PATTI AND SCALCHI--NEVADA'S DEBUT--A CHINESE SWING--A VISIT FROM
ABOVE--RESCUED TREASURE--GREAT CHICAGO FESTIVAL--AMERICAN HOSPITALITY.
For our opening night at San Francisco, as already explained, the opera
substituted at Mdme. Patti's request for _Semiramide_ was _Linda di
Chamouni_. Of course the house was crowded, and the brilliancy of the
occupants of the auditorium baffled all description. An assembly was
there of which the city might well feel proud. The costumes worn by the
ladies were mostly white. The leaders of fashion were, of course, all
present; Mrs. Mark Hopkins, of Nobs' Hill, conspicuously so, as she was
attired in a costume of black velvet, with diamond ornaments, the value
of which was estimated at 200,000 dollars. The best order prevailed. The
majority entering the theatre on the opening of the doors were
accommodated in their various seats without any crushing. Patti was
greeted with even more demonstrativeness than she had hitherto
received. Mdme. Scalchi on entering must have felt proud that she was
none the less welcome for appearing as "Pierotto" in lieu of "Arsace."
Notwithstanding all this there was a coolness about the house in
consequence of Mdme. Patti's having insisted upon this change in the
opera. Consequently numbers of tickets for the first night instead of
being at a premium were sold at a discount. Mdme. Nevada was announced
for the second evening, but, unfortunately, she had not yet recovered
from her Cheyenne cold, which developed gradually almost to pneumonia.
She kept her bed in San Francisco for over three weeks, causing me the
greatest annoyance as well as loss, since I was obliged to engage Mdme.
Patti to sing a great many extra nights beyond her contract, all of
which, of course, I had to pay for. _Il Trovatore_ was consequently
performed the second evening in lieu of _La Sonnambula_. The following
night I brought out _La Favorita_ with Scalchi, De Anna, Giannini, and
Cherubini, which was a great success; followed by _Lucrezia Borgia_, in
which Fursch-Madi pleased the audience.
These changes and disappointments tended to mar the whole engagement.
The following night, however, the opera boom really commenced, the work
being _Semiramide_, which fully justified the anticipations that had
been formed of it. The largest and most brilliant audience ever gathered
in a theatre were there to hear Patti and Scalchi sing in two of the
most difficult _roles_ in the whole range of opera.
Scalchi fairly divided the honours of the evening with Mdme. Patti; and
in the duets they electrified the audience, who, not content with
encoring each, insisted upon some half-dozen recalls. The stage was
literally strewn with flowers; and the ladies of the audience vied with
one another in the elegance of their toilettes. Not only were all the
seats occupied, but even all the standing room, and the Press
unanimously accorded me the next morning the credit of having presented
the best operatic entertainment in that distant city the world of art
could afford.
A similar audience greeted Patti and Scalchi at the performance of
_Faust_ the following week, whilst on the next Saturday Mdme. Patti
appeared as "Annetta" in _Crispino e la Comare_, which is, without
doubt, her best part.
About this time the auction took place for the second season of two
weeks, which I determined to commence the following Monday. The
particulars of this I have already given.
The proceeds were very handsome, but nothing like those of the previous
sale. I decided, therefore, that all unsold tickets should be disposed
of at the box-office of the theatre in order that the general public
might have an opportunity of attending the opera prior to our departure.
During the following week, being the first of this extra season, Mdme.
Patti appeared in _Semiramide_, _La Traviata_, and _Martha_. At each
performance there were nearly 3,000 persons assembled in the theatre. On
the following Monday, it being our last week, I induced Mdlle. Nevada to
make her first appearance, on which occasion the receipts reached the
same amount as Mdme. Patti's. Mdlle. Nevada, perhaps because she is a
Californian, drew probably the largest audience we had had.
On her entering the stage some 3,000 or 4,000 persons shouted and
applauded a welcome as if they were all going mad. She was hardly
prepared for her reception. She had looked forward for many years to
appearing in her native city and singing a great _role_ before the
people amongst whom she had spent her early life; and this was a
momentous occasion for her. The enthusiasm of any other public would
have spurred her on. But she was here so much affected that, although
she sustained herself splendidly, yet after the curtain fell she was
unable to speak.
