FIRST VISIT TO AMERICA--MAKING MONEY OUT OF
SHAKESPEARE--CHATTERTON'S SECRET AGENTS--BIDDING FOR HER MAJESTY'S
THEATRE--ILLNESS OF TITIENS--GERSTER'S SUCCESS--PRODUCTION OF
"CARMEN."
AT the close of the year 1875 I was invited to spend the evening with
some friends to see the old year out and the new year in. Amongst the
visitors at the house I met an American gentleman who had seen many of
my performances; and he assured me that if I would but go to America I
should do a very fine business, but that prior to making arrangements I
either ought to send over a trusted agent or go myself. So fully did he
impress me by his conversation, that, although I had never contemplated
such a thing, I went home late that night, or rather early the next
morning, put a lot of traps together, and started the same afternoon for
America, reaching Queenstown early on the morning of the 2nd January in
time to catch the steamer.
I shall never forget my first voyage. I knew no one on board: we were
six or seven passengers in all. Few care to leave for a long voyage on
New Year's Day. The vessel was not only small, although a Cunarder, but
very unsteady. She was known amongst nautical men as the "Jumping Java."
Our passage occupied 14 days, and we had to weather several very severe
gales. One day we only made 16 knots.
However, I arrived on the other side in due course, and was forcibly
struck with the grand country I had entered. As I could remain there
only nine or ten days I hastened to visit Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston,
Cincinnati, and other places, in addition to New York. I, however,
"prospected" by carefully noting all I saw; and afterwards returned to
England to join my touring concert party during the latter part of the
month. It was then in the provinces. I felt myself fully master of what
I intended the following year to undertake; namely, a tour of Her
Majesty's Opera Company in America, which later on in these memoirs I
shall have occasion to describe. I also organized another tour in the
English provinces, with Salvini, who appeared afterwards in all the
principal provincial towns with immense success.
In the middle of October, 1875, I had the honour of being invited by the
Duke of Edinburgh to Eastwell Park. Thinking the invitation was only for
the day, I took nothing with me but a small bag containing an evening
suit and a single shirt. When I arrived at Ashford station I was met by
two six-foot men in scarlet liveries, who had arrived with a fourgon,
drawn by two splendid horses, into which they proposed to put my
luggage. I noticed their efforts to restrain a smile when I handed to
them my little hand-bag. Another magnificent equipage had been sent for
me personally.
I was received with the greatest possible kindness; and it will interest
many of my readers to know that just before dinner the Duchess took me
to a buffet on which was laid out caviare, smoked salmon, salt herring
(cut into small pieces), dried mushrooms, pickled cucumbers, and the
various appetizing delicacies which, with spirits or liqueurs, form the
preliminary repast known to the Russians as _zakuska_.
I had the honour of taking the Duchess in to dinner, where we formed a
party of four: the Duke, the Duchess, the equerry in attendance, and
myself. After dinner we adjourned to the music-room, where I noticed
piles upon piles of music-books. I soon saw that the Duchess was an
excellent musician. The Duke, too, received evidence of this; for in
difficult passages he was pulled up and corrected again and again.
Smoking being permitted and even enjoined, I lighted a cigar and smoked
in silence on the sofa, listening with interest to the musical
performances, which were in the form of duets for violin and piano, or
violin solos with pianoforte accompaniment.
The next morning we were up early, and I was taken over the estate. The
Duchess pointed out to me her own particular fish-pond, in which she
sometimes angles with a view to the table.
Then I went out shooting with the Duke; a rather trying business, for I
had neither shooting-clothes nor, far worse, shooting-boots. Of course
it began to rain, and I was soon wet through to the skin, my ordinary
walking boots being soaked in such a manner that when I got back to the
house, by which time the leather had partially dried and contracted, I
had considerable difficulty in getting them off. The Duke was kind
enough to lend me an overcoat.
At luncheon the Duchess asked for the key of the wine cellar, at which
the Duke expressed surprise and curiosity. He was reproached for his
inquisitiveness, but was not at the time enlightened as to the object
for which the keys were wanted.
It appeared later on at dinner that the Duchess had been visiting a
curate at some eight miles distance, who was ill, and had been
recommended port wine. This, out of his meagre income, he would be
unable, she said, to afford.
"With eighty pounds a year and five children, how," she asked, "can he
drink port wine and eat new-laid eggs?"--which the doctor had also
recommended. She had herself, therefore, driven over in the afternoon
through the pouring rain to take them to him.
