m^ > "^fclBNV-SOV^ "^/MHAINn-H^ ^OJITOJO^ Iff! y ,NIVER% 1^1 ^a3Ai: 'W ^^ c ^m%\ V! wiiiv.hu #* CC O L>| gJ=~<| O S ^ N > ??■ <=> «rf^ iv^f it 'audi; JU p?. id 5 ft' * Ul ^ THE OPERA SINGERS OPERA SINGERS A Pictorial Souvenir WITH BIOGRAPHIES OF SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS SINGERS OF THE DAY BY GUSTAV KOBBE Sri ■v BOSTON OLIVER DITSON COMPANY DITSON & CO. LYON & 111 \n run \m i mi \ I . DITSON & CO. Copyright, MCM1 By Robert Howard Russell Copyright, MCMIV By Oliver Ditson Company :nt 9PARRELL PHIN1 BOST< m FOREWORD I 11 .11 'E gathered here a series of costume and other portraits of the grand opera sing- ers best known to American opera-goers of to-day. 'To these I have added a set of pictures taken during the long tours made by the Maurice Grau Company, showing many famous singers in moments of relaxation "on the road." They are interesting as giving intime glimpses of opera folk whom the public has seen only under the glare of the footlights and in character. Prima donnas, tenors, baritones, and bassos are seen here as men and women. As a whole the illustrations in this hook, many from the studio of Aime Dupont, are believed to form the most interesting and complete collection of its kind ever published. IN addition to these pictures, I have written a series of biographies of some of the most famous opera singers of the day from the viewpoint of the American public. Possibly the most interesting fact connected with the majority of these " lives" is that they are absolutely authentic, the facts being taken down from the lips of the singers themselves. For this new and enlarged edition I have added the biographies of Mile. Terruna anil Stg. Caruso, together with portraits of some of the newcomers. Somewhat anecdotal {but none the less authentic) is the "-Opera Singers Off Duty f which I have added to the biographies. LEST the above should not fully explain the limitations as well as the scope of the hook, I desire to disclaim any attempt at a critical work. The book is intended fore- most for a Pictorial Souvenir, and I have considered the gathering of the illustra- tions qude as important a part of my task [or rather pleasure) as the preparation of the letterpress. MT thanks are due to the publishers of " Harpers Weekly" and the " Woman's Home Companion "for permission to use in this book matter which I have contrib- uted to these periodicals. GUST AT KOBBE. New York, njii/ To Beatrice Kobbe MME. NORDICA HE career of Mme. Nordica is a splen- did illustration of what can be accom- plished through the union ui extraor- dinary natural gitts with indomitable energy. It is now some time past since this artist won her position among the great prima donnas. Yet not tor a moment has .she relaxed the energy which has been one of the character- istics of her career or become less per- severing in her studies. SHE is internationally famous, and one of the greatest triumphs or her artistic life was when she opened the Prinz Regenten Theatre in Munich. She, an American of Americans, was the hrst Isolde and E/sa to be heard in that German house. The impression she cre- ated with her Isolde was so profound already in the first act, that, during the intermission the manager came behind the scenes and engaged her for the Brunnhilde roles next year. Not very long ago she studied Sieglinde in " Die Walkure " with " Mine. Cosima," Wag- ner's widow. " I never may sing the role," she said to me. " Hut I always am singing or studying." A BRUNNHILDE or an Isolde hardly is associated with a little village in Maine. Vet Maine is the native State of" Mine. Nordica, as it is of two other great Ameri- can prima d >nnas — Mine. Eames and Annie Louise Carey. Mine. Nordica was born in Farmington, in the interior of the State, in [859. Her parents were musical. Her father, as a boy, played surreptitiously ^n the violin. He had been forbidden to bring the instrument into the house, because his father "thought it was the devil." but his mother, more lenient, allowed him to hide- it in nnv of the lower bureau-drawers, and when the sterner parent was out, the boy exhumed his beloved fiddle from the depths ot the bureau and revelled in its sound. I le grew up to have a tine bass voice, ami he married a girl who had a fine soprano. They sang in church — the only place where it was not considered sinful to sing. Thus, within limitations it is true, Lillian Norton (Mine. Nordica's real name) grew up in a musical atmosphere. SHE had an elder sister, a beautiful girl with a lovely voice. In order to give her the advantages of a good musical education, the parents moved with their six daughters (there were no sons) to Boston, and the gitted sister was placed under the instruction of John O'Neill. Lill- ian was the youngest of the girls and " a per- fect torment," because everything the sister learned she, too, sang. The untimely death of the elder girl caused Lillian to he placed with Mr. O'Neill. This teacher was an Irish gentleman — a scholarly man who had made a profound study of the physiology of the voice. On her first trial with him Lillian sang right up to high C. " I took it then just as well as now," she says. " It was not a Do of the same quality as now, hut it was just as sure." For three years Mr. O'Neill instructed her in voice emission. She went at her work with an enthusiasm which has never left her. Her parents had no idea of her ever going on the operatic stage. They considered the life baneful. But Lillian had a premonition of the career ahead of her ; and so, although people kept asking her, " Why don't you learn to sing 'pieces'?" she kept right on with the study of voice emission. She seemed to realize that a solid foundation was neces- sary to her lite-work. Occasionally she sang in church, and when the late Ehen Tourjee, of Boston, organized a choir of a hundred voices, she joined it as a soloist. Because she could sing the high Do they sometimes gave the " Intiammatus " from Ros- sini's " Stabat Mater," which still is one of the great achievements of the now famous prima donna. At seventeen years she sang " The Messiah " with the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston ; hut she was engaged for only part of the work, another soloist finishing out the concert. SHORTLY afterward came the turning-point in her career. Brignoli, the famous tenor, gave a concert in Boston. The day of the concert the soloist with him suddenly was taken ill. He was advised to " go and get Lillian Norton." She sang at the concert, and he was so delighted with her voice that he advised her to study in New York with Mine. Maretzek. Accordingly, she placed herself under Mme. Maretzek's care for the summer months, re- I. II I IAN N< ceiving instruction in operatic arias. When autumn came she decided not to go back to Boston. It was her crossing of the Rubicon. Gilmore was giving concerts with his band at the Madison Square Garden, and one morning, while he was rehearsing there, Mme. Maretzek took her young pupil to him and asked him to hear her. "Well," he said, "what will she sing ? " "The aria from ' Sonnambula,' and if Mr. Arbuckle will play the cornet ob- ligato ' See the Bright Seraphim,' ' answered Mme. Maretzek. " This is a very pale-looking little girl," said Gilmore. " But let's hear her." THE pale-looking little girl sang her pieces so nicely that the bandmaster decided to give her a chance with the public. " Now, little girl, don't be afraid. Just sing right out," were his words as he handed her to the platform the first night. She made a " nice little success." ABOUT this time she received a long letter from Mr. O'Neill, asking if this was what she had come to — singing with a brass band — after the high aspirations he had had for her. But the Gilmore engagement was a useful stepping- stone for her. He made her an offer of $ i oo a week, and her own and her mother's expenses for a Western tour, and also engaged her when he went abroad in the summer. They arrived in Liverpool a little before eleven o'clock one morning and at noon gave a- concert in the Royal St. George's Hall. AFTER seventy-nine concerts in England, Lill- ian went with Gilmore and his band to Paris — it was during the exposition of 1878 — where they opened the Trocadero, hers being the first voice to ring