I had taken. 
 
 Of course, there are steAvarcls and stewards ; 
 and those who undertake the office at places 
 like Birmingham, Leeds, etc., are mostly men of 
 business who understand their duties. The 
 amateur officials, however, of the Three Choir 
 Music Meetings are, or were, often of the 
 county magistrate class, who, in the habit of 
 sentencing petty offenders, seemed, in some 
 cases, to have unduly developed their feelings of 
 self-importance. 
 
 None but those who have been intimately 
 connected with Festival doings can conceive 
 the amount of hard work which the performers 
 have to cram into the five days of those 
 gatherings. The whole of the Monday, from 
 ten o'clock in the morning till eleven at night, 
 with the exception of short intervals for lunch 
 and dinner, is absorbed by rehearsals. Then
 
 220 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 follow four long morning and three or four still 
 longer evening performances. 
 
 On one occasion the work was unusually 
 heavy, and I was so exhausted that, at one of 
 the evening concerts, I begged Madame Clara 
 Novello, then in the zenith of her well-deserved 
 celebrity, to replace me, which she at once 
 consented to do. Having notified to the con- 
 ductor the change in the programme, I went 
 away under the impression that everything 
 necessary had been done. But, when the time 
 came for me to appear, and when Madame Clara 
 Novello appeared in my place, a whole band of 
 the stewards mounted the orchestra, so that 
 the audience began to wonder what next would 
 happen, and whether, perchance, the stewards 
 did not intend to sing, after the manner of 
 nigger minstrels, " We are a band of brothers," 
 or some similar ditty of the time. The 
 appointed spokesman of the party, however, 
 contented himself with making a speech, in 
 which he said that, Mr. Sims Reeves having 
 walked off without saying a word to any one, 
 Madame Clara Novello had kindly consented 
 to sing in his stead.
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 221 
 
 Madame Novello was equal to the occasion, 
 and stepping to the front began, not her song, 
 but a brief speech to the following effect : "I 
 think that the gentleman who has just spoken 
 is under a misapprehension. Mr. Sims Reeves, 
 before leaving the Hall, had asked me to take 
 
 o 
 
 his place, which I have much pleasure in doing; 
 and when he had informed the conductor (the 
 only person to whom he was responsible) of this 
 arrangement, he did all that was required of 
 him. In justice, therefore, to a brother artist, 
 I cannot allow such a statement as that which 
 has just been made to pass unheeded, and trust 
 you will accept my explanation in justification 
 of Mr. Sims Reeves." 
 
 How this neat little speech was received 
 can be readily understood. 
 
 It was in connection with a Festival, not a 
 provincial Festival, but the first of the Handel 
 Festivals at the Crystal Palace, that an 
 incident occurred which has no musical im- 
 portance, but which amuses me when I look 
 back upon it. I was living at the time in a 
 furnished house at Norwood, and my landlord, 
 who lived on the premises, entertained a
 
 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 morbid horror of burglars. On the last day 
 of the Festival I celebrated its conclusion by 
 a dinner or supper to some of my friends, who 
 proved their appreciation of my hospitality by 
 remaining with me until about three the next 
 morning. At last I had almost to turn them 
 out ; and to show how glad I was to get rid 
 of them I, in simple good humour, threw after 
 them, as they went downstairs, several tin 
 trays which, falling with what Milton calls, 
 a " lively din," made the house resound with 
 sonorous echoes. My friends, meanwhile, to 
 escape the noisy, rather than dangerous, mis- 
 siles, fled as if for their lives. Suddenly 
 awakened from his sleep, and hearing the 
 sound of retreating footsteps, my landlord 
 rose from his bed, seized a loaded blunderbuss, 
 which he kept always at hand, and fired into 
 the midst of my rapidly-departing friends. 
 Fortunately the discharge had no effect. 
 
 One of the most perfect singers of sacred 
 music with whom I was ever associated was 
 Madame Clara Novello. When this distinguished 
 artist was engaged at Drury Lane under the 
 Macready management, she appeared without
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 223 
 
 any brilliant success in an English version of 
 Pacini's Sappho ; not that she did not sing 
 the prima donnas part exceedingly well, but 
 because Pacini's music is cold. Fancy a cold 
 Sappho ! 
 
 She produced a far better impression as 
 Galatea in the Ads and Galatea of Handel. 
 This work, indeed, was admirably cast in all 
 the parts ; Miss Priscilla Horton representing 
 Acis, and Staudigl Polyphemus, while the 
 little part of the shepherd was sung charmingly 
 by a favourite tenor of that time named Allen. 
 Staudigl was a great dramatic singer, and, from 
 a dramatic point of view, the most impressive 
 Elijah I have heard. 
 
 Some of the foreign singers who at this time 
 used to visit England w r ere rather careless in 
 their habits. I remember a curious account 
 given of the daily life of one of them by his 
 agent, a certain Herr Schloss. 
 
 " How does the great man get through his 
 day ? " was asked of Herr Schloss. 
 
 " Veil, he sing," was the reply. 
 
 " Yes, but what else ? He does not sing all 
 day."
 
 224 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 " Veil, he get up in the morning, he have 
 breakfasht, vid a goot shlice of German shau- 
 sage, and he eat vera moch. Then he shmoke ; 
 and ven he finish shmoke, he lie down to repose 
 himself. Zen he shmoke again. He shmoke 
 vera moch. After zat, he dine. He eat vera 
 moch, and drink moch shtout. Zen he lie 
 down, and repose himself, zat he may get 
 strength to sing in the evening. And after he 
 sing he have supper, arid again he eat vera 
 moch and drink moch shtout. Zo it go on 
 day by day. He get up in ze morning, put on 
 his clothes, and 
 
 " When does he take his bath ? " 
 
 " Oh, he never vash himself." 
 
 Molique once imputed to himself, and also to 
 his wife, a fault which certainly belonged to 
 neither of them. 
 
 It was his birthday, and the event was being 
 celebrated by some of his friends, who made it 
 an opportunity for presenting him with a mark 
 of their esteem. Molique rose to return thanks, 
 and did so as nearly as possible in the following 
 words, 
 
 " I dank you vera moch for your lofely pre-
 
 OK, FIFTY YEAKS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 225 
 
 sent, vich I shall alvays keep and alvays falue. 
 I am nod a speaker, but I must say vonce more 
 dat I dank you. Dis is de habbiest birthday I 
 have known. You made reference to my age, 
 and it may interest you to know that my vife 
 is dirty and I am dirty-two." 
 
 To return to Clara Novello's operatic per- 
 formances. She went, I remember, on a tour 
 which was managed by Mr. Stretton, a well- 
 known baritone, who also acted as treasurer to 
 the company. At Cork the manager of the 
 theatre was a Mr. Seymour, familiarly known 
 as " Chouse," from his having, in a farce of the 
 period, exclaimed, instead of " chaos has come 
 again," " chouse has come again." 
 
 He justified this name in other ways. When 
 in the course of the Clara-Novello tour the 
 time had come for the manager to settle up 
 that gentleman was nowhere to be found. 
 
 " Where is Mr. Seymour ? " asked Stretton of 
 the various officials. 
 
 " Just gone out, sir," was the reply. " He 
 was looking for you a minute ago." 
 
 " Well, tell him I am very anxious to see 
 him," said Stretton. " Let him come round to 
 
 Q
 
 226 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 my hotel. He knows what I want to see him 
 about, and we have to start to-morrow morning 
 by the eight o'clock coach." 
 
 Mr. Seymour, otherwise "Chouse," sent round 
 message after message to S tret ton's hotel, 
 saying that he had made up his accounts, and 
 was now only counting the money out in 
 sovereigns, which Mr. Stretton should have in 
 a bag, so that he might conveniently make any 
 disbursements which would be necessary on the 
 road. Stretton reflected, no doubt, that Mr. 
 Seymour's sovereigns would possess greater 
 value than his cheque, and waited anxiously 
 for the promised gold. 
 