After lunch we had more shooting, the weather being now a trifle
better. We got home in good time for dinner, and in the evening played
at billiards. The Duke is an infinitely better player than I am; but by
a series of flukes I got ahead of him, and at last found myself within
two points of the game, and with the balls so left that it was most
difficult for me to avoid making a final cannon. I saw, however, from
the expression of the Duchess's countenance, that she had set her heart
upon her husband's defeating me; and I must now confess that if I
succeeded in not making that cannon, so difficult to miss, I did so
simply out of regard for Her Royal Highness's feelings. The Duchess
during the game acted as marker.
It was the Duchess's birthday, and in the course of the evening a
courier from Russia, who had been anxiously expected all day, arrived
with innumerable presents of jewellery. To these offerings the Duchess
paid little or no attention. All she cared for was a letter she was
awaiting from her father, and, on receiving it, she was soon absorbed in
the perusal of its contents.
A few months afterwards, when the Duchess was present at a performance
of _Fidelio_ given at Her Majesty's Opera, I had a new proof of Her
Royal Highness's musical knowledge and of her delicate ear. She arrived
before the beginning of the overture, and brought with her two huge
orchestral scores. The Duchess sat on the floor of the box reading one
of them, and turning of course very rapidly over the leaves during the
stretto of the "Leonora" overture. Suddenly she noticed an uncertain
note from the second horn, and exclaimed, as if to set the musician
right, "B flat!" After the act I asked Sir Michael Costa whether
something did not go wrong with one of the horns. "Yes," he said, "but
only a person with a very fine ear could have perceived it." I repeated
to Her Royal Highness Costa's remark precisely as he had made it.
I opened my season again at Drury Lane early in 1876; but the lessee,
Mr. Chatterton, who had been secretly treating with Salvini, did not
think it right that in the great national theatre under his control I
should be making so much money out of Shakespeare. The only contract I
could now get from him had practically the effect of excluding Salvini,
and this was really the beginning of Chatterton's ruin. Although I was
to pay him the same amount of rental he insisted on retaining the
Wednesday and Friday evenings and Saturday mornings for himself. I had
therefore to rent another theatre wherein to place Salvini. Mr.
Chatterton brought over another Italian tragedian, Signor Rossi, and put
him to perform at Drury Lane in opposition to Salvini, whom I had to
present at the Queen's Theatre in Long Acre. The consequence was that
both of us dropped money, and Mr. Chatterton's losses during that time
were, I believe, considerable.
To my Opera Company I had added M. Faure, while retaining all the
favourites of the previous year, including Titiens, Trebelli, Nilsson,
&c.; Sir Michael Costa remaining as conductor.
At the close of 1876 I again visited the provinces, beginning my usual
Italian Opera season at Dublin, with Mdlle. Titiens, who had returned
fresh from her American triumphs, supported by Marie Roze, Valleria,
Ilma de Murska, Emma Abbot, Trebelli, etc., etc. The tour was indeed a
most prosperous one, and it terminated towards the latter part of the
December of that year.
Early in 1877, when I applied for the renewal of my lease of the Theatre
Royal, Drury Lane, Mr. Chatterton showed much ill-will, which I
attributed to his jealousy at my previous success with Salvini, and to
my having declined to allow him to engage the Italian tragedian on his
own account. He insisted that I should have the theatre but three days a
week, and then only from ten in the morning till twelve at night. Not
only was I precluded from using the theatre on the other days, but I was
to finish my performance always by midnight and then hand him the key.
As my rehearsals invariably have to take place on the "off days," when
there is no opera, I should have been prevented by this arrangement from
rehearsing at all. In fact, I found nothing but impossible clauses and
conditions in the contract now offered.
At this time Mr. Chatterton was very anxious to find out whether or not
the Earl of Dudley was prepared to let me Her Majesty's Theatre; and to
ascertain this the good offices of some highly attractive young ladies
performing in the pantomime were employed. Lord Dudley gave Mr.
Chatterton to understand that though he was willing to sell the theatre,
of which he saw no probability, he would not under any circumstances let
it to Mapleson or any other man. Hence Chatterton continued to insist on
his stringent conditions, although I had been his tenant for some eight
or nine years, paying a very large amount of rent in addition to
cleaning and carpeting his theatre every year, which was very much
required after the pantomime.