out there. She spent the summer in Paris, where she had a number of American pupils, and then went to Milan to study with San Giovanni, telling him she wanted to go on the operatic stage. He asked her to sing several arias for him, and when she had finished he said, " Well, why don't you go ? " She explained that her knowledge of Italian was too limited and that while she could sing six or eight arias she did not know a single opera all through. " We'll attend to all that," was his replv ; and she went right to work with him and in three months was ready to go on the operatic stage. It was then she adopted the stage name of Nordica. She had received letters from home saving she was going to drag the family name into the theatre and disgrace it, so she talked the matter over with San Giovanni and he suggested Nordica, " from the North." HER operatic debut was made at Brescia in " Traviata." For five nights a week during an engagement of three months, for the whole of which she re- ceived 5 i oo and a benefit which brought in two hundred livres, or about 56o, she sang nothing but "Traviata." Other nights another prima donna sang " Sonnambula." That was the entire repertoire of the house for that season. From Brescia Nordica went to Novara and sang Alice in " Robert le Diable." The little theatre was not heated. The dressing-room had stone walls and it was so cold she used to carry a little brazier of coals with her from her lodg- ings to the theatre. After Novara, she sang Alice in Genoa. The first night, after a certain phrase, there were strong hisses. For an instant they paralyzed her. Every- thing swam around. She had the same ex- perience tor several nights, and always after the same phrase. She concluded there was something wrong with her pronunciation. Finally one night, after diligent study on her part, the critical moment passed without a hiss and her singing of the aria was followed by a storm ot applause. IN 1S80 a Russian impressario, who came to Italy to look tor voices and wanted a young- singer tor such roles as Inez in " L'Africaine " and The <0>ueen in " Les Huguenots," offered her an engagement for St. Petersburg and .Moscow. There were ten or twelve roles to be learned and she had about six weeks in which to master them. But by dint of ardu- ous study at a time when the heat in Milan was intense, she prepared herself tor the en- gagement, which was continued tor another season, and led to her appearance at the Grand Opera, Paris, where she made her debut as Marguerite in " Faust," having studied the role with Gounod himself. ALTOGETHER she sang seven months at the Opera, and her success there led Mapleson to present her in New York. This was in [885. She did not make much impression one way or the other. She sang onlv tour or live nights and then returned to London. This American girl, w ho hail made her way from Brescia via St. Petersburg and Moscow to Paris, failed at this time to conquer the audiences of her own country. When, in 1SS-, Mapleson reopened Covent Garden, she was engaged In him. The house had been closed so long that it was miserably cold the first night, and Mine. Nordica longed tor hei ' ot coals from Novara. [ ' , -- ' the performance w ith The Prince ot Wales, overcoat on. w no w as m a ho\. >razier sat through AN incident in her career at this time was her singing in Sullivan's " Golden Legend " at the Royal Alhert Hall. Mme. Alhani, who was to have sung, had heen taken ill, and Sir Arthur was so annoyed at this contretemps that when Mme. Nordica tried to have him coach her in the part, he told her friends that he was " not going to have any more of these singers crammed down his throat." However, the prima donna studied according to her own lights and made a great success, with the result that the next day Sir Arthur called on her and thanked her for having sung his music "so beautifully." After that Mme. Nordica sang all the leading oratorios at various English concerts and festivals — practically without any instruction in them other than what she had received from Air. O'Neill. This scholarly man still is living and teaching in Boston, and he and his famous pupil, who never fails to acknowledge her indebtedness to him for the splendid foundation he laid for her career, always exchange pleasant greetings when she visits that city. After all, he had not trained her for a brass band. HER next operatic experience was with Sir Augustus Harris, who had organ- ized a large company for Drury Lane. He was to bring out two men who had become the idols of Paris — Jean and Edouard De Reszke — and any num- ber of well-known people from Italy. It was a company with a great string of names in it. Mme. Nordica went to see Sir Augustus about an engagement. " Oh, we don't want you," he said. " We have got all these people," nam- ing them over, " and you have been singing at cheap prices with Mapleson." THE next night they opened with "Aida." Jean De Reszke sang and made a furore, but the prima donna had more tremolo than success. For the next night they put on " Robert le Diable," but at the rehearsal they came to the conclusion that the prima donna, who had quite a name in Italy, would not do. St> the second night of the season for which Sir Augustus had said to Mme. Nordica, " We do not want you," she was sent for to save the perform- ance. The same week she sang " Aida" without a rehearsal. The following Sunday she was sent for by Sir Augustus to come to Covent Garden. " Have you ever sung Valentine in ' Les Huguenots' ? " " No; I do not know it." " Still, couldn't you learn it by next Saturday night r " " I could not learn a part like that in a week." " Hut you must do it, because you are the only one." " Well, I will do what I can."' AS a result, she was ready to sing the role. In the great duet, when a singer who throws herself into the character is apt to be carried away with excite- ment, Edouard De Reszke stood in the wings by the window, and when she went over to his side ot~ the stage he would call out, " Non si allegro!" And when she went over to Jean, he would whisper, "Pas si vitef" That was to keep her in check, so that in her excitement she would not sing too fast and arrive at the climax too soon, "with her tongue hanging out," to quote her own words. Mme. Nordica often has sung at Covent Garden since then. In 1890 she made her reappearance in America at the Metropolitan Opera House, singing "Aula." Over seven years had elapsed since she had been heard at the Academy of Music and had tailed to make an impression. They had been seven years of steady progress, and her success on her reappearance w as very great. SOME ten years ago, after one of the London seasons, several members of the opera company, including Mine. Nordica, the I)e Reszkes, and Lasalle, concluded jg^r*. that the\ would go to Bavreuth and -;ee jP^SJ^j^i . what it was like. \\ hen they reached there the men in the party had no diffi- culty in rinding accommodations, hut Edouard and Lasalle tramped all over the town to secure lodgings tor Mme. Nordica and her mother. Finally they found rooms in a girls' school. Next day they went to the theatre, and the first performance they heard was " Die Meistersinger." After the first act they came out and began making tun ot it. " They call that music ! " exclaimed }ean. " It is barbarous to ask a tenor to sing such a role as Walther" (He sings it beautifully himself now.) Then they heard more strange. > arsifal," which seemed even The last performance was "Tristan und Isolde." When they came out of the theatre Mme. Nordica said, " Mother, I am going to sing here some day." The prima donna was impressed by the performance. Jean thought Tris- tan pretty heavy tor the tenor. Hut some- thing had sunk into them all. They were beginning to realize what there was in the Wagnerian music-drama. THE prima donna became acquainted with Mme. Cosima in [892. She stud- ied with her Venus \\\ " Tannhauser," with such success that she was requested to be the Bav reuth E/sa the following summer. During the New ^ ork season Mine. Nordica studied German every day. She went to Hav reuth early in Ma\ and studied and rehearsed there three months. She had twentj six rehearsals with orchestra, and posed over an hour in the balconj scene while various lielf under