 Mr. Seymour's last message had been to the 
 effect that the sovereigns would be sent round 
 the first thing in the morning before the coach 
 started. But the " first thing in the morning " 
 went by, the coach was on the point of starting, 
 and the bag of gold had not turned up. At 
 last, just as the coachman was raising his whip, 
 Stretton and the rest of the company having 
 in despair taken their places, Mr. Seymour was 
 seen in the distance, running as if for his life, 
 with a good-sized bag in his hand. The coach-
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 227 
 
 man delayed his start. The money was handed 
 up to Stretton, who grasped it like a miser, then 
 the horn was sounded, and away went the four 
 horses. 
 
 After some minutes, either to kill time, from 
 natural curiosity, or perhaps in consequence 
 of some latent suspicion, Stretton opened the 
 bag, and found it full of farthings ! 
 
 Q '2
 
 CHAPTER XVII.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE most interesting part of a singer's, as of 
 an actor's, life is almost always its beginning. 
 The young aspirant can never be sure that he 
 will succeed ; and he is fortunate indeed if, at 
 the outset of his career, he has not difficulties 
 of many kinds to contend with. Even when he 
 has made a marked success in one style, it does 
 not follow as a matter of course that he will be 
 equally fortunate in another ; and though the 
 public of one country may applaud him, that of 
 another may receive him with coldness. 
 
 The reader has seen that I began my operatic 
 career in Italy, that I continued it in England 
 at Her Majesty's Theatre, at the Theatre des 
 Italiens of Paris, at the Royal Italian Opera, and 
 (in English opera) at Drury Lane, and again at 
 Her Majesty's Theatre. I had not been long
 
 232 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 before the world as an operatic singer, when I 
 turned my attention to oratorio ; and from the 
 first I sang occasionally, and at times fre- 
 quently, at concerts. 
 
 With one series of concerts, which has now 
 enjoyed a thirty years' success, I was closely 
 connected from the very beginning. The 
 Popular Concerts had their origin in certain 
 concerts of a miscellaneous character, which used 
 to be given during the Cattle-show week for the 
 the advantage of visitors from the country who 
 preferred ditties which, after a single hearing, 
 they themselves could hum, to string quartets, 
 which in no way appealed to them. It was 
 from Mr. Arthur Chappell's popular concerts of 
 the miscellaneous kind that the Monday 
 Populars took their rise. I sang at the " Mon- 
 day Pops," and I believe that my singing had a 
 certain effect in promoting their success at a 
 time when the generality of the London public 
 had but little taste for chamber music. 
 
 It was as a concert singer that I made my 
 first appearance at Paris, doing so just before I 
 undertook the part of Ernani at the Theatre 
 des Italiens.
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 233 
 
 After singing much in opera, Italian and 
 English, I was invited to assume the leading 
 part in what is really a comedy with songs, 
 though Beggar s Opera is its historic name. 
 This was something quite new to me. Edgardo, 
 Carlo, Ernani, and the many impassioned lovers 
 whom I had been in the habit of representing 
 on the Italian stage, are never for a moment 
 
 O ' 
 
 comic. For any of these characters to raise a 
 laugh, a smile, or even the faintest symptom of 
 hilarity, would be fatal to the impersonation. 
 Macheath, on the other hand, may be as lively 
 as he pleases ; the livelier the better. 
 
 On one occasion, a member of my gang had 
 taken the liberty of getting intoxicated. This 
 a robber of his kind might possibly have done 
 in actual life. But his chief would not have 
 allowed him to get drunk on duty ; and I was 
 much put out when, playing the part of Captain 
 Macheath one evening on a provincial tour, I 
 found one of my men in a comparatively helpless 
 condition from over-indulgence in drink. The 
 chorus of robbers had to go off; but my 
 inebriated friend was either unwilling or unable 
 to make his exit. He was, at least, very
 
 234 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 sluggish about it : and as his face was already 
 turned towards the wing, I helped him off by 
 means of a kick, administered in a lively, devil- 
 may-care style. I had really rendered him a 
 service by promoting his exit, and but for me it 
 would not have been made at the proper time. 
 He did not take this view of the matter, and 
 the next day summoned me to the police court, 
 when, after hearing my evidence, the magis- 
 trate (evidently a lover of art) dismissed the 
 case. 
 
 In commenting on the proceedings, one of the 
 newspapers said, by some mistake, that the 
 incident had taken place in the opera of Guy 
 Mannering; on which I sent a letter to the 
 journal, pointing out that Henry Bertram, the 
 gentle hero of that work, would never have 
 kicked a subordinate, and that it w^ould have 
 been out of harmony with the character to have 
 made him do so. Captain Macheath, however, 
 might really have behaved in the uncere- 
 monious manner which I had adopted in 
 getting rid of a troublesome customer, whose 
 behaviour well deserved the practical reprimand 
 it received.
 
 OB, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 235 
 
 Many years afterwards I was playing the 
 part of Tom Tug in company with my 
 excellent friend, Toole, who was also a lead- 
 ing member of the cast. In the Waterman 
 a word or two of " gag " is held to be per- 
 missible ; and, partly to amuse the audience, 
 partly to astonish, and, if possible, irritate my 
 excellent fellow-actor, one of the most good- 
 natured of men, I said to him in a certain scene, 
 in reply to his question, " What's the meaning 
 
 of all this, d me." " The meaning of it 
 
 is that you've been made a tool of, and I'm a 
 happy fellow." " Johnnie " looked very much 
 surprised ; and as a popular comedian does 
 not, if he can help it, allow himself to be 
 scored off, he, after a moment's reflection, during 
 which he must have suffered the keenest 
 agony, replied, "So it sims."
 
 CHAPTER XVIII.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 A FEW STRAY RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 IT will not here be out of place to offer to the 
 whole British public my sincere and heartfelt 
 thanks for the unbounded and generous 
 enthusiasm with which I have, from the first, 
 been received ; for among Irish, Welsh, Scotch, 
 or English, I have always found the same 
 hearty welcome. 
 
 At my first visit to Edinburgh, for instance, 
 I met with quite an ovation. I appeared in 
 the Ballad Opera, or Play, of Rob Roy, and 
 the cast was as follows : Rob Roy was repre- 
 sented by Edmund Glover ; Rashleigh Osbaldi- 
 stone, by Barry Sullivan ; Captain Thornton,
 
 240 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 by Leigh Murray; Owen by Lloyd, Major 
 Galbraith by Murray, the manager, an eccen- 
 tric, but very gentlemanly person ; and the 
 Bailie, by Mackay, whose performance was 
 so highly eulogized by Sir Walter Scott. 
 It was, indeed, a very interesting performance, 
 and I greatly enjoyed it. I forget who played 
 Helen Macgregor, but Sarah Woolgar was 
 the Diana Vernon, to my own Francis Osbald- 
 istone. 
 
 A curious incident happened at this repre- 
 sentation. In my first scene, where Francis sings 
 " My love is like the red, red rose," the lights 
 suddenly went out, and old Swan, the property- 
 man, proceeded to relight them. The orchestra 
 had finished the symphony, and I had com- 
 menced to sing, when I suddenly paused, and 
 told Swan to make haste, as I could not go on 
 till he had finished. This incensed the manager, 
 who, at the end of the act, summoned me to his 
 room, and read me a long lecture on having 
 ventured to take, what he chose to term, a 
 liberty. I have already said, however, that he 
 was eccentric. 
 
 At the Grecian Theatre, in London, I ap-
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 241 
 
 peared under the management of Mr. Rouse. I 
 found the entertainments, however, so mixed 
 up with smoking and drinking that I very soon 
 took my leave. I was present when he 
 made his memorable speech as to the loss 
 of his purse. There had been a great crush at 
 the doors, and he was attempting to get the 
 people into the theatre, when, in the confusion, 
 some one picked his pocket. As soon as the 
 audience were seated, he went on to the stage 
 and delivered himself of the following pretty 
 speech "Gentlemen, I've lost my purse." This 
 announcement was received with loud and pro- 
 longed laughter and cheers, at which he was 
 rather disconcerted. At this moment, however, 
 some one came on the stage, and put something 
 into his hand, which he carefully examined. 
 When he had done so, he recommenced 
 " Gentlemen, I've found my purse." This 
 caused a second outburst of cheers arid laughter, 
 which culminated in an uproar, on his saying : 
 " I've found my purse, but there is no money 
 in it." The scene was almost indescribable, and 
 continued for several minutes. The farce of the 
 Lottery Ticket followed this episode, but its 
 
 R
 
 242 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 fun was completely spoilt by the farcical per- 
 formance which had preceded it. 
 