On learning, in a direct manner, Lord Dudley's decision, I saw that it
was hopeless to approach him in the character of a tenant. A purchaser I
did not wish to be, as my new Opera-house, it was anticipated, would be
ready for opening the following spring. All I, for the present, desired
was a theatre where I could, unmolested, continue my season. I therefore
made offers to Lord Dudley with a view to purchase, at the same time
explaining to him my inability to pay the whole of the amount he then
demanded, namely, £30,000. All I could do was to give him a deposit of
£6,000 on account, and a further £6,000 in the following November,
leaving £18,000 still due, with a clause, in case of any default being
made in regard to the second instalment, by which the first was to be
forfeited. To this his lordship assented. I had been ready to pay him
£7,000 as rent for a single year, but this he would have refused. By
paying an instalment of £6,000 I saved £1,000, and equally obtained the
use of the theatre. In due course the matter was completed.
During the month of February I entered into possession. There was not a
single seat in the house, not a particle of paper on the walls; neither
a bit of carpet, nor a chair, nor a table anywhere. I therefore had to
go and see Blundell Maple, the well-known upholsterer, who, out of
regard for me and the advertisement I promised him, consented to give me
a few things I required for the sum of £6,000. It involved the
furnishing of the whole of the dressing-rooms, the auditorium, and
corridors.
About four miles of carpeting were required, there being so many
staircases and passages, all of which were luxuriously covered. New
amber satin curtains, the traditional colour of the house, had to be
manufactured specially. Stall chairs, appointments, fittings, and
looking-glasses were also, of course, required. A room had to be built
through solid masonry for the Prince of Wales, as a retiring-room. In
fact, it was a very heavy affair; and on my inviting a few friends and
members of the Press to a dinner I gave at my club some two days before
the opening, they confessed to having believed that the theatre could
not be opened for two months. Maple, in order to show what he could do
in a short space of time, had purposely left all to the last day, when
he sent in some 200 workmen and upholsterers, together with about 300
girls and carpet-sewers, so that the effect was really like the magic of
Aladdin's Palace. The theatre, I need scarcely say, was finished in
time, and gave great satisfaction.
The new theatre opened on 28th April, Titiens appearing as "Norma;" and
a grand performance it was. Sir Michael Costa directed the orchestra,
which went _à merveille_.
The day following it became evident that the great prima donna was
suffering from a complaint which caused her the most serious
inconvenience. The next evening Mdlle. Salla appeared with some success
in _Il Trovatore_. On the succeeding Saturday, Mdme. Christine Nilsson
made her _rentrée_ in _La Traviata_; but immediately afterwards she too
fell ill.
It seemed as if the new theatre was to bring nothing but bad luck, as it
since has done to all connected with it. Mdlle. Titiens, however, had to
make an effort, and she appeared again the next night as "Norma," and
the Saturday afterwards in the _Trovatore_. Meantime Mdme. Nilsson
recovered and reappeared on the following Thursday. Mdlle. Titiens was
sufficiently well to appear at St. James's Hall, for Mr. Austin's
benefit, at which she sang superbly, Mr. Austin, after the performance,
assuring me that he had never before heard such magnificent singing.
Mdlle. Titiens now informed me that she felt considerably better, and
would appear on the following Saturday, 19th May, as "Lucrezia Borgia,"
which she in fact did. But, as the evening progressed she felt she could
hardly get through the opera. Her voice was in its fullest perfection;
but her bodily ailments caused her acute agony, and it was not until
some time after the conclusion of the opera that she was able to leave
the theatre.
The best advice was sought for, and it was decided by the lady herself
that the operation, which ultimately caused her death, should be
performed. At the end of three weeks, having recovered from the effects
of the operation, as she thought, she expressed a wish to return to her
duties at the theatre. But, alas! that wish was never to be fulfilled,
and I had to go through the season with a loss, as it were, of my right
hand.
She lived on in hopes of being able to recover, and she was even
announced to appear at the usual period in the following September. But
as time drew on it was clear that she was not long for this world. I
last saw her on the 29th day of September. Early on the morning of the
following Wednesday, October 3rd, she passed away.
I continued the London season of 1877 as best I could without the
invaluable services of Mdlle. Titiens, although from time to time we had
formed hopes of her reappearing. I again brought Mdme. Nilsson to the
front, but found it incumbent on me to discover a new planet, as Mdme.