Mine. Marchesi's tuition, and then made a tour of Italy. While gaining additional experience as a singer on this tour, she seems also to have prof- ited dramatically, especially as she saw Duse, by whom she was greatly impressed. To say, however, that she copies Duse (as Santuzza in " Cavalleria Rusticana," for instance) is wholly erroneous. A singer whose gestures and facial expres- sion are necessarily limited, because effec- tive emission ot the singing voice is the chief aim on the operatic stage, may de- rive a general impression ot a role or a general idea ot the art ot acting from a great actress, but copy her she absolutely cannot. Mine. Calve is a woman ot dra- matic instincts, and when she saw Duse she promptly felt dramatic passion, which hitherto had lain dormant, stir within the fi Emma Cai ve her. Her creation ot the role of Suzi in Mas- cagni's " L'Amico Fritz," at Rome in 1S91, added greatly to her reputation, and in 1892, when the same composer's "Cavalleria Rusti- cana " had its first ht P arts, sh e was chosen for the Santuzza, and made a phenome- nal success, showing the study she had made of the Italian people, and the result of some valu- able suggestions from the composer himself. She repeated the role with great success in London. ECHOES of Mine. Calve's great European suc- cesses reached this country during the season of 1892 and 1893, when, owing to the destruction of the Metropolitan Opera House by tire, there were no performances there. Hut during the following season, when the opera-house opened, Mme. Calve was a member of the company, and made her New York debut November 29, 1 893, as Santuzza. Her realistic power in the role was rec- ognized, but it remained tor her to make one of the greatest successes known in the operatic history ot this country as Car- men. The opera was given thirteen times that season, and each time at receipts close to the $10,000 mark. At her farewell performance of " Carmen " tor the season, on April 27th, such a demonstration was made over her that she came forward and said, in French : " I shall never forget that to the American public I owe the greatest success of my career. I hope that I am not saving good-by, but only au revoir." THERP2 had been some dissensions in the company, and next season she was not here. But in November, 189^, she made her reappearance in " Carmen," and in December gave her first performance here of Ophelie in Ambroise Thomas's " Ham- let," showing unsuspected equipment as a singer pure and simple, but at the same time combining with her vocalization a remarkable significance ot' dramatic ex- pression. Thus in the nvad scene, which as for- merly heard here had served merely as a vehicle tor vocal pyrotechnics, she was brilliantly suc- cessful vocally, but by certain shadings and a remarkable variety of tone-coloring also subtly conveyed the dramatic meaning of what she was singing so superbly. During the same season she was heard as Anita in Massenet's " La Navar- raise," and as Marguerite in Boito's " Mefis- tofele," a beautiful performance. During the following season she appeared as Marguerite in " Faust," and gave a wholly original i n ter- pretation of the role, fascinating in the earlier scenes and highly dramatic in the more tragic episodes. UNLESS, however, Mine. Calve should cre- ate a great furore in some role in which she has not yet been heard here, Carmen is apt to remain more closely identified with her career than any other character, and this may he be- cause, in addition to her vocal and dramatic equipment, she seems physically perfectly fitted to it. To watch her lithe form swaying in the "Habenera," or the " Seguidilla," while her dark eyes and her gestures express every shade ol meaning in the words she sings, and her plastic voice allows no opportunity for ar- tistic musical effect to pass by, is an experience always to he remembered. PERSONALLY, she is said to he a curious combination ot the developed woman and the simple girl, and highly impulsive, but with the saving grace that her impulses usually are kind, she seems to be spiritualistically, the- phistically, and astrologically inclined — in fa< i, a thoroughly superstitious being. Noth- ing can, lor instance, induce her to appear without an amulet which she wears around her neck. Yes, Calve is theatre. \ I' EW years ago she had her tomb designed, explaining that she shuddered to think of the possibility of being buried amid inartistic surroundings, also that she did not wish to give her mother the trouble of having a headstone made rom 1 1 indostan, i thorough ( hild of the there were any, not even it a tu 11 orchestra played a Wagner overture, although it they struck up the " Habenera," I am not so sure but that I should come out and sing; it for them." THE roles I have mentioned are the ones in which this wonderful woman is best known in this country, but abroad she sings a much larger repertoire, including Masse- net's " L'Herodiade," which is one of her "Teat characters. HERE is one of Mme. Calve's characteristic remarks: "There are rive girls ot us in our fam- ily. I am the homeliest." Fascinating Calve ! for her. She had the tomb designed by Denys Puech, and its principal features are the two statues ot the prima donna herself which rlank it, one as Opbelie and the other as Car- men. The Ophelie shows the hapless heroine being drawn toward the void by phantom voices. It is intended to show the ethereal side ot Mme. Calve's art, while Carmen shows the material. " Both are tragic roles," she says in speaking oi her tomb, " but then death is not amusing — ex- cept possibly to one's heirs. I shall have it erected either in Pere la Chaise or on the ground surrounding my chateau in the south of France. Either place, I suppose, would be peaceful enough, though I take it tor granted I would not hear any noise it wiicii al EMMA KAMES BEAUTY is one of the greatest aids to stage success. But possible paeans in its praise have been sung, it remains, after all, only an aid. THEREFORE no artist, even if she be a woman, cares to have her physical attributes dwelt upon at too great length, since it makes her artistic gifts seem of secondary importance. But in the case of Mme. Karnes, her pulchritude is so obvious and adds so much to the charm of her performances that it cannot be dismissed with the mere statement that she is beautiful. When she appeared in New York tor the first time as Aida, she dressed the role in an entirely new and picturesque stvle. The soft draperies of her costume were in dull oriental tones, blending so exquisitely and so harmonizingly with her per- sonality that hail she gone through the entire opera without singing a note she still would have been an entrancing Aida. There was not a critic who did not speak of her perfect physical fulfilment oi the role, and ni her costume. In selecting this, she doubtless was somewhat guided by the taste of her artist husband, Julian Story, a son of Nathaniel Hawthorne's friend, W. W. Story, the sculptor, whom the great romancer visited in Rome, and who, it is believed, was not without in- fluence in inspiring "The Marble Faun." HORN in Shanghai, China, where her father prac- tised law in the international courts, she passed her childhood in Bath, Me., with her grandparents. Her mother, an excellent musician, and gitted with a fine voice, taught music in Portland. To her judicious in- fluence Mme. Ivames owes much. The mother was too good a musician not to realize that her daughter possessed an unusual voice, but she did not allow her to begin cultivating it until she was rirteen years old, for she knew that too early training is apt to strain the voice. Twice a week Emma went from Rath to Portland ami received instruction from her mother. Then, when the latter realized that the daughter's talent was capable of greater development, she arranged for her to stay in Boston with Miss Munger, an excellent teacher. Emma's mother did not wish to take upon herself the responsibility of cultivating her daughter's voice. She did not trust herself sufficiently, for she appreciated the difficulty of teaching in one's own family. Still she had done very well by the girl, for she hail most judiciousl) avoided the risk of ruining her voice by too early application. In Bath the\ knew, of course, thai Emma sant and tney persuadec led her to sing in church and at private musicales; but as soon as the mother heard of it she put a stop to it. < THE future prima donna studied three years with Miss Munger. After a while she began to sing professionally, making such excellent progress that she was engaged for the first soprano in Schumann's " Manfred," with the Boston Symphony orchestra, under Gericke, and also sang with George Osgood, B. J. Lang, and Professor Paine, of Harvard. The hitter gave a series of lectures in Boston on old church music. The young singer took the so- prano part in the musical illustrations to these, ^^ learning to read the old-fashioned square notes. ^^^ It was a splendid experience for her. Professor Paine is a charming man, and he encouraged her in every way, explaining the history and different forms of music to her, and giving per- sonal attention to her study of the illustrations to his lectures. To this experience she owes a foundation in the classics for which she always has been grateful. Though she now sings Italian, French and Wagner roles, she still re- mains true to her early loves, the classics, as witness her purity of style in the Mozart operas. Her Pamina in the great revival of Mozart's "Magic Flute," at the Metropolitan Opera House, then under Grau, was a perfect example of the serene and chaste style of singing de- manded by classic roles. "To this day," she once said to me, " I am deeply moved by Beet- hoven's svmphonies, and Mozart I seem to sing by intuition." BUT festina lente I At this point of my story she still is a young girl studying with Miss Munger in Boston. In addition to her concert engagements there, she secured a position in church. She became very popular, but she did not realize this until many years later, when she returned to Boston to sing an opera. She was then told by members of the congregation that whenever it was known that she was to sing there always had been several hundred people more in church than on other occasions. "I never imagined until then that that crowd was for me," she re- marked with delightful naivete, in telling me about it. During these early years of study Emma Fames had shown the same aptitude in learning which has been a characteristic of her career. " I never had to be told anything twice. When I went to Paris, which I did after my three years in Boston, I became livid with anger and felt humiliated if they tried to tell me more than once what to do and what not to do. I never have had to study the lessons of life twice." y ■%■„ , «, •i Emma Eames IN Paris she studied voice with Marchesi and stage deportment with Plugue. After two years with Mine. Marchesi, there was a va- cancy at the Opera. They wanted some one for the role or Juliette in Gounod's " Romeo et Juliette." Jean de Reszke was to make his dehut as Romeo, and altogether it was to he quite an event. Emma had studied several operas with Mme. Marchesi and had thor- oughly gone over the role of "Juliette with her. Gounod himself coached her tor six weeks. But after a trial at the Opera she was refused. The verdict was that her high notes were not easilv placed and were not agreeable. It was a terrible disappointment, both to the young singer and to Mme. Marchesi. The prima donna's opinion of this teacher, who is so famous, is interesting. Here it is in her own words as given to me: "Mme. Marchesi is a thoroughly good musician," she said. " Any one who goes to her with an established voice can learn a great deal from her in the in- terpretation of many roles. She is an admirable teacher ol expression and of the general conception of a character. As a drill master she is altogether admirable. She teaches you the value of utilizing your time, and she makes you take a serious view of your work, which is important, for hardly an American girl who goes to her has an idea of studying seriously. She also is capital at languages. But when it comes to voice development, I consider that she fails. My voice naturally was broad and heavy. After the end of the first two years' studv with her I could not sing A without difficulty. She did not seem to know how to make my voice light. It was getting heavier and les^ flexible all the time." AFTER her rejection by the Opera, the young singer went to Brussels, but through intrigue on the part of some one who constantly professed the great- est interest in her, a debut there also was refused her. Returning to Paris, she at last closed an engagement with the Comique. She was to sing "Traviata," but after she had prepared for her debut she was told that she could not be allowed to make her first appearance in such an important role. Then she studied Bizet's " Les Pecheurs Des Perles." But — " We can't trust this in the hands of a debutante." She was at sea, until she learned that a French com- poser was using his influence with the directors to prevent her debut and in favor of another singer. IN the midst of this distressing situation she received an offer from the Opera. What to do r Here was an offer that would at once start her on her career. Yet she was bound hv contract to Paravey ot the Comique. She asked him for my contract and have done what I've rench perversity — The morning next for the Opera for a release, but the singer for whom intrigue had secured a debut had utterly tailed, and the young American was told that now she was to have her chance. The opening of the Exposition was approaching and the manager thought that having the only American singer would be a feather in his cap. she insisted that she wished to he released. He was obdurate. Finally, at a meeting of the directors, she walked into the cabinet and said: " Now I want to know it' you will let me off." "We are paving you for not singing," was the reply. " I am not going to leave this room until you have sent torn it up before my eves." "This is not the time. Come hack to-morrow." " I am not coming hack, for I am not going until you asked you to do." AS a result of her firm stand — American pluck versus her contract was sent for anil torn up in the directors' meeting. Paravey read the announcement that .she was engaged He was furious. EMMA EAMES made her debut at the Opera in March, iSSg, as "Juliette, scoring a great suc- cess, although coming immediately after I'atti in the role. The day after her debut — remem- ber, the day after her very first appearance on the operatic stage — she received a cablegram from Sir Augustus Harris, practically offering her any sum within reason which she might ask. As a result, her salary at the Opera immediately was doubled. This seems to have been doing pretty well tor the second day of her career. I hiring her engagement at the Opera she created De La Nux's "/aire," ami also St. Saens's "Ascanio," the two De Reszkes and Plancon also singing in the latter. At the Opera there began a charming friendship between the young American singer and these three great artists which has continued ever since. Practically they have always been in the same companies. Whenever Plancon and Mme. Eames step out upon the stage together he always whispers to her just as they are leaving the wings: " Now they are going to see the two most beautiful noses in the company." W hat a pretty glimpse this gives ot lite behind the scenes! — this com- pliment ol tlie prince ot basses chant ants, a compliment in which naively he in< hides himselt. FROM the Opera Fames went to London. There, in April, 1891, she sang ill " Lohengrin " without an orchestral rehearsal, except for one scene with Jean and Edouard, and appeared in Gounod's " Mireille " without any rehearsal at all. Among the operas she appeared in was, of course, " Romeo et Juliette," and while " Romeo et Juliette" was going on at the Opera, it also was going on somewhere else, for it was at that time Emma Eames married Julian Story. They kept their intended marriage secret. Airs. Eames was opposed to it, as she thought it might interfere with her daughter's stage career. One of the few persons the voting people took into their Confidence was the Prince of Wales. Three days before she became Mrs. Story, Miss Eames said to the prince: "Eve a piece of news for you, but I would like you to keep it to yourself. In three days I am going to be married to