GALASSI DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF--POLITENESS OF PRIME DONNE--ENGLISH
WELCOME IN CANADA--CONCERT AT THE WHITE HOUSE--VALUE OF PATTI'S
NOTES--PHANTOM SHIP WRECKED--NILSSON'S CONTRACT--PATTI'S
CONTRACT--RETURN TO ENGLAND.
THE Company now left for Detroit. Our season opened with Albani as
"Lucia;" and for the following night _Semiramide_ was announced, with
Adelina Patti and Scalchi. Unfortunately Mdme. Patti had taken cold, and
was unable to sing. It appeared that on arriving at the station she had
had to walk through piles of snow for some distance in order to reach
her carriage.
At one time the public threatened to demolish the building, so
disappointed were they; especially as Mdme. Patti had also failed to
appear in that same city the previous year.
It was at once put down (as these things generally are) to caprice on
the part of the prima donna, or a trick on that of the operatic manager.
I, therefore, at once sought Dr. Brodie, an eminent physician of
Detroit, and he furnished a certificate as to the _Diva'_ illness.
Despite the change of the bill, a good-sized audience remained for
Verdi's tragic opera of _Il Trovatore_.
On the closing night we performed _Guillaume Tell_, in which Signor
Galassi particularly distinguished himself. According to one of the
journals, which appeared the following morning, so dexterously did he
shoot the apple off his son's head that he might always be sure of a
warm welcome whenever he returned to that city.
Rival prime donne--those, at least, who have the habits of polite
society--are very particular in calling on one another, though these
visits are sometimes of a highly formal kind. During my American season
of 1883 I was associated with Mr. Gye; and it so happened that Nicolini
and Patti, Ernest Gye and Albani (Mrs. Ernest Gye) were staying at
Detroit in the same hotel where I also had put up. Patti and Nicolini
having just gone for a drive, Madame Albani, seeing them pass beneath
her window, called out to her husband--
"Ernest, they have gone out. We had better leave cards on them at once."
On returning home Madame Patti duly received the cards; and an hour or
two afterwards, when Albani and Mr. Gye had just gone to the theatre,
where there was to be a rehearsal, said to Nicolini--
"Ernest" (his name, also, was Ernest), "they have gone to the theatre.
Now is the time for returning their visit."
As Madame Patti was still suffering from a very severe cold, I thought
it prudent to leave her behind at Detroit, for the purpose not only of
re-establishing herself, but of assuring the public that she was really
ill. She remained there some four or five days after we had left.
The whole Company, except Madame Patti, had to muster at the station
about 2 a.m. to start for Canada. By some mismanagement on the part of
the railway company, there being two competing lines, with but one set
of rails running into the joint station, the artists were kept waiting
at this station for over a couple of hours, the wind bitterly cold, and
the thermometer some fifty degrees below freezing point. At length, to
the joy of all, our special was drawn up alongside the platform, and we
were enabled to make a start, arriving at Toronto the following
afternoon.
The next morning the musicians all came to me in great despair, the
Canadian Custom House authorities having seized the whole of their
instruments as liable to duty. The same difficulty occurred with the
wardrobes and properties; and it was not until very late in the day, by
going through a course of red-tape, which reminded one of the old
country, that they could be released, I giving an undertaking that the
troupe should leave Canada within two days.
A right royal English welcome did our Company receive there. Prior to
the performance I requested Arditi to play the National Anthem. The
whole of the audience stood up, and, on its conclusion, gave three
hearty cheers. Nearly all the private box, dress circle, and stall
ticket-holders arrived in open sleighs, the snow being very thick.
The opening performance was _Il Trovatore_, in which Mierzwinski,
Galassi, Scalchi, and Fursch-Madi appeared, giving great satisfaction.
The excellence of the representation was quite a revelation to the
public, as it were.
On the following night Madame Albani appeared as "Lucia," when the
_parquette_, balconies, and boxes were crowded with the _élite_ of the
city, the Lieutenant-Governor occupying the gubernatorial box.
The galleries were likewise crowded to their fullest capacity, standing
room even being at a premium. Albani was welcomed with vociferous
cheers, and her performance throughout received the warmest approbation.
Immediately after the conclusion of our grand two-night season in Canada
our special train was put in motion towards Buffalo, where we performed
the following evening, leaving again after the performance at 2 a.m. for
Pittsburg, at which place Mdme. Patti had arrived the previous day.
At Pittsburg the season opened most auspiciously with _La Traviata_.
The theatre itself was not only crowded to the ceiling, but we charged
five dollars a head for standing room on the window sills.
The following night Mdme. Albani appeared as "Margherita" in _Faust_,
supported by Ravelli, Scalchi, etc.