At the conclusion of the opera she was recalled several times, and large
set pieces of flowers, some six feet in height, were handed up, numbers
of the leading florists having been busy putting them in shape all the
fore part of the day. New dresses were ordered for that occasion, and an
invitation to get a seat in a box was looked upon as a prize.
Long before half-past seven the vestibule of the theatre held a mass of
fashionably-dressed ladies and gentlemen, all waiting to be shown to
their places in order to be present on the rising of the curtain.
During all the first act the singer was critically and attentively
listened to, scarcely with any interruptions; but when the curtain fell
after the duet with "Elvino" the pent-up enthusiasm of the audience
broke loose. Nevada was called out, and with shouts, cries, and every
manner of wild demonstration. Flowers were carried down the aisles,
thrown from the boxes and dress-circle, until the stage looked like the
much-quoted Vallambrosa. Again and again the prima donna was called out,
until she was fairly exhausted. Amongst the set pieces handed up to the
stage was a large floral chair built of roses, violets, and carnations
on a wicker frame, and Nevada, as the most natural thing to do, sat
plumply down in it, whereat the house fairly howled with delight. On the
back of the chair were the words, "Welcome home!"
The following night _Aida_ was performed with the great cast of Patti,
Scalchi, De Anna, and Nicolini, when the largest receipt during the
whole engagement was taken. To describe that evening would be
impossible; it would exhaust all the vocabulary. The gratings along the
alley-way were wrenched off by the crowd, who slid down on their
stomachs into the cellars of the theatre to get a hearing of Patti and
Scalchi.
On this day we discovered the "Chinese swing," of which so much was said
in the papers, and which had, doubtless, been in operation throughout
the season. In the alley-way leading to the theatre is a lodging-house
facing a sort of opening into the building used for ventilation. An
ingenious fellow had rigged up a swing, and so adjusted it that he could
toss people from his house on to the roof of the theatre to the
ventilation hole. Once there, the intruder passed downstairs through the
building, got a pass-out check on leaving it, which he immediately sold
for two dollars, and then repeated the swing act again. We arrested one
man who had performed the trick four times. The police had to cut the
ropes and take the swing away.
So many devices were resorted to for entering the theatre without
payment that I had to put it during this performance in a state of
siege, as it were, and to close the iron shutters, as people came in
from ladders through the windows of the dress-circle unobserved in many
instances.
The following evening Mdlle. Nevada made her second appearance,
performing the character of "Lucia" in Donizetti's opera, when the
receipts were almost equal to those of the first night. Mdme. Patti
performed the next night _Il Trovatore_ to similar receipts. The next
day I produced Gounod's _Mirella_, when the Grand Opera-house was again
crowded brimful, people considering themselves lucky when they could get
standing room without a view of the stage or a glimpse of the singers.
The following morning was devoted to a performance of _Faust_, in which
Patti took her farewell as "Margherita."
Just at this time a strange complaint was made against me by a body of
"scalpers," who accused me of having put forward Adelina Patti to sing
on a night for which Nevada had been originally announced. This I had,
of course, done simply from a feeling of liberality towards my
supporters. No one could reasonably accuse me of paying L1,000 a night
to Mdme. Patti with the view of injuring the scalpers. They had,
however, got more tickets into their hands than they were able to
dispose of at the increased rates demanded by them. They, therefore,
banded together, employed a lawyer to proceed against me for damages,
and as a preliminary procured an order laying an embargo on my receipts.
The Sheriff's officers dropped into the gallery pay-box through a
skylight on to the very head of the money-taker, who was naturally much
surprised by this visitation from above; and they at once seized two
thousand dollars.
It was very important for me not to let this money be taken, as it would
have been impounded; and being on the point of taking my departure for
Europe I should have been obliged to go away without it.
The only thing to do was to find securities--"bondsmen," as the
Americans say. It was already nearly four o'clock (I was giving a
so-called _matinee_ that afternoon), and at four the Sheriff's office
closed. I insisted on the money being counted, and one of the Sheriff's
officers who was employed in counting it proposed in the most obliging
manner to do the work very slowly if I would give him 50 dollars. This
generous offer I declined, though it would have had the effect of giving
me more time to find bondsmen. I soon, however, discovered seated in the
theatre two friends who I knew would stand security for me. But it was
necessary to find a Judge who would in a formal manner accept the
signatures.