 From the Grecian I went to Worcester, a 
 very sleepy city, except at Festival times. 
 I little thought at that period that I was 
 destined to be engaged as principal tenor at the 
 Festivals. Mr. James Bennett was the chief 
 tragedian at Worcester. He was a very 
 thoughtful actor, but deficient in physique. 
 Bob Romer, a brother of Miss Homer, who 
 achieved a great success in John Barnett's 
 Mountain Sylph and Handel's Galatea, was 
 principal low comedian. On one occasion, 
 when the play was Hamlet, in which I imper- 
 sonated Guildenstern and Osric, singing a 
 song, dressed as Osric, between the acts, a 
 comic disaster occurred. One of the dressing- 
 rooms was underneath the stage, and was used 
 for Ophelia's grave, the large trap opening into 
 it. Romer was working away, and as first clown 
 throwing up supposed clods of earth, and singing, 
 " A pick-axe and a spade, a spade," &c., when 
 suddenly the planks on which he was standing 
 collapsed, and he fell through, causing consider- 
 able merriment to the very sparse attendance
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 243 
 
 in the front. These planks were placed upon 
 two chairs, which I and my confederate there 
 were two of us in the joke simultaneously 
 pulled away. Homer never found out who did 
 the deed until many years afterwards, when I 
 met him at the Adelphi Theatre. He was then 
 highly amused, and laughed immoderately at the 
 affair. I have played many such pranks during 
 my lengthened career, and I must own to a 
 somewhat irresistible passion for practical jokes. 
 During an engagement as first singer at the 
 Theatre Royal, Liverpool, under the manage- 
 ment of Mr. Clarke, I had the pleasure of 
 meeting Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean. In the 
 course of a performance of As you like it, I 
 was very much complimented by Charles Kean 
 upon my rendering of the songs, " Under the 
 greenwood tree," and " Blow, blow thou wintry 
 wind." He strongly urged me at the time to 
 go to London, promising to procure me an 
 engagement at one of the principal theatres ; 
 but I felt that I had so much more to learn 
 before I made such a venture, that I firmly 
 declined his kind offer. 
 
 From Liverpool I went to the Theatre Royal, 
 
 R 2
 
 244 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 Manchester, where I met with great favour 
 from the public, but with very bitter treatment 
 at the hands of a Mr. Sever, who held the post 
 of critic to the Manchester Guardian. He was 
 at the time a great friend of Mr. Donald King, 
 whom I succeeded. There is, I am sorry to 
 say, a good deal of the same prejudiced enmity 
 even in the present day. Imaginary slights 
 or private dislikes ought certainly not to influ- 
 ence any man holding the position of critic to 
 a public journal. The stock company at the 
 Theatre Royal at this time was an exception- 
 ably good one. 
 
 Returning to the Theatre Royal at Edinburgh, 
 I was employed more frequently in musical pieces, 
 and as I found my voice developing, I began to 
 think seriously of making my way to France and 
 Italy. During my second visit to Edinburgh, 
 I moved in very pleasant society, and made 
 many friends. I frequently sang in the Roman 
 Catholic chapel, and immensely enjoyed taking 
 part in the Masses of Mozart, Haydn, and other 
 masters. At the termination of the season we 
 got up a walking tour, and visited all those 
 places where the inhabitants were sufficiently
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 245 
 
 numerous to patronize an entertainment such 
 as Ave had to offer them. We usually gave a 
 farce, interspersed with songs, comic and serious, 
 and a short concert. In a few of the larger 
 towns, where the theatre was available, we 
 joined the company, and sometimes gave Guy 
 Mannering. Our great difficulty was in finding 
 instrumentalists. When they were unpro- 
 curable we hired a piano, at which I presided, 
 and which was wheeled on and off the stage as 
 occasion required. With this terrible makeshift 
 we often had to be content. Our party at this 
 time consisted of the following : Lloyd, Sam 
 Co well, Mr. and Mrs. Leigh Murray, Miss Leigh, 
 and myself. The ladies travelled by coach, but 
 the gentlemen, as a rule, transported themselves 
 on foot.
 
 CHAPTER XIX.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SINGING in all parts of the United Kingdom, 
 and in all kinds of music, I gradually became 
 convinced that some stand must be made on 
 behalf of the singers against the constantly- 
 increasing rise in the pitch ; and in December, 
 1868, I addressed the following letter on the 
 subject to the editor of the Athenceum : 
 
 " Sir, I read with great interest your 
 comment upon Miss Hauck's Amina at Covent 
 Garden, ' that it is high time the pitch of our 
 orchestras should be adapted to the normal 
 diapason ' used in France and Germany. 
 Your complaint is one which I have strenuously 
 and repeatedly, although in vain up to the present, 
 insisted upon ; and I can only trust, now that 
 so influential a paper in musical circles as 
 yours has taken up the subject, that your 
 complaint will meet with greater attention 
 than my individual reiteration of it.
 
 250 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 " Not only foreigners accustomed to foreign 
 orchestras will be indebted to you for thus 
 protesting against, as you most truly remark, 
 ' the human voice, the most delicate of all 
 instruments, being sacrificed to the false 
 brilliancy attained by perpetually forcing up 
 the pitch/ but also English artists generally. 
 And, as you truly remark, ' the pitch in this 
 country is half a tone higher than that of 
 most foreign orchestras, and a whole tone 
 higher than it was in the time of Gluck.' 
 
 " So strong is my conviction upon this sub- 
 ject, that some time back I intimated to the 
 committee of the Sacred Harmonic Society 
 my final decision, and, notwithstanding grave 
 reasons for my coming to a contrary deter- 
 mination, not to sing for that Society so long 
 as the pitch of the orchestra was maintained 
 at its present height ; and, until it was, as 
 you suggest, ' assimilated to the normal dia- 
 pason of France.' 
 
 " J. SIMS BEEVES. 
 
 " Grange Mount, Beulah Spa, 
 " Upper Norwood, Nov. 10th."
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 251 
 
 Some time afterwards, returning 1 to the 
 subject, I addressed to the Athenceum a second 
 letter, which ran as follows : 
 
 " Grange Mount, Beulah Spa, 
 " Upper Norwood. 
 
 "It is very painful to me to be dragged into 
 something like a public controversy by the 
 personal remarks of your musical critic as to my 
 being the ' main cause of an agitation that has 
 led only to confusion and discord/ etc. No 
 reform of standing abuses can be effected 
 without a certain measure of debate. There 
 are always opposing influences that must be 
 overcome ; and temporary strife may be well 
 purchased by the final advancement of the true 
 interests of art. Uniformity, this gentleman 
 assures us, can only be secured by legislative 
 enactment, as in France. This may be so ; but 
 though we are a law-abiding people we do not 
 fly to a central authority on all occasions, and 
 I almost fear that musical art is not yet quite 
 sufficiently valued in this country for a legis- 
 lative enactment of such a kind to be within
 
 252 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 the range of immediate probabilities. We must 
 then, as individuals, do what we can and may ; 
 and I, for one, am willing to incur the charge of 
 interested motives, which your critic, not very 
 graciously perhaps, urges against me, if I there- 
 by promote the cause of art and benefit my 
 admirable fellow- artists, both English and 
 foreign. And now to answer the allegations 
 urged against me as briefly as possible : 
 
 " 1. I really cannot take upon myself the 
 credit for the reduction of the organ pitch at 
 Birmingham, because it is notorious that this 
 was an absolute necessity (and letters in my 
 possession from the managers prove it), in order 
 to conform the pitch to the reduced one at 
 Drury Lane. 
 
 " 2. I can undertake to prove, if need be, by 
 the forks in my possession, that the pitch in 
 Italy and Germany has never been so high as 
 that of Sir Michael Costa. I may mention in 
 this connection that my esteemed friend, Herr 
 Joachim, plays on a different violin in Germany 
 with thicker strings. Here he brings one with 
 thinner strings to suit the abnormal pitch. 
 This one fact would be conclusive as to the
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 253 
 
 continental usage in the eyes of unprejudiced 
 inquiries. 
 