A matinée was given the next day of _Il Trovatore_, followed by a
splendid performance the same evening of _William Tell_. On each
occasion the house was crammed.
The Company had again to muster at 2 a.m. after the performance to start
for Washington, at which place we arrived the following evening, Mdme.
Albani opening the next day as "Margherita" in _Faust_.
The next evening I had to change the performance, _la Diva_ having
contracted a sore throat during the journey. I substituted _William
Tell_, postponing Mdme. Patti's _début_ until the following night, when
she and Scalchi captivated the audience with _Semiramide_. In a letter
to the papers the following morning a mathematician stated that by
carefully counting the notes in the part of _Semiramide_, and dividing
the result by the sum paid nightly to Patti for singing that part, he
discovered that she received exactly 42 5/8 cents for each of the notes
that issued from her throat. This was found to be just 7 1/10 cents per
note more than Rossini got for writing the whole opera.
On the following Friday President Arthur gave a private concert at the
White House. I here append the programme:--
PART I.
Duetto--"Sull'aria" (Nozze di Figaro) _Mozart._
Mdme. Fursch-Madi and Mdlle. Dotti.
Romanza--"Angelo Casto" (Duca d'Alba) posthumous opera
by _Donizetti_. Signor Frapolli.
Cavatina--Tacca la notte (Trovatore) _Verdi._
Mdme. Fursch-Madi.
Aria Buffa--Miei rampolli (Cenerentola) _Rossini._
Signor Corsini.
Air--Voi che sapete (Nozze di Figaro) _Mozart._
Mdlle. Dotti.
An Interval of Half an Hour.
PART II.
Trio--Qual Volutta (Lombardi) _Verdi._
Mdme. Fursch-Madi, Signor Frapolli, and Signor Galassi.
Cavatina--"Nobil Signor" (Huguenots) _Meyerbeer._
Mdme. Scalchi.
Romanza--O tu bel astro (Tannhäuser) _Wagner._
Signor Galassi.
a{Air--"Pur dicesti" _Lotti._
b{Song--"Robin Adair" ----
Madame Albani.
The White House.
February 28, 1883.
At the conclusion of the concert a splendid supper was served in the
banqueting hall. As I had to attend upon no less than five ladies, the
President observed at the close of the feast that I had had nothing to
eat myself. He, therefore, gave orders that on the departure of the
guests another supper should be served, at which he occupied the chair.
The repast was really of the first order. It was interspersed with
excellent Veuve Clicquot, and the President afterwards ordered in cigars
and related to me some most interesting anecdotes of his earlier career.
He also gave me an account of the alarm felt at New York when one Sunday
the _Merrimac_ was expected to come up the bay in order to levy
contributions on the city; there being no powder in the forts and but
few cannon balls, all of the wrong calibre. Fortunately she met the
_Monitor_, who soon gave a good account of her.
We gave a grand _matinée_ the following day, with Patti as "La
Traviata," when people paid even for standing in the passages, where
they could only occasionally hear sounds.
At the close of the morning performance our special train started for
Boston, where we arrived late the next day.
Here further calculations were made in the daily papers as to the value
of Patti's notes, _Semiramide_ showing 30 cents. for every note she
sang, whilst in "Lucia" the rate of 42 1/2 cents. per note was reached.
We afterwards performed _Faust_ with Albani, and some of the grand
operas, such as _L'Africaine_, _Les Huguenots_, _Lohengrin_, and _Aida_.
Towards the close of our engagement Wagner's _Flying Dutchman_ was given
for the first time on the Italian stage at Boston.
A rather startling event occurred during the first act on the arrival of
the Phantom Ship, which, after sweeping gracefully round, broadside to
the audience, suddenly capsized, casting the Dutchman and his crew
promiscuously on to the stage, the masts going straight across the
occupants of the stalls and the sails covering Arditi, who was then at
the desk.
At this juncture loud screams were heard. They came from the wife of the
principal baritone, who, witnessing the accident, had fears for her
husband's safety. The choristers, who were thrown pell-mell into the
water, and on to their stomachs, began with a great deal of tact to
strike out as if swimming, until--as soon as possible--the curtain was
lowered. The ship was soon set on its keel again, but nothing could
induce Galassi to board the vessel.
At the close of the Boston engagement, which was highly successful, we
returned to New York, where we remained some five weeks, performing a
different opera almost nightly.
About this time I learned that the Washington and Lee University for
promoting higher education in the South was in great need of funds. I,
therefore, notified General Lilly, of Virginia, who had been interested
in that institution for years, my willingness to assist by giving a
miscellaneous performance for that purpose. A committee of distinguished
ladies was formed to superintend the distribution of the tickets,
including Mrs. General Dix, Mrs. Franklin Edson, Mrs. August Belmont,
Mrs. G. Rives, Mrs. Livingstone, Mrs. Jay, Mrs. Pierre Lorillard, Mrs.