The performance was at an end, and fortunately there was at this moment
a Judge on the stage in the act of making a presentation to Mdme. Patti,
doing so, of course, in a set speech.
I did not interrupt the oration; but as soon as it was over, and whilst
Mdme. Patti was weeping out "Home, Sweet Home" as if her heart would
break, I presented to the Judge my two bondsmen. I at the same time took
from my waistcoat pocket and handed to him my ink pencil, and he at once
signed a paper accepting the bondsmen, together with another ordering
the release of the sequestrated funds.
Armed with these documents, I drove post haste to the Sheriff's office,
and got there at two minutes to four, just as the last bag of silver was
going in. All the bags were now got out and heaped together in my
carriage. The story was already known all over San Francisco. An
immense crowd had assembled in front of the Sheriff's office, and as I
drove off bearing away my rescued treasure I was saluted with
enthusiastic cheers.
When a year later I returned to San Francisco I thought the case would
possibly be brought to trial; but the lawyer representing the "scalpers"
told me that he had been unable to get any money out of them, and that
if I would give him a season ticket he would let the thing drop. The
thing accordingly dropped.
On reaching Burlington on the Thursday morning following I was desirous
of having a general rehearsal of _L'Africaine_, which was to be
performed on the second night of the Chicago Opera Festival, and which
had not been given by my Company during the previous twelve months. I
could not rehearse it at Chicago, lest the public should think the work
was not ready for representation. I resolved, therefore, to stop the
train at Burlington in order to rehearse it at a big hall which I knew
was there available. But lest news should get to the Chicago papers that
the Company had stayed at Burlington merely for the purpose of
rehearsing _L'Africaine_, I determined, if possible, to give a public
performance, and on seeing the manager of the theatre, arranged with him
for one performance of _Faust_. For five hours I rehearsed _L'Africaine_
in the hall, and in the evening we had a most successful representation
of _Faust_ at the theatre. Dotti was the "Margherita," Scalchi
"Siebel," Lablache "Martha," Del Puente "Valentine," Cherubini
"Mefistopheles," and Giannini "Faust." There was no time for putting
forward announcements by means of bills, and the fact that a performance
of _Faust_ was to be given that evening was made known by chalk
inscriptions on the walls. The receipts amounted to L600. Patti honoured
the performance with her presence in a private box, and a somewhat
indiscreet gentleman, Dr. Nassau, paid her a visit to remind her that it
was over twenty-nine years since she had sung under his direction at the
old Mozart Hall, "Coming through the Rye," "The Last Rose of Summer,"
Eckert's "Echo Song," and "Home, Sweet Home." He substantiated his
statements by one of the original programmes which he had brought
purposely to show her. She received him coldly.
We left Burlington immediately after the night's performance, reaching
Chicago the following Sunday morning, when I immediately paid a visit to
the large Opera-house that had been constructed, and was astonished at
its surpassing grandeur.
A vast deal had, indeed, been done, and still had to be done in the few
remaining hours to complete it for the reception of the public, the
building being one of the most stupendous, and the event one of the most
brilliant Chicago had ever known. It was impossible to realize the
magnitude of the task which had been undertaken, or the splendid manner
in which it had been performed, the auditorium being probably one of the
finest ever constructed for such a purpose. An increased chorus had been
organized of 500 voices, whilst the orchestra had been augmented by a
hundred extra musicians. A new drop curtain had been painted. The
scaffolding was being removed from the ceiling, revealing decorations
both brilliant and tasteful. The opening of the proscenium measured no
less than 70 feet, with an elevation of 65 feet at the highest point of
the arch, and a projection of 20 feet in front of the curtain. There
were two tiers of proscenium boxes, and between the main balconies,
which rose to a height of 30 feet, extending over and above the dress
circle, there was a further space of 50 feet for standing accommodation
in case of overcrowding. To ensure proper warmth the great auditorium
was closed in, and all parts of the building supplied with steam pipes
for heating, upwards of four miles in length. Amongst the features of
the hall were two beautifully-arranged promenades or grand saloons, one
decorated in the Japanese and the other in the Chinese style.