 "3. If an unreasonable pitch was persisted in 
 to the eleventh hour, and a sudden change then 
 carried out and disasters evoked at Birmingham, 
 as your contributor alleges, I can surely in no 
 sense be held responsible. The chief artists at 
 Drury Lane had previously forced a reasonable 
 reduction of the pitch on Sir Michael Costa. 
 If this reform had been steadily adhered to, 
 there could have been no confusion and no 
 disasters at Birmingham or elsewhere. 
 
 "4. I declare unequivocally, and for the 
 twentieth time, that I only ask for the pitch of 
 Donzelli, David, Duprez, and Nourrit. I most 
 entirely concur with that great composer, 
 Mendelssohn, that to transpose airs in oratorios 
 is highly objectionable. I am convinced that 
 Handel, Mendelssohn, and all other masters felt 
 the colour, as it were, of the keys they wrote 
 and write in. Hence I am always unwilling to 
 transpose ; and that is just why I wish to 
 secure the normal pitch, which will render 
 transposing unnecessary. 
 
 "5. With respect to those great artists,
 
 254 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 Madame Patti and Madame Nilsson, it is 
 wholly unnecessary for me to vindicate their 
 course of action, and I cannot but express my 
 surprise at the liberty of comment which 
 your musical critic has allowed himself, with 
 regard to the latter artist more especially. 
 Unpleasant personalities are surely out of place 
 in the discussion of public interests, where 
 private likes and dislikes should be wholly set 
 aside. I need only further observe that the 
 pitch at Hereford was tuned to that accepted 
 now both at Covent Garden and Drury Lane. 
 
 " I have no delusion on the subject of pitch ; 
 uniformity is, doubtless, most desirable, but it 
 must not be uniformity in that which is ab- 
 normal and extraordinary. The pertinacity of 
 my old friend, Sir Michael Costa, has alone 
 so long retarded this essential reform, which, 
 however, may now be said to have carried the 
 day finally. To the very personal concluding 
 remarks of your contributor I have only to 
 reply that I am quite willing to accept his 
 assurances of good will, and to recognize his 
 past assertions, that I necessarily am the chief 
 loser by my inability at times to fulfil my
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 255 
 
 engagements, whether to the directors or to 
 the public. Nobody can regret, need I say, as 
 deeply as I do, the practical extinction of voice 
 from which I sometimes suffer ; the kind and 
 art-loving public will understand, I am sure, 
 that I have made great pecuniary sacrifices 
 because I did not like to take pay for services 
 which I could not discharge so as to do justice 
 to the music I was called upon to perform. 
 Personal explanations are always painful things; 
 to me, I may say, peculiarly so. It is certain 
 I never disappoint the public without being 
 far more grievously disappointed myself; but 
 our frequent changes of temperature are most 
 trying, and no care or caution can guarantee 
 me against occasional attacks, which prohibit 
 me for a season to leave the house, and yield 
 my public services to that art which it is the 
 highest ambition of my soul to forward by 
 all the legitimate means within my reach. 
 
 " J. SIMS REEVES." 
 
 The question of pitch brings me naturally 
 enough to the Handel Festival of 1877, at which
 
 25 G MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 I, for reasons set forth in the above letters, 
 declined to sing. 
 
 At the Festivals of 1857 and 1859, and at each 
 succeeding Festival, until 1877, my singing in 
 music which no Italian tenor could at any time 
 have made in like manner his own, had always 
 been looked forward to with no small interest. 
 
 In 1877 the performances were, as usual, 
 conducted by Sir Michael Costa, who insisted 
 on maintaining the abnormally high pitch to 
 which I had so often expressed objection, and 
 to which I had finally resolved not to conform. 
 It was at the Festival of 1877 that Madame 
 Albani sang for the first time in sacred music ; 
 and in noticing the event, the Pall Mall 
 Gazette passed from what it called the "positive 
 novelty " of the Festival to its " negative 
 novelty." " If the appearance of Madame 
 Albani in oratorio," said this journal, " was the 
 greatest positive novelty in yesterday's per- 
 formance, there was a novelty also of a negative 
 kind which cannot be passed over. Mr. Sims 
 Reeves, our greatest singer, and one who is 
 especially great in sacred music, was not among 
 the artists engaged ; though, in justice to the
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 257 
 
 directors of the Festival, it must be added that 
 he was one of the first to whom an engagement 
 was offered. That terrible question of pitch 
 which has caused so much annoyance, and 
 which might so easily be settled by our con- 
 forming in England, as has been already done 
 in all the principal continental countries, to 
 the ' normal diapason ' of France, is understood 
 to have been connected with Mr. Sims Reeves' 
 unwillingness to sing. To replace the first of 
 living tenors was rather a formidable under- 
 taking." 
 
 " In recording the close of this year's 
 Festival," wrote ihtDailyNews critic on the same 
 occasion, "it is impossible to avoid expressing 
 a feeling of regret (such as must widely have 
 been experienced) at the absence of Mr. Sims 
 Reeves, whose co-operation has been so 
 important a feature at each of the previous 
 celebrations. No single individual has so 
 especially identified himself with the tenor solo 
 music of Handel, which heretofore was probably 
 never, and perhaps hereafter may never again 
 be, so finely rendered as by him. His trans- 
 cendent merits as an exponent of the pathos,
 
 258 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 dignity, and declamatory grandeur intended 
 by the composer (but so rarely realized by the 
 interpreter) will long live in the memory of 
 the appreciative section, now a large majority, 
 of the musical public. These remarks imply 
 no disparagement of other excellent tenors, 
 who have obtained deserved eminence as 
 Handelian singers. They themselves would 
 be the first to admit the supremacy which has 
 long been maintained by Mr. Reeves." 
 
 It has sometimes been argued that, even if 
 the French normal diapason be adopted for 
 vocal music, there can be no reason why, with 
 a view to superior brilliancy, the higher pitch 
 should not be maintained in England for purely 
 orchestral music. What playing, however, 
 could be more brilliant than that of the 
 orchestras so admirably directed by M. La- 
 moureux and M. Colonne, who, it need scarcely 
 be said, observe, like all French conductors, 
 the "diapason normal?" 
 
 One obstacle (which must frankly be recog- 
 nized as such) to the general adoption of the 
 normal diapason in England arises from the 
 fact that the instruments of our military bands
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 259 
 
 are all manufactured in conformity with the 
 high, so-called Philharmonic pitch. A repre- 
 sentation was not long since made on the 
 subject to H.R.H. the Comuiander-in-Chief, 
 but without obtaining any favourable response. 
 To replace the military instruments now in use 
 by others of the proper pitch would cost 
 money ; and in a question between money and 
 art, it is art, of course, that goes to the wall. 
 
 My last word on this subject appeared rather 
 more than two years ago, in the form of a con- 
 tribution to the Christmas number of England. 
 This contribution, which sums up all I have to 
 say on the subject, I here reproduce. 
 
 " For some years past rumours of discord 
 within the musical profession on the subject of 
 the singularly high pitch have reached the 
 ear of the general public. It is unfortunate 
 that musicians and musical artists should not 
 be able to live in constant and perpetual har- 
 mony; but I fear that a musical organization is 
 apt to be rather a highly-strung one, and that 
 a certain tendency to shall I say irritability ? 
 must unfortunately be recognized in the 
 
 lives and careers of most musical composers ; 
 
 s 2
 
 260 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 and sad though it may be to confess it, musical 
 performers, poets, and authors have been called 
 an irritable race. But I am inclined to think, 
 or to fear, that musical sensitiveness is pe- 
 culiarly liable to disturbance, and that, although 
 there have been countless kind-hearted and 
 generous musicians, beginning with the Em- 
 peror of music, Beethoven, there have been 
 very few creative or even executive artists who 
 can lay a strong claim to the possession of per- 
 fect equability of temper. 
 
 "The question of the musical pitch, too, is one 
 that affects the existence of some real artists, 
 and the comfort and happiness to say the 
 least of the great body of the musical pro- 
 fession. 1 cannot pretend to have no personal 
 bias in the matter. No artist can continue to 
 strain his voice continually to its utmost limits 
 in the service of the public without impairing, 
 more or less, the purity of its tone, and con- 
 demning himself to premature disappearance 
 from the scene of action. For a similar reason, 
 because I did not wish to play tricks with my 
 voice and pass off upon the public what I should 
 consider to be a second-rate performance, which
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 261 
 
 would be painfully unsatisfactory to myself, 
 I have constantly preferred to sacrifice large 
 sums which I could ill afford to spare, and to 
 disappoint that generous British public to 
 which I am under the highest obligations, 
 rather than strain my voice unduly, and give 
 offence to the judicious by venturing to attempt 
 what I could not heartily perform. 
 