Nilsson, finding she was alone in the field, became somewhat exacting.
At last I found one; but, unfortunately, she was just on the point of
being married, and nothing could induce her future husband to defer the
ceremony. However, by dint of perseverance I succeeded in persuading
him, for a consideration, to postpone the honeymoon; and in addition to
this I was to pay a very large extra sum per night, while his wife's
appearances were strictly limited to two each week.
About this time a great deal of intrigue was going on in order to
prevent the success of the new star. I, however, discovered the authors
of it, and worked accordingly. Thus I induced several members of the
Press to attend after they had been positively assured that she was not
worth listening to. Mdme. Gerster's success was really instantaneous,
and before her three or four nights were over I had succeeded in again
postponing the honeymoon--still for a consideration. Her success went on
increasing until the very close of the season, by which time her
receipts fairly balanced those of Mdme. Nilsson.
The charges for postponing the honeymoon were put down under a separate
heading lest they should by any mistake be regarded as a portion of the
prima donna's salary and be used as a precedent in connection with
future engagements. At last, when several large payments had been made,
the season came to a close, and the young couple, after several months'
marriage, were at liberty to begin their honeymoon.
After a journey through Italy and Germany in search of talent I returned
to England, when I found the great prima donna's case was hopeless.
Although it had been fully anticipated that she would make her
reappearance in Dublin, she being in fact announced to sing there, it
was, unhappily, decreed otherwise; and on the third night of our opening
I had to substitute Mdlle. Salla in _Il Trovatore_, in which Titiens had
been originally announced. I received early that day (October 3, 1887) a
telegram stating that she was no more. The Irish public on hearing the
sad news at once left the theatre. It cast a gloom over the entire city,
as it did throughout the musical world generally. A grand and gifted
artist, an estimable woman, had disappeared never to be replaced.
After visiting several of the principal towns I returned to London and
reopened Her Majesty's Theatre, reviving various operas of repute, and
producing for the first time in this country _Ruy Blas_, which met with
considerable success. My season terminated on the 22nd of December.
At Christmas time I reopened the theatre with an admirable ballet,
composed expressly by Mdme. Katti Lanner, in which none but the children
of my National Training School for Dancing took part. I afterwards
performed a series of English operas, which were successful, Sir Julius
Benedict conducting. Concurrently with this I continued my regular
spring concert tour, which did not terminate until the middle of March.
The London season of 1878 opened inauspiciously, the loss of the great
prima donna causing a cloud to hang over the theatre. However, Mdme.
Nilsson duly arrived, likewise Mdme. Gerster, and each sang so as to
enhance her reputation.
Prior to the commencement of the season I had heard Bizet's _Carmen_ in
Paris, which I contemplated giving; and my decision was at once taken on
hearing from Miss Minnie Hauk of the success she was then making in that
opera at Brussels.
I therefore resolved upon engaging her to appear as "Carmen." In
distributing the parts I well recollect the difficulties I had to
encounter. On sending Campanini the _rôle_ of "Don José" (in which he
afterwards became so celebrated), he returned it to me stating he would
do anything to oblige, but could not think of undertaking a part in an
opera of that description where he had no romance and no love duet
except with the _seconda donna_. Shortly afterwards Del Puente, the
baritone, entered, informing me that the part of "Escamillo," which I
had sent him, must have been intended for one of the chorus, and that he
begged to decline it.
In vain did Sir Michael Costa order the rehearsals. There was always
some trouble with the singers on account of the small parts I had given
them. Mdlle. Valleria suggested that I should entrust the part of
"Michaela" either to Bauermeister or to one of the chorus; as on no
account would she undertake it.
This went on for some time, and I saw but little prospect of launching
my projected opera. At length, by force of persuasion, coupled with
threats, I induced the various singers, whether they accepted their
parts or not, to attend a general rehearsal, when they all began to take
a great fancy to the _rôles_ I had given them; and in due course the
opera was announced for the first representation, which took place on
the 22nd June.
The receipts for the first two or three performances were most
miserable. It was, in fact, a repetition of what I had experienced on
the production of _Faust_ in 1863, and I frankly confess that I was
forced to resort to the same sort of expedients for securing an
enthusiastic reception and thus getting the music into the heads of the
British public, knowing that after a few nights the opera would be sure
to please. In this I was not mistaken, and I closed my season with
flying colours.