Dressing-rooms for ladies and gentlemen had been constructed all over
the building. The acoustic properties were simply perfect;
sounding-boards, stage drop deflectors, and other scientific inventions
being brought to bear.
The advance sale of seats on the first day of the opening reached over
$50,000. In consequence of the vast size of the building new scenery
had to be painted, which I entrusted to Mr. Charles Fox, with a numerous
staff of assistants; this alone costing L6,000. Each scene was nearly
100 feet wide.
The house after the opening of the doors presented a surprisingly
brilliant and attractive appearance, looking, in fact, like a permanent
Opera-house. The orchestra was in excellent form, and numbered 155
musicians, under the direction of Arditi. The opera performed was
_Semiramide_. The stage band and chorus numbered some 450, and there
were 300 supernumeraries; so that when the curtain rose the effect was
most magnificent. The audience was worthy of the occasion. There must
have been over 5,000 people seated and some 4,000 or 5,000 standing.
There were 80 ushers to attend to the occupants of the stalls; and at
the commencement of the overture there was not one vacant seat. At the
close of each act many of the vast audience repaired to the promenade
and refreshment-rooms, to be recalled to their places by six cavalry
trumpeters who came on the stage to sound a fanfare prior to the
commencement of each act.
A leading daily paper wrote, the following morning:--
"The promises made by the Festival Association have been fulfilled to
the letter, and the great temple of Art stood ready for the thousands
for whom it was built. Not a single pledge made in reference to this
building but what has been discharged, and the Manager is entitled to
the thanks, and, indeed, the gratitude of the refined and music-loving
classes of this community for the very thorough and self-sacrificing way
in which all essentials and minor details of comfort and convenience
have been achieved."
On the second night _L'Africaine_ was performed, when a similar
gathering attended. The audience was just as brilliant as on the
previous evening, everyone being in full evening dress. Mdme.
Fursch-Madi gave an effective interpretation of the title _role_, De
Anna as "Nelusko" created quite a sensation, and Cardinali was an
admirable Vasco di Gama.
On the third evening Gounod's _Mirella_, an opera never before heard in
Chicago, was chosen for the first appearance of Mdlle. Nevada, and given
with immense success, the part of the gipsy being taken by Mdme.
Scalchi. This was followed on Thursday night by _Linda di Chamouni_, in
which Mdme. Patti and Mdme. Scalchi appeared together. The _Semiramide_
night had been thought a great one, but the audience on this occasion
consisted of probably 2,000 more. Where they went to or where they stood
it was impossible to say. Certain it is that 9,000 people paid for
seats, irrespective of those who remained standing.
On the following evening Mdlle. Nevada appeared as "Lucia," and scored
another triumph; whilst Patti and Scalchi drew 11,000 persons more for
the morning performance. This was really a day for memory. The
attendance consisted mostly of ladies, all tastefully, and often
elaborately, dressed in the very latest fashion. Weber's _Der
Freischuetz_ was performed in the evening, which terminated the first
week of the Festival.
The second week we opened with _La Sonnambula_ to an audience of some
8,000 persons, the next night being devoted to the presentation of
Verdi's _Aida_, with the following great cast:--
"Aida" ... ... ... Patti.
"Amneris" ... ... ... Scalchi.
"Amonasro" ... ... ... De Anna.
"Rhadames" ... ... Nicolini.
Some 12,000 people attended this performance. The disagreeable weather
did not seem to keep anyone away, and the streets were blocked with
carriages for many squares, as far as the eye could reach. I was assured
afterwards by an inspector that but for the aid of the rain, which came
down in sheets, it would have been impossible to cope with the vast
crowds who still poured in, attempting to enter the building.
About this time a complaint came to me from behind the scenes that Mdme.
Patti and Mdme. Scalchi were unable to force their way from their
dressing-rooms on to the stage, the wings and flies being crowded with
some 2,000 persons, who during the first act had been joining in the
applause of the singers with the audience in front. Together with these
were some 500 supernumeraries with blackened faces, in oriental garb,
chasing round to try to find their places, others with banners arranging
their dresses. At length, with the aid of the police, Mdme. Patti was
enabled to leave her dressing-room, but was surrounded immediately by
crowds of ladies with pens and ink and paper, requesting autographs just
as she was going on to sing her _scena_.