Julian Story." "he first letter she ever re- made " Mrs. Julian Story " ding gift from the T H E sa m e year her operatic debut in as E/sa in " Lohen- torium, in Chicago, at the Metropolitan York. Since then, in Madrid, her ap- altogether in Eng- States. MME. E AMES'S Elizabeth in "Tann- Eva in "Die Meister- eventually to sing the Isolde. She is of the that the voice be- a certain amount of its lustre when devoted exclusively to singing Wagner. Therefore, it is her intention after every new Wagner opera to study several Italian roles. She has appeared in many operas in the course of her career, but has made a point of eliminating every role which after several trials has not completely appealed to her. There are seasons when she does not appear at all, but rests at her villa near Vallambrosa, Italy. It is high up on the mountain, and she takes long walks in the exhilarating air. Her nearest neighbor is Mr. Story's sister, who married a De Medici, and she is six miles distant. In this mountain retreat Mine. Eames gathers health and strength for further conquests. Of course she studies, but she is relieved of the strain ot' public appearances. She is one of the great favorites of the English and American operatic public. Conscientious devotion to her art, coupled with remarkable vocal gifts, and unimpeachable musical intuition united with great personal beauty, have raised her to the high rank she occupies among prima donnas. ceived addressed was with a wed- prince. Mine. Eames America, appearing grin," at the Audi- and later as "Juliette Opera House, New save for a brief season pearances have been land and the United Wagnerian roles are hauser," E/sa and singer." She expects three Brunhildes and opinion, however, comes heavy and loses \ w: MME. MELBA "HERE is Miss Nellie?" THAT was the question often asked in the Mitchell household in Melbourne, Australia. Mme. Melha's maiden name was Nellie Mitchell, and she was horn in the Australian capital in i 865. She was a vivacious, romping child, usually in some mis- chief or other, and thus the question, "Where is Miss Nellie?" was a frequent one. THE house in which she was horn is called " Doonside." It is an old rambling building with a large garden, and still is her family's town resi- dence in Melbourne. But the place around which most or her childhood memories cluster is Steel's Flat, Lilydale, one or her father's country places in Victoria, and now the property of I)a\'id Syme, a wealthy newspaper proprietor. There she was tree to roam outdoors. It was her delight to gal- 1 o p bareback across the plains and through the winding bridle tracks of the bush. NOTWITHSTANDING her active dispo- sition, she loved to be alone, and she her- self tells that she often spent hours at a time fishing on the edge of the creek and perfectly happy, even if she caught little or nothing. " The silent plains," she says, " the vast ranges of eucalyptus forest, the sunny skies, and the native wild birds were all one glorious harmony, and the time seemed all too short as I rode, or fished, singing, sing- ing all the time. I was never at the home- stead, nor indeed anywhere else, when I should have been, and the question, ' Where is Miss Nellie?' grew to be a first-class conundrum." BOTH her parents were intensely musical. Her mother, who was of Spanish descent and from whom Mme. Mclha inherits her handsome looks, was an accomplished pianist, and the child sometimes spent hours hidden under the pianoforte listening while the mother played for her own amusement, wholly unaware of the wee audience concealed under the instrument. The child was so fasci- nated hy this music that she often allowed the hour for her meal to pass hv, although she knew she was being searched for. It was a great delight for her to sit on her father's knee and pick out the treble notes on the harmonium while he sang the bass. While still a mere child she picked up violin, piano and organ playing, and to this day, as an encore in the lesson scene of " II Barbiere," or as a will sit down at the to her own accom- was six years old she pear at a charitable "Shells of the that she was obliged for which she selected Rye." She was elated the next day, when with the little girl and who had been at ed eagerly tor some curred is best told in minutes passed — — but my child chum what to me was the world. Unable to any further I at last the concert ! You concert ? ' My play- face toward mine and, a significant pitch, Mitchell, I saw your never forgotten the the criticism of my principal school-days donna were passed at dies' College, Melbourne concert encore, she piano and sing a song paniment. When she was allowed to ap- concert. She sang Ocean " so nicely to give an encore, " Comin' Thro' the with her success, and she went out to play who lived opposite the concert, she wait- comment. What oc- her own words : " The years I thought them continued to ignore chief thing in the curb my eagerness blurted out, ' Well, know I sang at the mate inclined her lowering her voice to answered, ' Nellie drawers ! ' I have spontaneous malice in little playmate." The of the future prima the Presbyterian La- She cared little for study and was accounted one of the worst pupils at the institution. During the hour and a half allowed tor luncheon, however, she devoted her time to practising on the organ in the Scots Church, but as her health was affected by going without food from breakfast until dinner, her practising was summarily stopped. She once was called home from college to an important family celebration, and was intrusted with the duty of playing several selections of sacred music appropriate to the occasion. The music was placed on the desk before her, but instead of playing it she dashed into a lively polka, to the great scandal of the solemn assemblage. Nil I II Mil l:.\ SHE was ambitious to go on the stage, hut her parents opposed her wishes, and she was unable to carry them out until her marriage to Mr. Charles Armstrong (from whom she has been divorced). When, in 1887, her father was appointed by the government of Victoria a commissioner to the Indian and Colonial Exhibition in London, she accompanied him to Lon- don This trip proved the turning-point in her career. In Freemasons Hall she sang to an audience of "actors ; and their friends Gounod's « Ave Marie" and an English ballad. She was utterly unknown to almost everyone in the audience— »an unknown Australian lady" she was called at the time- but her singing created such a furor that someone gave her a letter to Mme Marches!, and, armed with this, she went to Pans and presented herself at the Rue Jouffroy. Mme. Marches! heard her, and after she had sung her second song the famous teacher rushed excitedly out of the drawing- room and called to her husband, « SahatoreJ'ai enfin une etoile ! When the candidate for prima-donna honors had finished, Mme. Marchesi gravely asked, " Mrs. Armstrong, are you serious ? Have you patience ? « THEN if you will stay with me for one year I will make of you something ex-tra-or-din-ary." (Mme. Melba says that Mme. Marchesi divided this word in a curious staccato way.) MME MELBA always speaks oi her teacher with love and heartfelt grati- tude Their relations became almost from the start those of warm friends. Mme. Melba has a portrait of Mme. Marchesi across which the famous teacher has written : "Que Dieu protege ma chere eleve Nellie Melba et qu'en chantant et enchantant le monde, elle souvienne quelques fois de son affectionnee Mathilde Marchesi." THE Theatre de la Monnaie, Brussels, has been the scene of many brilliant debuts. It is regarded as the stepping-stone to the Grand Opera Paris on the one hand, and Covent Garden on the other. It was there that Mme. Melba who takes her stage name from her native city, Melbourne, made her debut in October, 1887, as Gilda in « Rigoletto." It was brilliantly successful and led to successive engagements at Covent Garden, Paris, St. Petersburg Nice, Milan, Stockholm and Copenhagen, and in December, 1 893, at the Metro- politan Opera House, New York. Since then, Mme. Melba has largely di- vided her time between this country and London. But she has also sung with brilliant success in the principal German cities and in \ lenna. HER voice is a high soprano of beautiful quality, and