 "It is well known in the musical profession 
 that the only reason for which I have declined 
 to sing in oratorios, at musical festivals, &c.,for 
 a few years past, has been the extreme height 
 of the musical pitch adopted, which involves 
 harmful, and sometimes fatal, exertions on the 
 part of tenors and sopranos in particular. 
 
 " But the mere personal aspect of the 
 question is, doubtless, beside the mark. It 
 must be determined on general considerations 
 of good taste, judgment, and expediency and 
 first, I must be allowed to say that authority 
 would now seem to have determined this ques- 
 tion very positively, as far as that country is 
 concerned which is generally admitted to 
 possess the chief voice in the matter of vocali- 
 zation. It is known that all the leading com-
 
 262 MY JUBILEE ; 
 
 posers of Italy, with Verdi at their head, have 
 fixed for a lower musical pitch than that 
 which prevails amongst ourselves ; and that 
 the Italian Government has accepted and 
 acted on their conclusion. I think it must be 
 obvious to all men that the great body of vocal 
 artists have strong interest in urging the 
 adoption of this pitch that of the land of song. 
 It is not a little painful to hear our admirable 
 chorus singers, who may fairly compare with 
 those of any country in the world, and possibly 
 surpass all in mellowness of tone, labouring and 
 straining to get up to the high notes. Instead 
 of being a real pleasure to listen to them, it often 
 becomes a positive pain. The same with the 
 orchestra : the tone is thin and strident, and 
 the effect of the very finest music is very gravely 
 impaired, and the nerves kept on the stretch to 
 listen even to such an overwrought perfor- 
 mance. 
 
 " Now, what is to be said on the other side 
 of the question ? It has been contended that 
 brilliancy of effect can only be secured by a 
 high pitch. This seems to me like affirming 
 that mere loudness can be substituted for
 
 OR, FIFTY YEAES OF ARTISTIC LIKE. 263 
 
 genuine feeling and expression, or that glow- 
 ing colours in painting are more effective than 
 those of nature. The real truth is, that the 
 opposition to the reform wished for by the 
 great majority of artists arises mainly from a 
 certain latent consideration, which is the usual 
 characteristic of a Briton, and with which I 
 have a strong sympathy myself the objec- 
 tion to change, because it is change, even 
 when that change is decidedly for the better. 
 We are all under the influence of tradition and 
 custom, and somehow an inordinately high 
 pitch has come to be our rule. I do not wish to 
 enquire how this has come about, or to attach 
 any blame to individuals. We have learnt in 
 our Latin grammars, Humanum est errare. Of 
 one thing I am sure, that if, by any effort or 
 sacrifice of mine, I can forward this great 
 musical reform, I shall have earned the thanks 
 of generations of singers yet unborn. 
 
 " Surely there is no country, no people that 
 more naturally prefers true feeling and mellow- 
 ness to theatrical and musical exaggeration 
 than our own. We appreciate warmly the 
 genuine article, but dislike stridency and fuss.
 
 264 MY JUBILEE. 
 
 Considering the character of our musical 
 genius, it has always been especially notable 
 for taste and sweetness. Think of Purcell, 
 Arne, Sterndale Bennett, Macfarren, and so 
 many others : a certain golden moderation is 
 our mark. Are we to be the people who go 
 in for a wear and tear of strings and voices, 
 which remind one only of ' tearing a passion 
 to tatters ? ' ' Let us in the very torrent of 
 passion acquire a temperance that may give it 
 smoothness.' Smoothness, not violence ; har- 
 mony, not stridency, is the cause for which I 
 plead. 
 
 "I will not occupy the time of my readers any 
 longer, though I could find it in my heart to 
 say more. Vocalists and instrumentalists, 
 composers and performers, arid perhaps, most 
 of all, the great British public itself, have a 
 direct interest in a settlement which would 
 secure the golden mean, and place musical 
 England by the side of musical Italy, as the 
 advocate of good taste and moderation of 
 genuine feeling and unexaggerated mellowness 
 of tone." 
 
 In my war against the unnaturally high pitch,
 
 OR, FIFTY YEARS OF ARTISTIC LIFE. 265 
 
 I had some good allies, and none more ardent 
 or more capable than my good friend, Shirley 
 Brooks, who will long be remembered as Editor 
 of Punch, and as the author of many clever 
 novels and plays. 
 
 Here is a letter bearing on the subject, 
 which I received from Shirley Brooks twenty 
 years ago : 
 
 " 6, Kent Terrace, 
 
 " Eegent's Park, N.W. 
 
 " 9th Jan., 1869. 
 
 " My dear Sims Reeves. An envelope had 
 hardly gone off to you when your packet 
 arrived. I suppose that after some eighteen 
 years of friendship (by our Lady, 'tis a time), 
 I need hardly say that I am more gratified to 
 hear from you that I have been of any use 
 than by any other recognition of it. Never- 
 theless, I do know how to set store by a 
 friend's gift, and yours is most welcome to me. 
 That, I know, is the best thanks I can give 
 you. 
 
 " We shall eventually lick the instru- 
 mentalists, I suppose, but no doubt they will
 
 266 MY JUBILEE. 
 
 die hard. I shall be on the look-out for facts 
 as when a performance with the lowered 
 pitch is stated to have gone triumphantly ; and 
 anything you can send, or tell me, of that kind, 
 I will note. To me, unmusical, save in a power 
 of intense enjoyment, it seems a sort of blas- 
 phemy to set the interest of brass-and-cat-gut 
 against that of the human voice. I can under- 
 stand rivalry between the two manufacturer* 
 being tolerated. But we ' work by wit, and 
 not by witchcraft,' and must fight our way. 
 
 " How is Mrs. Reeves ? Well, I hope. I 
 send her a happy new year, so does the partner 
 of my expenses. 
 
 " Ever yours, 
 
 " SHIRLEY BROOKS."
 
 CHAPTER XXI.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 I HOPE I have not nauseated my readers by the 
 strong dose of " pitch" I have administered to 
 them ; but my excuse is a good one. It is 
 time to put an end to our abnormally high 
 diapason before it ruins all the good voices. 
 As for the bad, their extermination need not 
 be regretted. During my exceptionally long 
 career of fifty years I am proud to say that I 
 have always lived in amity with my brother 
 and sister artists ; and to singers who are 
 entering the profession, as well as to those 
 who have already made their mark, I wish too 
 well not to offer the results of my observation 
 and experience. 
 
 To all, old and young, I wish every possible 
 success ; and if, at any time, my advice should
 
 270 MY JUBILEE. 
 
 be needed by any, I can only say that I am 
 altogether at their disposal. To quit for ever 
 a career in which I have received so many 
 marks of good-will cannot be otherwise than 
 painful. But the keenness of my regret is in 
 some degree mitigated by the reflection that 
 I may still be able to render services in a 
 sphere of activity closely connected with the 
 one I am on the point of leaving. To teach 
 singing, it is necessary first to have learnt it ; 
 and it will still be in my power to give instruc- 
 tion to others in the art which I have myself 
 so assiduously practised.
 