The boxes of the house were filled to overflowing, some containing as
many as twelve persons. The flowers on the arm-rests in front were of
the most expensive kind.
The march in the third act was really most impressive. There were 600
State Militia on the stage, each Company marching past in twelves, the
rear rank beautifully dressed, the wheels perfect. The _finale_ of the
act, with the military band and the 350 extra chorus, together with the
gorgeous scenery and dresses, was something long to be remembered. Well
might the audience cheer as it did on the fall of the curtain.
The following night _Rigoletto_ was given, then _Il Trovatore_, and the
night after that _Lohengrin_.
At the close of the second act of _Lohengrin_ there came a call from all
sides of the house, and I was compelled to appear before the curtain,
when I addressed the audience in the following words:--
"Ladies and gentlemen,--I am rather unprepared for the flattering
compliment which you pay me in thus calling for me. I assure you that I
join with you in my appreciation of the successful termination of this
opera season, and I can bestow nothing but the most cordial thanks for
the liberal support which the people of Chicago have given their Opera
Festival. It is an evidence of their taste, and I hope will prove the
forerunner of many more similar meetings. (Applause.) There are several
persons who deserve special mention and thanks, but I shall have to be
content simply with testifying to the earnestness of purpose with which
all have laboured who were in any wise connected with the Festival. I
therefore thank them all. It is no small thing to present thirteen
different operas in two weeks' time, yet the attendance and
manifestations of appreciation on the part of the audience will justify
me in claiming that success has crowned my efforts; and the knowledge
that we have given you all we promised and have satisfied you repays us
for all our work."
President Peck likewise came forward and thanked the people of the city
for their generous attendance at the first Opera Festival. It had been a
success in every respect, and the management had done its best to
accommodate and please the public.
A leading journal, in giving a review of the Opera Festival, said:--
"The Great Operatic Festival is now over, and only the memories of its
magnificence and importance are left. The last note has been sung at the
Chicago Operatic Festival, without doubt the greatest musical
undertaking that has ever been accomplished anywhere. In no great city
of Europe or America could 190,000 people have been able to attend the
opera in two weeks. In the first place, the accommodations of even the
largest Opera-houses are not such that 10,000 people could be present at
any one performance. The Operatic Festival Association have been
untiring in their earnest endeavours to present all the operas in the
best possible manner. Each performance has been given as announced, and
the casts have been uniformly good. Thirteen operas have been produced,
all of which were mounted in a manner never before equalled. Many of the
stage pictures, as in _Semiramide_, _Mirella_, _L'Africaine_, _Aida_,
and _Faust_, have been simply superb, and will be long remembered for
their beauty. The pictorial charm of the scene on the banks of the Nile
in _Aida_ was also most poetic. The processions, and the way in which
they were controlled, indicated that the stage manager was a man of
taste and ability."
Prior to my departure, 18th April, 1885, my attendance was requested by
the Mayor, Mr. Carter H. Harrison, at the City Hall, when I was amply
repaid for all the labour I had bestowed upon the Festival by the
magnificent presentation which was then made me, and which I value more
than anything of the kind I have ever received. It was nothing less
than the freedom of the City of Chicago--a compliment I can say with
safety that has never been paid to any other Englishman, and what is
more, is never likely to be. Chicago, as everyone at all connected with
America must know, will within a very few years be the first city in the
United States, and probably in the world.
The success of the Chicago Festival was due in a great measure to the
personal efforts of Ferdinand W. Peck, the President, from whom I
immediately afterwards received a notification to attend the final
committee meeting, when the following testimonial was presented to me,
magnificently engrossed on parchment:--
At a Meeting of the
CHICAGO OPERA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION
held April 18th, 1885,
The following Resolution was unanimously adopted:
Resolved
That the Chicago Opera Festival Association
Recognizes the satisfactory manner in which
COLONEL JAMES HENRY MAPLESON
has fulfilled his obligations under his contract with
this Association,
And they desire to express their high appreciation
of his liberality in the presentation of all the operas
produced, without which the grand success of the
FESTIVAL
could not have been achieved. In attestation of
the above the Officers and Board of Directors have
hereunto subscribed their names:
FERD. W. PECK, _President_,
WILLIAM PENN NIXON, _Vice-President_,
LOUIS WAHL, _Second Vice-President_,
A. A. SPRAGUE, }
GEORGE M. BOGUE, }
EUGENE CAREY, }
HENRY FIELD, } _directors_.