she is at her best in roles like Juliette, Lucia, Ophelie, Marguerite, and Marguerite de Valois in " Lcs Huguenots." She also has sung with much success M,m,, in Puccini s La Boheme." MME. SEMBRICH MME. SEMBRICH'S maiden name was Marcelline Cohainska. But when she went on the stage she adopted her mother's family name, Sembrich, and shortened her given name to Marcella. She was horn at Lemberg, in Austrian Poland. Her father was a self-educated musician. Without having received any instruction, there nevertheless hardly was an instrument which he could riot play, although the piano and the violin were his special instruments. There were nine sons and lour daughters in the family. The lather taught his children music, and the future prima donna hardly had begun to speak when she knew her notes. At four years old she began the study of the pianoforte and at six years old the violin, practising on an instrument which her lather made for her. HE had taught his wile to play the violin after their marriage, and Mine. Sem- brich says she remembers very well playing when she was seven years old in a string quartette composed of herself, her mother, her brother, and her father. Thus she lived in a musical atmosphere. She breathed in music, not teacher's music, hut music which was part of the family life and was second-nature. The family travelled through the provinces as wandering musicians, Marcelline playing the piano and violin at concerts, the father giving music lessons, one year in one town, the next year in another. She was not vet singing; in fact, none of the family was aware that she had a voice. AN old gentleman who heard her play in one of these wandering minstrel tours was so much interested in her performance that he placed her in the conservatory in Lemberg. There for eleven years she studied the piano with Professor Stengl, whom she subsequently married. She also stud- ied the violin. When she was about fifteen or sixteen years old she began singing for herself and in choruses. The opinion of those who heard her was that she had a pretty voice, hut rather a small one, though of considerable ranee. For this reason she continued her piano and violin lessons, hut did nothing for her voice. ABOLT this time she had made so much progress that Stengl thought he would take her to Liszt to continue her studies. In passing through Vienna they stopped to call on Julius Eppstein. The girl played the piano ami the violin for him and he was astounded at her pro- ficiency. " What else can you do?" he asked. " I think she has a voice," Stengl answered for her. "Is it possible?' said Eppstein. "Let hear it." me mo i SHE sang for him. He expressed surprise at its range and timbre, and urged her to develop it. "Stay here a year," he said. "Go on with your piano and violin lessons, but also try voice culture, and we will see what comes of it." As a result, she settled down in Vienna, studying the violin with Helmes- berger, the piano with Eppstein, and the voice with Rokitansky. In a tew nth's she didn't want to know anything more about the piano or the violin, and after a winter in Vienna Stengl took her to Lamperti in Milan, with whom she studied two years — pour poser la voix. Here she learned the method of the real old Italian school, and acquired her beautiful legato style and perfect breathing. For hours at a time she studied the proper use of the breath in singing. Lamperti used to say: "No water, no sailing; no breathing, no singing. The voice sails on the breath." In speaking o( her ex- perience with Lamperti, Mine. Sembrich said to me: "Think how many young singers atter rive years get a tremolo. They are not well taught." Her experience with Lamperti was invaluable. AFTER she had been studying with him two years, a small impresario came along looking tor young singers. He engaged her to make her debut in Athens, and there, before the date oi her debut, she married Stengl, so that, as she herself says, she " never took a step on the stage unmarried." Her debut was made in " Puritani," and she was eighteen years old. " It was a tine country for a honeymoon," she says, " but the impresario tailed and left us high and dry." However, she had made a great success, and the papers prophesied a brilliant career tor her. She returned to Vienna. Stengl wanted to work and at once secured a position at the conservatory, and the young prima donna began to study the German repertoire with Richard Levy. CONDUCTOR WULLNER, of the Dresden Opera, heard of her, and need- ing a colorature singer, engaged her for three years for Dresden. There she made what she considers her real operatic debut as Lucia, under Von Schuch's direction. After a winter's experience in Dresden she obtained a furlough and sang with great success in Milan. Stengl thought Dresden was rather a small place for a singer oi her brilliant promise. " Nicht sitzen bleiben im Klein- stadt" ("Don't stick in a little place"), he used to say. Besides this there were jealousies in the company, and obstacles were constantly being put in her way. ' So she asked to have her contract cancelled, and finally she was allowed IN the spring of 1880 Gve was giving a season at Covent Garden. Stengl concluded to take her there. She had no engagement, but when she asked, Si mbkii ii " What shall we do when we get there ? " her husband replied, " No matter about that. Come along." She was utterly unknown in London exxept to Vianesi, who was conducting at Covent Garden. He induced Gye to let her sing tor him. She reached Covent Garden just after Patti had finished re- hearsing " Dinorah," and before the orchestra had left. She sang an aria from " Lucia," and although the orchestra was tired from rehearsing, it rose in a body and applauded her. Gye at once engaged her to make her debut in " Lucia " in a company which included Patti, Albani, Gayarre and Graziani. THE following winter found her in St. Petersburg, where she made an equally great success, and in 1882 she sang in Madrid. In 1883, with only three years as an opera-singer behind her, she took part as one of the principal prima donnas in the opening season at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. She made her debut in " Lucia," singing also in " II Barbiere," " Puri- tani," "Hamlet," " Martha," " Figaro," "Traviata" and " Sonnambula." After this season she went to Paris, Lisbon, and again to St. Petersburg, and from that time until her return here to sing with the Maurice Grau Opera Com- pany, she sang chiefly in St. Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin, with a few London seasons, and always with growing success. She came back here during the season of 1898-99 and soon re-established herself in popular favor. At the spectacular revival of Mozart's " Magic Flute," she was the Queen of the Night, a most brilliant performance. MME. SEMBRICH is one of the few great exponents at the present day of the pure Italian style of singing, and of the Italian repertoire, including Mozart. In Wagner she has essayed only Elsa and Eva in " Die Meis- tersinge'r." She believes that her voice has lasted so well because she stays in her genre. While she considers Wagner marks a colossal progress in music as such, she does not con- sider that musical declamation with a heavy orchestral accompaniment is good for certain voices, hers among them, and she believes it impossible for a young singer to begin with Wagner without ruining her voice. On this point she says : " To sing ' Lucia ' one must studv for years. Yet many young singers think that it just requires voice and some knowledge ot' music to sing Wagner. Times have changed. Now life and excitement in everything is wanted. It is so even in pict- ures and books. But this is only a passing characteristic of the times, for after all it is the true and beautiful that survive. We used to sing with only twenty-four or thirty play- ers in the orchestra ; now there must he seventy-five or a hundred. For- merly a little simple tulle would do' tor a costume; now you must have real lace. But after all, ' Lucia ' sounds just as well in a tea-gown." "AN operatic career is a tine thing, hut an opera-singer really doesn't 'live,' and if it were not tor the few minutes' joy when you hear thousands applaud- ing, there would he little tempting in