 INDEX.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A corrupt theatrical manager, 39 
 
 A few stray recollections, 239 
 
 Alary, Signer, custom of Sims Reeves 
 to sing daily before, 145 
 
 Albani, Mdme., at Handel Festival, 256 
 
 An art-loving Israelite, 37 
 
 Anderson, Mrs., and the Queen's com- 
 mands, 177 
 
 Arditi, Signer, 188 
 
 Ashley, Lord, 6 
 
 Associates in Musical Art, 2 
 
 A theatrical Pecksniff, 41 
 
 Atkins, Mr. J., basso, 7 
 
 Auber's Ambassadrice, 133 
 
 Austrian domination of Milan, 57 
 
 Bach's Passion Music at St. James's 
 Hall, 178 
 
 Balfe, 71 
 
 and the music of ' ' Come into the 
 
 garden, Maud," 80 
 
 and the Bohemian Girl, 78 
 
 and "The last rose of sum- 
 mer," 76 
 
 as a musical conductor, 78, 80 
 
 new opera by, 76 
 
 Balfe's Maid of Honour, 80 
 
 cantata, Mazeppa, 201 
 
 Barbieri-Nini as Lucia, 110 
 
 Barker, George, 20 
 
 Barnett's Mountain Sylph, 242 
 
 Beattie, Dr., and the clergyman, 151 
 
 Beletti, Signer, at Handel Festival, 173 
 
 Bellini and Rubini, 102 
 
 Bellini's MS. of La Sonnambula, 101 
 
 Benedict as conductor, 119 
 
 Bennett, Sterndale, 179 
 
 Bennett, the tragedian, 242 
 
 Berlioz, Hector, as conductor, 71 
 
 and Gluck's Iphigenia 
 
 in Tauris, 72 
 
 mistaken idea of, as to Sims 
 
 Reeves' nationality, 76 
 works of, 72 
 
 Biographies, 1 
 
 Bishop, Sir Henry, 73 
 
 Bordogni, Signer, 51 
 
 Bowley, Robert, director of the Sacred 
 
 Harmonic Society, 172 
 Braham, the mantle of, 87 
 and Sims Reeves at London 
 
 Wednesday Concerts, 88
 
 274 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Braham and Sims Reeves at Exeter 
 
 Hall, 89 
 
 and Incledon, 88 
 
 Brambilla, 12 
 
 Bride of Lammermoor, the, at Drury 
 
 Lane Theatre, 76 
 Brooke, Mr. G. V., 26 
 Brooks, Shirley, 147 
 
 on abnormal pitch, 265 
 
 Buckstone, Mr., 194 
 
 Bulwer, Sir Edward, 30, 35, 38 
 
 Bunn's management at Drury Lane 
 
 Theatre, 76 
 Burghersh, Lord, 66 
 Buruey's opinion of Purcell's music, 22 
 
 Callcott, Mr. H., 14 
 
 ChappelPs Popular Concerts, 232 
 
 Colbran, Mademoiselle, 213 
 
 Colletti, 12 
 
 Cooke, Mr. T., 21 
 
 Cork manager, the, and the bag of 
 
 farthings, 225 
 
 Corrupt theatrical manager, a, 39 
 Costa, Signer, 71 
 
 and musical pitch, 92 
 
 oratorios of Eli and Naaman, 93 
 
 Rossini, and story of the Stilton 
 
 cheese, 165 
 
 writes the oratorio of Eli for the 
 
 Birmingham Festival, 159 
 writes another oratorio for the 
 
 Birmingham Festival, 161 
 Cramer, Mr. John, 14 
 Critique on Donizetti's Lucia, 59 
 on Sims Reeves' first appearance 
 
 at Drury Lane Theatre, 74 
 on Sims Reeves' first appearance 
 
 in oratorio, 86 
 
 Croft, Mr. and Mrs. Alban, 104 
 Croquill, Alfred, letter from, 70 
 
 Damcke, failure of, in character of 
 
 Edgardo, in Dublin, 116 
 Decline, the, of operatic tenors, 101 
 Death of Sims Reeves' father, 194 
 Diapason Normal, the, or French 
 
 pitch, 142 
 
 Dickens, Charles, 30 
 at the Garrick Club, 146 
 
 Dolby, Miss, 173, 179 
 Donizetti and strolling musicians, 63 
 and Simon Mayr, 62, 63 
 
 poverty of, 63 
 
 last illness of, 64 
 
 Doras Gras, Mdme., 69, 75 
 and M. Jullien, 81 
 
 Duke of Cambridge, the, and pitch of 
 
 military instruments, 259 
 Duprez, actor and singer, 103 
 
 Edgell, Wyatt Edgell, 6 
 
 Miss Louisa, 6 
 
 Misses, house in London, 12 
 - Wyatt, Mr., of Egham, 12 
 Effect of high pitch on the voice, 140 
 Eli, Costa's, tenor part written for 
 
 Sims Reeves, 160 
 English, French, and Italian orchestras, 
 
 pitch of, 140 
 
 English Opera in London, 69, 125 
 Equestrian performance of II Trova- 
 
 tore, 188 
 Exciting incident at Theatre Royal, 
 
 Dublin, 117 
 
 Facial contortions of singers, 143 
 Fitzball as a librettist, 77 
 Foruasari, 12 
 French conductors and the "Diapason 
 
 Normal," 258 
 
 Frezzolini at Her Majesty's Theatre, 105 
 as Lucia, 106
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gardoni, 161 
 
 Glover, Edmund, as Rob Roy, 239 
 Gluck's Iphigenia in Tauris, 72, 73 
 Goldsclimidt, Otto, and Jenny Lind, 209 
 Grisi, Mdme., illness of, 127 
 
 in Verdi's Akla, 188 
 
 Gye, Frederick, 98 
 
 Halle, Charles, 
 
 Tauris, 73 
 conductor to 
 
 and Iphigenia in 
 English Opera 
 
 Company, 189 
 Handel's Oratorios, 172 
 Hauck, Miss Minnie, at Covent 
 
 Garden Theatre, 249 
 Hayes, Catherine, 61, 73 
 
 an ideal Lucia, 109 
 
 and Sims Reeves in Lucia at 
 
 Theatre Royal, Dublin, 119 
 first appearance in Dublin, 114 
 
 Health of the voice, 146 
 
 Hobbs, Mr., 21 
 
 Hogarth, Mr. , the Daily News critic, 
 
 and Mrs. Hayes, amusing story of, 109 
 Honey, George, 191 
 How a German musician spent his 
 
 time, 223 
 How Sims Reeves prevented Bedell 
 
 from accepting an encore, 156 
 Hullah, John, at Exeter Hall, 85 
 
 Illness of Donizetti, 64 
 Immature vocalists, 144 
 Incledon and Braham, 88 
 Ivanoff, 12 
 
 Jullien, Monsieur, 69, 80 
 
 in the Bankruptcy Court, 81 
 
 Sunday afternoons at the house 
 
 of, 72 
 
 Kean, Charles, 147 
 
 Kemble, Charles, at the Garrick 
 
 Club, 147 
 King's Theatre, tLe, 4, 12 
 
 Lablache, 12, 19 
 
 range of voice, 55 
 
 jealousy of, 135 
 
 Lady Henrietta ; or, the Statute fair, 
 
 by Balfe, 76 
 La Sonnambula, tenor part composed 
 
 for Rubini, 102 
 Lemaire, Mdme., 189 
 Lemmens-Sherrington, Madame, 179, 
 
 189, 191 
 
 Letter from Signer Piatti, 62 
 Lind, Jenny, andBishopof Norwich, 203 
 
 death of Prince Consort, 208 
 
 Garcia, 207 
 her husband, 209 
 
 Nissen, 207 
 
 as a perfect singer, 143 
 
 Lucia, 105 
 
 at Her Majesty's Theatre, 98 
 
 character of, 202 
 
 domestic habits of, 203-4 
 
 in Beatrice di Tenda, 206 
 
 the air from Camp of 
 
 Silesia, 206 
 Lloyd, Mr., 7 
 Lucombe, Miss, 116 
 Lumley, Mr., 98 
 lessee of two Italian 
 
 houses, 132 
 
 Opera- 
 
 Macfarren's Robin Hood, 80, 171, 187, 
 
 189, 191 
 Mackay, as the Bailie, in Rob Roy, Sir 
 
 Walter Scott's opinion of, 240
 
 276 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Macready, Mr., 21, 35, 38 
 
 and Mr. G. V. Brooke, 26* 
 
 rich idlers behind the 
 
 scenes, 38 
 
 the veteran Albert, 28 
 
 as Cardinal Wolsey, 32 
 
 practical jokes on, 30, 35 
 
 tyranny of, 26, 29 
 
 Malibrau and Templeton, 89 
 
 and the one-legged manager, 90 
 
 Maddox, Mr. , and Macready, 29 
 Mapleson, Mr., 80 
 
 and his Memoirs, 152 
 
 fable about Sims Reeves and 
 
 Birch's soup, 152 
 Mara, Mdme., and Frederick the 
 
 Great, 58 
 Mario, 12, 161, 213 
 
 friendship of, 135 
 
 May Queen, Bennett's, 201 
 
 Mayr, Simon, and Donizetti, 62, 63 
 
 Mazzucato, Signer, 51, 54, 55 
 
 Mellon, Alfred, 71 
 
 Mercadante's Bravo, 213 
 
 Merelli, agreement with Sims Reeves, 64 
 
 a bad paymaster, 65 
 
 breach of agreement and its 
 
 result, 66 
 Mode of travelling forty-five years 
 
 ago, 52 
 
 Molique and his friends, 224 
 Monday Popular Concerts, 232 
 Moriani, 12 
 Morning Post, The, on Sims Reeves in 
 
 sacred and operatic music, 90 
 Musical World, The, on Sims Reeves' 
 first appearance in oratorio, 86, 87 
 