R. T. CRANE, }
JOHN R. WALSH, }
GEORGE F. HARDING, }
GEORGE G. SCHNEIDER, _Treasurer_.
S. G. PRATT, _Secretary_.
"ADDRESS
"_Tendered to Col. J. H. Mapleson by the Musicians
and Citizens of the City of Chicago._
"SIR,--Now since the last note has died away, and lingers only in the
ear of memory to warm and cheer the heart, and the great musical triumph
of our city, the Chicago Opera Festival, is over, we extend to you in
these words what we had expected to say to you amid music and song, had
not the manifold duties that engrossed your time rendered us unable to
do so.
"It is, indeed, as musicians, lovers of music, and citizens that we can
cordially thank you in the name of the mighty people of that great and
haughty city, the Queen of the North and the West. For this city, whose
history has been the wonder of the world, whose greatness and energy in
all things in which it engages are acknowledged by all, now yields this
tribute to you, sir, as the one by whose direction, management,
enterprise, and energy the greatest musical success ever given within
its walls was accomplished.
"We might say more, but in our city's characteristic mode we express by
deeds far better than by words. For two weeks our citizens night after
night were turned away from the vast temple of music under your control,
for the halls were crowded by others. They brought with them a hope that
blossomed into unexpected realization, and the keen business men and
tired toilers of the city lived a new life and shook the very ground
with their applause.
"Never had music received such homage here. Again, we thank you for what
you have done, and while we say farewell we also bid you welcome, for we
hope to see you year after year in some vast Opera-hall in which ten
thousand people can be seated, as proposed to be erected by some of our
citizens, where you may win new laurels to your fame in your
heaven-inspired mission of procuring and giving music for the people.
"With congratulations we remain--
FREDK. AUSTIN, 1st Regt. |
Military Band Leader, |
|
A. ROSENBECKER, Drct. |
1st Regt. Grand Orchestra,|
|
ALBERT KLEIST, Pres. of | Committee on
C. Musical Sy., |=> Address and
| Resolutions.
E. B. KNOX, Col. 1st Rgt. |
Inf. I.R.G., |
|
GEO. W. LYON, P., |
|
CHAS. N. POST, |
Done at Chicago, April 21st, 1885."
This may be the place to mention, what I am reminded of whenever I have
to speak of America, the cordial, lavish hospitality with which English
visitors are received in that country. Apart from the favour shown to me
by railway and steamboat companies, who, so far as I was personally
concerned, carried me everywhere free, the committees of the leading
clubs offered me in all the principal cities the honours and advantages
of membership. Not only was I a member of all the best clubs, but I was,
moreover, treated in every club-house as a guest. This sometimes placed
me in an awkward position. More than once I have felt tempted, at some
magnificent club-house, to order such expensive luxuries as terrapin and
canvas-back duck; but unwilling to abuse the privileges conferred upon
me, I condemned myself to a much simpler fare. It seemed more becoming
to reserve the ordering of such costly dishes for some future occasion,
when I might happen to be dining at a restaurant.
It must be admitted that in many of the conveniences of life the
Americans are far ahead of us, and ahead are likely to remain; so averse
are we in England to all departures from settled habits, inconvenient,
and even injurious as these may be. Every opera-goer knows the delay,
the trouble, the irritation caused by the difficulty, when the
performance is at an end, of getting up carriages or cabs. This
difficulty has, in the United States, no existence.
When the opera-goer reaches the theatre an official, known as the
"carriage superintendent," presents a large ticket in two divisions,
bearing duplicate numbers. One numbered half is handed by the "carriage
superintendent" to the driver. The other is retained by the opera-goer,
who on coming out at the end of the representation exhibits his number,
which is thereupon signalled or telegraphed to a man on the top of the
house, who at once displays it in a transparency lighted by electricity
or otherwise. The carriages are all drawn up with their hind wheels to
the kerbstone, so that the approach to the theatre is quite clear. The
illuminated number is at once seen, and the carriage indicated by it is
at the door by the time the intending occupant is downstairs in the
vestibule.
It is astonishing how easily this system works.