the career. for the minute the artist is off the stage she thinks how the next thing is going. If one only could always end a performance and never begin it. It I myself could not feel how everything was going, I could tell from Stengl. He always sits in the audi- ence and comes in to see me between the acts. He has a very long nose, and if it is longer than usual, I know that I have not done well." MLLE. TERNINA MILKA TERNINA was born in Croatia. Her given name, Milka, is Croatian for darling. Therefore the interpreter of the stately Briinnhilde, the impassioned Isolde, the tragic Tosca, is "Darling" Ternina. If it seems an absurd name for a great prima donna, it must be remembered that her parents, having no idea that a great career lay before their girl babv, did not consult the public in naming her. Moreover, there is some evidence that tbe name is not ill chosen, although its owner is a Briinnhilde, an Isolde, a Kundry ; for her aunt, who is her constant companion, endearingly calls her "little one." "I beg to introduce my aunt. — Permit me." Thus the prima donna. "Please repeat the name, little one. I failed to catch it." Thus the aunt. THIS aunt is the piima donna's second mother and has been since Milka was a child. Ternina, unlike some others in her position, does not object to telling her age. She was born in Vezisce in December, 1863. When she was six years old she was adopted by her aunt Jurkovic, who lived in Agram, and it is this aunt who still calls her' "little one." Uncle Jurkovic was a Regierungs- rath (a government counselor), which is not quite as big in Croatia as it sounds in America. Nevertheless the uncle was a man of some im- portance in Agram, and distinguished people, in passing through the place, were likely to stop at his house. Thus Milka grew up among people of good breeding. The uncle, although fond oi' music, was anything but a Wagnerite and probably little dreamed that his niece and adopted daughter was destined to become one of the greatest interpreters of Wagner roles. When she still was a young girl he went with her to see a performance of " Siegfried " in Munich. The music drama was new to him or he could not have been induced to so much as put his nose inside the opera house. The girl sat through the perform- ance toodeeplv moved for words. Uncle Jurko- vic stood it until the curtain rose on the Valkyr rock with Briinnhilde asleep under the tree. Then he rose. " Well," he said, " if you think I'm going to stay here until that woman stretches herself, yawns, and wakes up, you're mistaken!" So he departed, leaving Milka to see the per- formance out. Uncle Jurkovic may not have been a Wagnerite, but he understood how to clothe his thoughts in expressive language. lyrighl photo, by D MILKA'S voice was a chance discovery. Her aunt had another niece who was taking singing lessons, and Milka went with her when she called for the tnrl. Sometimes they arrived before the lesson was over, and when thev - reached home it was noticed that Milka had absorbed the instruction she had overheard and would 'j^o about the house singing her cousin's exercises. As a result, she herself became a pupil. The teacher under whom she took the first steps in her remarkable career ami who first awakened the slumbering ambition within her, was named Ida W'iniberger. No mention of her will be found in any musical dictionary or other book of biography, but she surely deserves this passing reference to the part she played in the life of one who was des- tined to become a sjreat artist. TERNINA — this is her real name and not a stage appellation, — was then twelve or thirteen. At fifteen she entered the Vienna conservatory, studied there for three years under Gansbacher, and left there to secure immediately a position at Leipsic. She has been called the "blue-ribbon product" of the staid Vienna conservatory. II LR debut at Leipsic was made in 1SS1, when she was eighteen years old, and as Elizabeth in "Tannhauser." Her aunt, who never had seen her on the sta, -, n i Suzanne Adams as Marguerite Suzanne ^dams E **+ t ¥ immmm ■i^msmbmbp David Bispham as Kurwenai David Bispham I'i mi \m AS W'"i ii; \m Bispham \ • 1 1 1 1 i ■ 1 1 Olive Fremstad * 9^0 ' " "m ;Mf* 1 v. 4 M £ 4 \ H 9 * m k.^ 1 A I NO A I KTE AlNIl Ac KTl' Marcella Semukicii Lilli Lekmann I. hi. i Lehmann as Isolde Lilli Lehmann as Brunnhilde I DO! VH R] /l.l AS I [ACEN Jean - de Reszke as Tristan Em M.\ I a I . i i \ KM K.N Si san Strong as Sieglinde Fri i/I Si iieff Carrie Bridewell Louise Homer Mi 1 1 ■'. Bauermi i in \l VRC MM i \l\H\n RE Sibyi. Sanderson ] li:i;k \ \.\ K \\m;i \- I Mi ri i Maurice Grau Hf.INRICH CuiNRIED OPERA-SINGERS OFF DUTY ASK a prima donna to tell you when opera-singers are off duty and have opportunity to enjoy themselves. Her answer will he, " Never." IT is a tact that opera-singers rarely find opportunity to see even each other in a social way, except when the company is on tour, making a " kangaroo jump " in a special train. During the season in New York there is hut little chance for visiting or other diversions. Even it there were, the care a singer has to take ot her voice hedges her around with restrictions which tew ordinary mortals appreciate. No memhers of the company would, tor instance, think ot calling on Mine. Eames on a day when she has to sing. They know she wants to save her voice. Probably the next day the other prima donnas are to sing at a matinee or evening performance, and Mine. Eames would not think of calling on them. BUT when the company is on tour in its own special train, or in Chicago, where they sing in the Auditorium, and most ot them reside in the Audi- torium Hotel, there is some little opportunity for social amenities. Even then, when they meet, the topic of conversation is apt to be how little enjoyment, in the ordinary sense ot the word, an opera-singer gets out of life. On days when there is no performance or rehearsal she has to brush up her roles with an accompanist at the piano. It she has an engage- ment at the photographer's to be taken in costume — that means halt a das- posing. Then there is a stack ot letters to he read and answered for thrown into the waste-basket) — most ot them from girls, would-be prima donnas, who want to come and sing for the great artist and hear her opinion ot their voices. A walk, a little drive to get a breath of air — that perhaps sums up a prima donna's modicum ot enjoyment on an off-duty day. I ONCE read an account ot the care that was taken of a certain millionaire baby, and I thought what a poor time it must have. An opera-singer i^ a good deal like that baby. A slight cold, that ordi- nary mortals would not know they hail, incapacitates her ; so it can be imagined how careful she miht be that weather conditions are just right when she ventures out. In tact, her whole mode ot lite must be regulated with regard to the preservation ol her voice. Mme. Nordica once said to me, " I am so trained to eat what I don't want, that I don't miss what I want." Calve in //;<• Great in Desert Plancon, Fritsi Schefl and I douard dc Retskt MANY prima donnas, on nights when they are not singing, retire as early as half-past seven or eight o'clock. That is hardly con- ducive to social dissipation. It accounts for the fact that opera-singers hear so few per- formances ot opera trom the front of the house. An accompanist for one ot the best- known Wagnerian prima donnas once told me that she had never heard a Wagner per- .ln Impromptu Rehearsal r r i r ,1 r . %• 1 . v ' ' tormance rrom betore the toot-hght.s. l ou rarely see any singers of the company at the Metropoli- tan in the audience. It is only when stage and hotel are so near together as at the Auditorium in Chicago that a prima donna will occasionally slip trom the hotel into a secluded nook of one ot the boxes and hear a perform- ance. As Mme. Fames expresses it, lite at the Audito- rium is a good deal like lite on board ship. You pass trom the hotel to the theatre as you would from your state-room to the salon or deck. There, too, the mem- bers ot the company have some chance to see each other and enjoy themselves. AT the little social gatherings which they arrange among themselves no members of the troupe are more welcome than the De Reszke brothers. These two great singers