 Sims Reeves in Ernani, 125 
 
 Sims Reeves at the Handel 
 
 Festival, 174 
 
 Macfarren's opera of Robin 
 
 Hood, 189, 193 
 
 Murray, Leigh, in Rob Roy, 240 
 Mrs. Leigh, 245 
 
 Naaman, Costa's, tenor part written 
 
 for Sims Reeves, 161 
 Nature and art, 139 
 Necessity of sedulous practice by 
 
 vocalists, 145 
 
 Nilsson, Mdme. Christine, 61 
 North Cray Church, 5, 13 
 Novello, Mdme. Clara, at the Handel 
 
 Festival, 173 
 
 Drury Lane Theatre, 222 
 the Worcester Festival, 220 
 
 in Ads and Galatea, 223 
 on tour, 225 
 
 Oxenford, John, 187, 191 
 
 Pacini's Sappho, 223 
 
 Paglieri, Signer, failure of, as 
 
 Edgardo, 115 
 
 Palmer, Miss, in Costa's Naaman, 161 
 Parepa, Mademoiselle, 189 
 Parkinson, Mr., 189 
 Patey, Mr., 189 
 Patti, Mdme. Adelina, 61 
 
 in Costa's Naaman, first time 
 
 in oratorio, 161 
 
 Perfection of the human voice, 140 
 Persiani, 12 
 
 as Amina, 99 
 
 as Lucia, 105 
 
 Philharmonic pitch, the, 259 
 Phipson, Dr. T. L., and the libretto of 
 
 La Sonnambula, 99 
 Piatti, Signer, letter from, 62 
 Planche, Mr., 73 
 Popularity of Donizetti's operas, 62
 
 INDEX. 
 
 277 
 
 Poverty of Donizetti, 63 
 
 Price of tenors, 37 
 
 Promenade Concerts, M. Jullien's, 69 
 
 Punch on Sims Reeves as Captain 
 
 Maclieath, 153 
 Pin-cell's King Arthur, 22 
 Pyne and Harrison Company at 
 
 Covent Garden Theatre, 189. 
 
 Rector of North Cray, the, 6 
 Rescue of a female chorus-singer from 
 Lord Fitz-Ordinary, 42 
 
 Reeves, Sims, abandons trade for a 
 musical career, 15 
 
 accidentto, at Cork Theatre, 182 
 
 accident to, at Croydon Railway 
 
 Station, 181 
 
 accident to, at Haymarket 
 
 Theatre, 180 
 
 accident to, at North Cray, 9 
 
 and broken appointments, 153-4 
 
 and Calcraft, manager of Theatre 
 
 Royal, Dublin, 117 
 
 and Frezzolini, 
 
 Her Majesty's coinmand,175 
 
 his favourite dog, 56 
 
 - his landlord, 222 
 
 Lord Fitz-Ordinaiy, 39 
 
 officers at Cork Theatre, 182 
 
 Sam Cowell 245 
 
 ; the Encore system, 155 
 
 the female chorus-singer, 42 
 
 - the Festival steward, 218-21 
 
 - the intoxicated actor, 233 
 
 the waiter, 205 
 
 Toole, 235 
 
 as a teacher of singing, 270 
 
 as a practical joker, 156, 242 
 
 as Captain Maclieath, 128, 153 
 
 Reeves, Sims, as Carlo, in Linda di 
 
 C/tamouni, 97, 132 
 as Count Rodolfo, in Sonnam- 
 
 buki, 20 
 as Edgardo at Royal Italian 
 
 Opera, 108 
 
 as Dandini, in La Cenerentola, 20 
 
 as Edgar of Ravenswood, 70, 90 
 
 as EJvino in La Sonnambula, 99 
 as Francis Osbaldistone, in Rob 
 
 Roy, 240 
 as Gennaro, 
 
 in Lucrezia 
 Borgia, 132 
 
 as Judas Maccabams, 85, 87 
 
 as Ottocar, in DerFreisch'Mz, 22 
 
 as Thaddeus, in the Bohemian 
 
 Girl, 78 
 
 at Catherine Hayes' debut in 
 
 Dublin, 114 
 
 at Drury Lane Theatre, 21 
 
 - Dublin, 114, 127 
 
 Her Majesty's Theatre, 98, 125 
 La Scala, Milan, 57 
 
 Milan, 51, 53, 54, 56 
 
 Paris, 51, 131 
 
 the Court Concert, 178 
 
 the Crystal Palace, 171 
 the Garrick Club, 146 
 
 the Grecian Theatre, 21, 240 
 
 the Handel Festivals, 92, 172, 
 
 173, 174, 221 
 
 the Haymarket Theatre, 175 
 the Imperial Opera House, 
 
 Vienna, 65 
 
 the London Wednesday Con- 
 certs, 88 
 
 the Monday Popular Con- 
 certs, 232 
 
 the Preliminary Handel Fes- 
 tival, 173 
 
 the Royal Italian Opera, 99
 
 278 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Reeves, Sims, at the Sacred Harmonic 
 Society's Concert, 87 
 
 the Standard Theatre, 37 
 
 the Theatre Royal, Edin- 
 burgh, 239, 244 
 
 brothers, 6 
 
 Bordogni's advice to, 51 
 
 captivated with character of 
 
 Edgardo, 103 
 
 childhood, 4 
 
 choice of a profession, 13] 
 
 complimented by Charles 
 
 Kean, 243 
 
 continuous practice of the voice 
 
 by, 145 
 
 debut in Paris, 132 
 in Vienna, 65 
 
 declines to sing the Serenade 
 
 "Young Agnes," at the Court Con- 
 cert, 176 
 
 discipline of father in train- 
 
 ing, 194 
 
 early performances, 7 
 
 education, 9 
 
 engaged by Mr. Lumley for Her 
 
 Majesty's Theatre, London, and the 
 
 Theatre des Italians, Paris, 131 
 exposed to the jealousy of 
 
 Italians in Paris, 135 
 
 father, 4 
 
 first appearance as a concert 
 
 singer at Paris, 232 
 
 in oratorio, 86 
 
 on any stage, 13, 20 
 
 on the operatic stage, 57 
 
 at Drury Lane, 73 
 
 first post as organist, 5 
 
 first visit to II Maestro Maz- 
 
 zucato, 54 
 
 to Edinburgh, 239 
 
 his dislike of visitors behind 
 the scenes, 39 
 
 Reeves, Sims, in Beggar's Optra, 128, 
 
 233 
 Costa's Eli at Birmingham 
 
 in 1855, 160 
 
 in Ernani, 125, 132 
 
 Faust, 210 
 
 Fra Dlavolo, 40, 175, 179 
 
 - Hamlet, 242 
 
 Henry Smart's Bertha, 175 
 
 Guy Mannering, 20 
 
 Israel in Egypt, 173 
 
 Judas Maccabceus, 173 
 
 Linda di Chamouni, 132 
 
 Lucrezia Borgia, 132 
 
 Mazeppa, 201 
 
 oratorio, 85 
 
 pantomime, 21 
 
 the Messiah, 173 
 
 Robin Hood, 190, 192 
 
 #06 Roy, 239 
 
 the Waterman, 235 
 
 invited to Killarney Park, 104 
 
 letter from Jullien to, 81 
 father to, 195 
 
 Shirley Brooks to, 265 
 
 to Athenceum, on high 
 
 pitch, 250-51 
 
 to Christmas Number of 
 
 England, on high pitch, 259 
 
 life in Milan, 56 
 
 Lumley 's breach of faith with, 98 
 
 meeting Mr. and Mrs. Charles 
 
 Kean, 243 
 
 method of tuition, 5 
 
 on concert tour, 202 
 
 operatic tour in Ireland, 104 
 
 opinion of, on Balfe's careless- 
 ness as a musician, 77 
 
 Berlioz on first 
 
 appearance of, at Drury Lane, 75 
 
 Daily Telegraph on 
 
 public services of, 197
 
 INDEX. 
 