Frederick Kernochan, Mrs. Henry Clewes, Mrs. Pryor, Mrs. General
Hancock, Mrs. Barton French, Mrs. W. C. Whitney, Mrs. Vanderbilt,
Baroness de Thomsen, Mrs. Bowdoin, Mrs. Alonzo B. Cornell, Mrs. Benjamin
Willis, Mrs. F. B. Thurber, etc., etc.
The appearance of the Academy, on this occasion filled by a most
brilliant audience, was a thing long to be remembered. The evening
commenced with an act of _Trovatore_, which was followed by the
appearance of Mdme. Albani in the first act of _Norma_. A more beautiful
rendering of the lovely cavatina "Casta Diva" could not have been heard,
Mdme. Albani's vocalization being really the perfection of art. She was
recalled several times, and covered with flowers. An act from
Meyerbeer's _Dinorah_ came next, with Mdme. Patti and Scalchi. Both left
the stage loaded with flowers, Patti coming forward at the close and
afterwards good-naturedly singing in front of the drop curtain "Home,
Sweet Home."
A scene then followed not put down in the programme, in the shape of a
presentation to myself of two large and handsome silk flags, one English
and the other American, the gift of the ladies of the committee; each of
the white stars on the blue ground of the American flag having been
inserted by a member of this committee.
I thanked the ladies in a grateful speech, shouldered my lofty flags,
and left the stage amidst loud cheering. The receipts amounted to some
£1,800. About a fortnight afterwards I was informed by General Lilley
that a chair of English literature had been established at the
University bearing my name.
The following Saturday morning _La Traviata_ was again given, the house
being even more crowded than usual. The bank having closed prior to the
termination of the performance, the monies were all placed in the iron
safe.
Early the following morning I was informed that one of the doors leading
to the treasury had been forced open, the floor of which was strewn with
tickets and furniture. Worse still, the iron safe had been opened and
rifled of its contents; over 21,500 dollars having been carried off.
Fortunately this amount was for the most part in cheques, which I
succeeded in stopping at the bank; but the loss in hard cash exceeded
£1,600.
About this time further rumours were in circulation as to Mr. Abbey
trying to take away several of my best singers, notably both Patti and
Galassi.
During the New York season I sent Mdme. Albani to sing in a concert at
Montreal, the railway directors providing a special car for her. On her
arrival she was received by the Mayor and Aldermen of the city; also by
a guard of honour of 200 men in uniform, besides the members of four
snow-shoe clubs in their beautiful and picturesque costumes.
A reception was afterwards held at the Hôtel de Ville, when a formal
address was handed to Mdme. Albani on a beautifully illuminated scroll.
All the tickets being instantly sold out, two more concerts had to be
given; and Mdme. Albani returned to New York in time to sing the
following Friday, having netted for the treasury 16,000 dollars by her
three days' visit to Montreal.
Shortly afterwards I gave a combined performance for the benefit of the
New York Exchange for Woman's Work. Again I had a ladies' committee to
work with, including the charming Mrs. F. B. Thurber, who acted as
secretary, the president being Mrs. W. G. Choate, while the
vice-presidents consisted of some forty leading ladies of New York. The
entertainment consisted of a concert in which Mdme. Adelina Patti, Mdme.
Albani, Mdme. Scalchi, Nicolini, and others of the Company appeared.
I append the programme, in which will be found several features of
interest, including, in particular, the singing of Mozart's delightful
duet by Patti and Albani.
PART I.
Overture--"Egmont" _Beethoven_
Orchestra.
Romanza--"O lieti, di" (Etoile du Nord) _Meyerbeer_
Monsieur Durat.
Aria--"Nobil Signor" (Huguenots) _Meyerbeer_
Madame Scalchi.
Ballade et Polonaise _Vieuxtemps_
Herr Brandt.
Cavatina--"Qui la voce" (Puritani) _Bellini_
Madame Albani.
Romanza--"Vien, vien m'e noto" (Velleda) _Lenepreu_
Signor Nicolini.
Valse--"Nell' ebrezza" (Romeo e Giulietta) _Gounod_
Madame Adelina Patti.
Ballet, Silvia _Delibes_
Orchestra.
PART II.
L'invitation a la Valse _Weber_
Orchestra.
Ballade--"Ouvre ta porte" _Grieg_
Signor Ravelli.
Hungarian Fantaisie _Liszt_
(With orchestra)
Herr Rafael Joseffy.
