When Gabrielli left Vienna for Sicily in 1765, she was laden with
riches, for her manifold extravagances were generally incurred at
the expense of somebody else; and she continued at Palermo the same
eccentric, capricious, and flighty conduct which had made her name
synonymous with everything reckless and daring in contravening
propriety. She treated the highest dignitaries with the same insolence
which she displayed toward operatic managers. Even the Viceroy of
Sicily, standing in the very place of royalty, was made the victim of
wanton impertinence. The Viceroy gave a dinner in honor of La Gabrielli,
to which were invited the proudest nobles of the court; and, as she did
not appear at the appointed hour, a servant was sent to her apartments.
She was found _en déshabillé_ dawdling over a book, and affected to
have forgotten the viceregal invitation--a studied insult, hardly to be
endured. This insolence, however, was overlooked by the representative
of royal authority, and it was not till the proud beauty's caprices
caused her to seriously neglect her artistic duties that she felt the
weight of his displeasure. When he sent a remonstrance against her
singing _sotto voce_ on the stage, she said she might be forced to
_cry_, but not to _sing_. The exasperated ruler ordered her to prison
for twelve days. Her caprice was here shown by giving the costliest
entertainments to her fellow prisoners, who were of all classes from
debtors to bandits, paying their debts, distributing great sums among
the indigent, and singing her most beautiful songs in an enchanting
manner. When she was released she was followed by the grateful tears
and blessings of those she had so lavishly benefited in jail. This
fascinating creature seems all through life to have been good on impulse
and bad on principle. Three years after this Gabrielli was singing in
Parma, where she made a speedy conquest of the Infante, Don Ferdinand.
His boundless wealth condoned the ugliness of his person in the eyes of
the singer, and the lavish income he placed at her disposal gratified
her boundless extravagances, while it did not prevent her from being
gracious to the Infante's many rivals and would-be successors.
Bitter quarrels and recriminations ensued, and the jealous ravings
of Catarina's princely admirer were more than matched by the fierce
sarcasms and shrill clamor of the beautiful virago. One day Don
Ferdinand, justly suspecting her of gross unfaithfulness, assailed
her with unusual fury, to which she replied by terming him a _gobbo
maladetto_ (accursed hunchback). On this the Prince, carried beyond
all control, had her imprisoned on some legal pretext, though Gabrielli
found proofs of love struggling with his anger in the magnificence of
the apartment and luxuriance of the service bestowed on her. But he
strove in vain to make his peace. The offended coquette was implacable,
and disdained alike his excuses and protestations of devotion. One night
she escaped from her prison, scaled the garden-wall, and fled, leaving
her weak and disconsolate lover to cool his sighs in tears of unavailing
regret.
The court of the Semiramis of the North, Catharine II. of Russia, who
strove to expunge the contempt felt for her as a woman by Europe through
the imperial munificence with which she played at patronizing art and
literature, was the next scene of the fair Italian's triumph. Gabrielli
was received with lavish favor, but the Empress frowned when she heard
the pecuniary demands of the singer. "Five thousand ducats!" she
said, in amazement. "Why, I don't give more than that to one of my
field-marshals." "Very well," replied the audacious Gabrielli; "your
Majesty may get your field-marshals to sing for you, then." Catharine,
who, however cruel and unscrupulous when need be, was in the main
good-natured, laughed at the impertinence, and instead of sending
Gabrielli to Siberia consented to her demands, adding special gratuities
to the nominal salary. Two countrymen of the beautiful cantatrice,
Pai-siello and Cimarosa, were afterward treated with equal honor and
consideration by the imperial _dilettante_. Catharine's favor lasted
unimpaired for several years, and it only abated when Gabrielli's lust
for conquest and the honor of rivalry with a sovereign tempted her to
coquet with Prince Po-temkin. An intimation from the court chamberlain
that St. Petersburg was too hot for one of her warm southern blood,
and that Siberia or some other place at her will would better suit
her temperament, sufficed when backed by an imperial endorsement. La
Gabrielli returned from Russia, loaded with, diamonds and wealth,
for Catharine did not dismiss her without substantial proofs of her
magnificence and generosity.
At this period Gabrielli was invited to England; and after considerable
haggling with the London manager, and compelling him to employ her
favorite of the hour, Signor Manzoletto, as principal tenor, the
negotiation was consummated. Gabrielli still preserved all her
excellence of voice and charm of execution; but her rare beauty, which
had been as great a factor in her success as artistic skill, was on the
wane. The English engagement had been made with some reluctance; for
the stern and uncompromising temper of the island nation had been widely
recognized with exaggerations in Continental Europe. "I should not be
mistress of my own will," she said, "and whenever I might have a fancy
not to sing, the people would insult, perhaps misuse me. It is better
to remain unmolested, were it even in prison." She, however, changed her
mind, and her experiences in London were such as to make her regret that
she had not stood firm to her first resolution.