 279 
 
 Reeves, Sims, opinion of, on Fitzball as 
 a librettist, 77 
 
 on John Hullah as 
 
 a musician, 85 
 
 on Jullien's enter- 
 prise, 80 
 
 La Sonnambula, 99 
 
 quarrel with Macready, 24 
 
 refusal to sing at Macready's 
 
 benefit concert, 25 
 
 refusal to sing at La Scala, 58 
 
 refusal to sing at Handel Fes- 
 
 tival of 1877, 255 
 
 return to London from Italy, 70 
 
 Robin Hood, part created by, 
 
 in Macfarren's opera, 171 
 studies character of Edgardo 
 
 at Muckress Abbey, 103 
 
 success of, in Paris, 135 
 
 summoned to police-court, 234 
 
 taken to La Scala by gen- 
 
 darmes, 52 
 taught a trade, 14, 15 
 
 teachers, 14, 21 
 
 the mantle of Braham on, 87 
 
 training as a tenor, 21 
 
 trained as a baritone, 19 
 
 - visits of, to the Rectory of North 
 Cray, 8 
 walking tour of, 244 
 
 with Mario at Royal Italian 
 Opera, 212 
 
 Reeves, Mrs., a substitute for Madame 
 Grisi, 127 
 
 plays Lucia, Amina, and 
 
 Elvira, 128 
 
 Ricordi's collection of MSS., 101 
 
 Rivalry between Her Majesty's Theatre 
 and the Royal Italian Opera, 98 
 
 Roman! and the libretto of La Sonnam- 
 bula, 99 
 
 Romer, Bob, 242 
 
 Ronconi, Giorgio, 12 
 Rossi, Count, and Madame Son tag, 134 
 Rossini's Donna del Lago, 212 
 Rouse, manager of Grecian Theatre, 
 
 loses his purse, 241 
 Rubin!, 12 
 
 and Mario, 58 
 
 as an actor, 103 
 
 as Edgardo, 59 
 
 at Her Majesty's Theatre, 102 
 - friendship of, 135 
 
 Sacred Harmonic Society and the 
 
 Handel Festival, 92 
 Sainton Dolby, Mdme., 164 
 
 at the Handel Festival, 173 
 
 Santley, Charles, 73 
 
 and Sims Reeves on tour, 209 
 
 - in Costa's Naaman, 161 
 
 in Robin Hood, 189 
 Sapio and Braham, 89 
 Scribe, Eugene, 99 
 Smart, Sir George, 73 
 Smith, Mr. E. T., 80, 188 
 
 at Her Majesty's Theatre, 188 
 
 Albert, at the Garrick Club, 147 
 
 Social gatherings, 13 
 Sontag, Mdme, 132 
 
 her marriage, 133 
 
 return to the stage, 134 
 
 Staudigl, as a singer, 223 
 
 Sullivan's (Arthur) Prodigal Son, 165 
 
 music, effect of, on sopranos 
 
 and tenors, 165 
 Sullivan, Barry, in Rob Roy, 239 
 
 Talfourd, Serjeant, 30 
 Tamberlik, 161 
 Tamburini, 12 
 jealousy of, 135
 
 280 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Toiler, the, and the attorney, 152 
 Teachers of music responsible for faults 
 
 in singers, 140 
 
 Templeton, the Scottish vocalist, 89 
 Tenors, price of, 37 
 Three Choirs festival incidents, 217 
 
 hard work at, 219 
 
 Titiens, Mdlle., 188, 189 
 
 as Margherita in Faust, 210 
 
 Thackeray and Catherine Hayes, 113 
 
 at the Garrick Club, 146 
 
 Theatre Royal, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 13 
 
 Throaty tenors, 1 12 
 
 Tumour, Mr., theatrical agent, 18 
 
 Wallace's Amber Witch, 80 
 
 Ward, Lord, 54 
 
 Weiss, at the Handel Festival, 173, 179 
 
 Whitworth, Mr., the baritone, 116 
 
 William Tell, Sheridan Knowles's 
 
 drama of, 28 
 Woods, Mr. and Mrs. , starring 
 
 engagement of, 20 
 
 Henderson and Spalding, Printers, Marylebone Lane, Oxford Street, \V.
 
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 CLASSICS FOR THE PIANOFORTE, 
 
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 Concerto. Second and Third Move- 
 
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 Larghetto. " Ave Maria " L. Cherubim 
 
 Alcina. " Verdi prati, salve ainene " ( J. F. Handel 
 
 Israel in Egypt. " Thou shalt bring them in " G. F. Handel 
 
 Last Judgment. " Holy, holy " L. Spohr 
 
 Messiah. Kecit. " Comfort ye my people " G. F. Handel 
 
 Messiah. Andante, Air " Every valley shall be exalted ". . . .G. F. Handel 
 St. Paul. " But the Lord is mindful " F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
 
 THE ORGAN JOURNAL. 
 
 Kim'tCI) BY 
 
 W. J. WESTBROOK, Mrs. Doc., CANTAB. Each Xo. '3s. 
 Xo. 1. 
 
 A Christmas March W. J. Westbrook, Mus. Doc., Cantab 
 
 Pastoral L. Kozeluch 
 
 The First Lowell (Carol) Traditional 
 
 Xo. "2. 
 
 Duetto (Lieder ohne Worte) Mendelssohn 
 
 Andante (Sonata 1. Xo. 31 ) J. B. Cramer 
 
 Bcnedictus (Mass in E flat, Larghetto) C. M. von Weber 
 
 Xo. 3. 
 
 Air " (jr. A. Hasst- 
 
 From Op. 39. Andante . . 1'. Schanvenka 
 
 Die Zauberflote. In Diesen Heil Gen Hallen W. A. Mo/art 
 
 String Quartett, Xo. 1, Op. 33. Andante con Variazioni . . Leopold Kozeluch 
 
 Xo. 4. 
 
 Air. Salutaris Hostia "W. J. Westbrook, Mus. Doc., Cantab 
 
 Adagio J. B. Cramer 
 
 Andante Espressivo J. Woelfl 
 
 Xo. 5. 
 
 Sonata 48. Adagio Maestoso M. dementi 
 
 Aufer stehing und Himmel fahrt Jusus (Choral Fugue Alles 
 
 was odem Hat) Ph. Emm. Bach 
 
 Jephtha. " Tune the soft, melodious lute " Handel 
 
 Xo. 0. 
 
 Saul. Chorus of Shepherds J. H. Rolle 
 
 Fugue J. G. Albrechtsberger 
 
 Sonata, Op. 67. Adagio D. Steibelt 
 
 The Cantatas. Aria. Era Meglio G. Bononcini 
 
 Xo. 7. 
 
 Trio, Op. 40. Poco Adagio L. Ko/eluch 
 
 Op. 48. Larghetto from the Double Concerto for Two Violins . . . . L. Spohr 
 Orfeo e Euridici. " II Pensier eta negli oggetti " Jos. Haydn 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Fantasia, Op. 76. Andante Itustico J. L. DUSM k. 
 
 Sonata, Op. 38. Andante Joseph Woelfl 
 
 Andante. Espressivo G. Morandi 
 
 To be continued. 
 
 A Triumphal March in F major Charles Hoby 3 
 
 Allegretto *. F. J. Read 4 
 
 Andante. Alia Pastorale T. E. Spinney 3 
 
 Andantino in G H. G. Trembath 3 
 
 Aria lleligiosa Jessie R. Jupp 2 
 
 Choral March D. J. Mackey 3 
 
 Concert Fugue . . .A. B. Plant -I
 
 University of California 
 
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 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which it was borrowed. 
 
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