know how to throw aside stage heroics and unbend when it comes to an evening's amusement. BOTH have a great faculty for imitating people and animals. Jean is especially gifted in the latter line. Mme. Nordica tells a capital anecdote to illustrate the tenor's skill in "imitations" of animal voices. Some seasons ago she had a French poodle ot which she was very fond. One evening she and her husband, Mr. Doehme, went to the Opera House, leaving the poodle in charge of a maid. TO their great surprise, on entering the dressing-room at the Opera House, thev heard the poodle's quick, sharp bark. Mme. Nordica called her pet by name, but it did not respond. The barking was repeated, seeming to come trom under the piano. She looked there, and what should she discover but Jean De Reszke on all-fours! Do you wonder that she and her husband were convulsed with laughter r Imagine Tristan barking; Siegfried oi " Gotterdammerung " in the role ot a French poodle ; Lohengrin on all-fours under a piano ! Melba ot)' the Stage Walter I lamrosch as ( '1 >ndu \tard iL- Resske tnal Fritsi Schcff EDOUARD DE RESZKE, that large, dignified- looking basso, lias a special knack of imitating musical instruments and their players. Mine. Eames says it is simply marvellous to hear him imitate a 'cello. He produces with his voice the exact tone quality of the instrument throughout its entire range. But he is such a good actor that he cannot imitate the instrument unless he assumes the exact position of a 'cello-player, with the ringers of one hand on imaginary strings, while the other hand apparently guides the bow. THE devotion ot" the De Reszke brothers to each other is well known, and their intimate friends say it is charming to hear them urging each other to show oft". "Now, Jean," Edouard will say, "give us your clever imitation of a monkey; " and Jean, anxious not to dis- appoint his brother, will proceed to comply with his request in a realistic manner that convulses everyone present. Having done so, he will turn to the basse) and exclaim, " Edouard, you must show us how Pteiftenschneider plays the trombone in the death scene in the ' Gotterdammerung.' ' There is a saying in the company that Edouard is a whole orchestra in himself, and that it" he could imitate at one and the same time all the instruments which he can give separately, Mr. Grau could dispense with the band. HOWEVER, these two brothers are interesting in other ways, and artists of the company say that a most profitable evening can be spent with them, hear- ing them discuss the serious side of their art. Mrs. Story (Mine. Eames) has sung so many years in the same company with the two Polish artists that she and Mr. Story have become very intimate with them, and when on tour the four often dine and spend the evening together. In tact, the Storys regard the De Reszkes as if they were their brothers. MME. CALVE is a good deal of a mystic. On her mantel-shelf she lias a statue of Buddha as a decorative accessory. She believes in a previous state of existence. Evidence of this belief is found in a remark once made by her to a sister prima donna, who has an extraordinarily large repertoire. SAID Mme. Calve to her one day: "Think of my good hick in having made one opera so completely my own that I hardly ever have to sin»r anything else ! It is in my own language, too. There you are, obliged to sing in three languages in order to keep up your repertoire. Moil Dieu ! how you have to work! Perhaps in your former existence VOU had a ven 1 BJr, If" .,'. J ■■■■■■ sn easy time make up ot tor it, it ami or now \ mi have t> i perhaps \ ou w ere ,n .t.iii, \danu ai a i o Ami as 1/ Locomotive Engineer very wicked and are now atoning for it." This was all said in absolute seriousness ; but fortunately the other prima donna was more amused than offended at the point ot~ view. Imputations upon acts committed during one's "former existence" are not apt to cause much worry. A FAVORITE diversion of Mme. Calve is to hold spiritualistic seances in her rooms, with other members of the company as her guests. One evening in Chicago she rushed into the room of one of the other prima donnas and excitedly begged her and her husband to come to her apartments, as she was expecting a " splen- did medium." HALF-PAST eight, the hour appointed for the seance, came, but no medium; then half-past nine, halt-past ten, and still no medium. The other prima donna's husband thought it about time to question Carmen regarding the medium's identity. "What was his name?" "Moses." "Moses?" "Yes." "Nothing more?" "No, just Moses." Further inquiry, this time extended to the hotel office, elicited the fact that Mme. Calve had asked the clerk if there were any good mediums in Chicago, and had been told of one who was said to be "as good as Moses." WITH her imperfect knowledge of English she had misunderstood the remark, and had addressed a letter, making an appointment, to " Moses, Chicago." Small wonder that Moses did not materialize ! THE season in Chicago once over, the members of the company have little opportunity to see each other when off the stage, except while travelling in the special train during the rest of the tour preliminary to the long season in New York. There may be on the train an occasional exhibition of the " if Mme. So-and-so doesn't come into my state-room I sha'n't go into hers" feeling ; but, as a rule, the tour is the occasion of much pleasant intercourse. DURING one season's tour Mme. Nordica and Mr. Doehme, Mme. Sembrich and her husband (Professor Stengl), Herr and Frau Dippel, and Herr and frau Schumann-Heink were much together, and played many hands at whist and other card games. At meal hours the dining- car was, from a linguist's point of view, like the Tower of Babel. The air was filled with a polyglot of German, Polish, French, Italian, and English. Some singers like to prepare cer- tain delicacies for themselves. Mme. Nordica is especially fond of Vienna coffee. She has a machine in which she brews this delightful bev- erage tor herself and her friends. Signor Cam- Plancon, Max Hirsch and Salignac .!/;■. Grau Explains panari probably carries his liking for a special dish farther than any other artist of the company. He has with him a small machine tor the manu- facture of spaghetti, and another apparatus tor cooking it, so that he both makes and prepares this delicacy. A baritone spaghetti factory is a rare phenomenon, even for an opera company. THE company has had many amusing experiences on its tours, but none more so than in Kansas City. It was booked for three performances there — on a Monday night and the following afternoon and evening— in the huge Convention Hall, which has a seating capacity of 25,000. THE company reached Kansas City on Monday morning, but by about eleven o'clock had made its way to the hall. There a startling condition of' affairs was discovered. Up to the previous Saturday night the hall had been used tor a horse show, and, except that the horses had been removed, it was in exactly the same condition as when the show had closed. A large part of the building was divided into stalls, and the whole floor was covered with tan-bark. There was no stage, no proscenium, no suggestion of apparatus for setting and shifting scenery, and not a seat in the whole house. YET "Faust" was to be given there that night. Under even ordinary cir- cumstances it required quick work to have the scenery and baggage transferred from the station to the hall in time for the performance. But here was the hall itself, absolutely barren ot every theatrical suggestion, to be converted before evening into an opera-house. Mr. Grau had sold out the performances to the local management, and they in turn had sold tickets within the widest possible radius of Kansas City. It is said that tickets tor these three perform- ances were sold in eight States, and that people came from as far as Montana and North Dakota. Of course it would not do to disappoint such a public. It mi ■=> ■'■ atf-UBRAI ^IIBRA ■$ Hi University ot California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. QL0CT1? 1994 CAllFOff* tv avaaiH^' LIBRARY ; « ^ <- iBRARYi CALIFOJi $ ^ >— '» : =■ VTt: ,fCAllF(% „ D 000 352 051 LlbiCA *ML 400 K793o 1904 £ *-J\ 1 32); i 7 ^! I &Q T JI Jl I 5 =£ V?" ^71 * V£ sf