Duetto, "Sull aria" (Nozze di Figaro) _Mozart_
Madame Adelina Patti and Madame Albani.
Gavotte--"In veder l'amata stanza" (Mignon) _Thomas_
Madame Scalchi.
Romanza--"M'appari" (Martha) _Flotow_
Signor Ravelli.
Rakoczy March _Berlioz_
Orchestra.
After the concert the ladies presented me on the stage with a
magnificent gold badge, bearing the English arms on one side, surmounted
with diamonds and rubies, and the American arms on the other; also an
elegant walking cane with a massive gold top, crowned by a very large
uncut sapphire of great value.
The next morning Mr. Gye came to me with the alarming intelligence that
the lease of the new Metropolitan Opera-house had been given to Mr.
Abbey. He complained bitterly of the treatment he had received at the
hands of its Directors after the trouble he had taken in furnishing
them with the interior plans and workings of Covent Garden Theatre, in
order to assist the architect to get as complete a building as possible.
He had been negotiating with the Directors on behalf of the Royal
Italian Opera Company, Covent Garden, Limited, and, in fact, those
negotiations had never been broken off. He was still awaiting an answer
from the Committee, to whom the matter had been referred.
Mr. Abbey having announced that he would open the New Metropolitan
Opera-house with Madame Nilsson, Mr. Gye informed me that she was under
contract to sing with our Company, and showed me the following
engagement:--
"London, 2nd May, 1882.
"Madame Christine Nilsson agrees to accept an engagement with Mr. Gye to
sing either for him or for the Royal Italian Opera Company, Limited, in
London, during the season of 1883, at a salary of £200 per night. Madame
Nilsson also agrees to accept an engagement for America for the season
of 1883-1884, for fifty or sixty representations, operas, concerts, or
oratorios, at a salary of £300 per night, this to include all hotel
expenses, but not travelling. Madame Nilsson agrees also to sing for
five or six nights at Covent Garden during next July, the répertoire for
Madame Nilsson being _Mignon_, _Lohengrin_, _Don Giovanni_,
_Mefistofele_, and _Faust_ if possible, which Mr. Gye agrees to do his
best to obtain for her in London, 1883, and in America, her répertoire
to be the same, and other operas by common consent. No opera is to
belong to Madame Nilsson exclusively, except one opera that she may
create, and that for one season. Should Madame Nilsson wish to remain in
America in the summer of 1884 she is to be at liberty to do so, and
should she wish to return to England, Mr. Gye engages himself for her to
sing in London during the London season on the same conditions. Mr. Gye
binds himself to accept the engagement now in preparation.
"(Signed) CHRISTINE NILSSON ROUZAUD."
Despite this, however, Madame Nilsson signed with Mr. Abbey, receiving a
sum considerably in excess of the one stipulated for in the Gye
engagement.
In the meantime further rumours were getting circulated with regard to
Mr. Abbey's razzia on my singers, and the daily papers were full of our
disputes and recriminations; with which I will not trouble the reader
just now. On the conclusion of our New York season we again returned to
Philadelphia, in consequence of the success of our previous visit,
opening there with the _Flying Dutchman_. The next night _l'Etoile du
Nord_ was performed with the peerless Adelina, followed by Lohengrin
with the charming "Elsa" of Albani. Thus we continued our triumphant
career.
Mr. Abbey had begun his intrigues with Campanini, to whom he offered
1,000 dollars (£200) a night. He now proposed a similar amount to
Scalchi and a considerable sum to Valleria, whilst his _employés_ were
hard at work round the stage-door taking away my choruses, wardrobe
keepers, and even the stage-manager. All my people, in short, were
offered three or four times their usual salaries, merely for the sake of
injuring me, without Mr. Abbey's benefiting himself in any way. I
described him, to an interviewer, as a _guastomestiere_; a word which
sorely puzzled him, and caused him to consult his solicitor.
I now endeavoured to make sure of Patti, and she eventually consented to
make a small reduction in her terms and to accept 4,000 dollars a night.
In due course her contract had been prepared by her agent and a day
fixed for executing it, which happened to be a Thursday. Being much
occupied that day at the theatre in consequence of troubles of various
sorts I found it too late to get up to Mdme. Patti's hotel, but went the
following morning early. Nicolini explained to me that Mdme. Patti never
did anything on a Friday, and that I had better call the next day. The
day afterwards he informed me that, soon after I had left, Mr. Abbey had
come to Mdme. Patti saying that he could offer her a minimum of 5,000
dollars (£1,000) a night, payment to be made on the morning of each
performance, and 50,000 deposited in the bank as payment for the last
ten nights of the engagement, and that Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt would sign
the contract and give her the requisite guarantees.
This was not the only inducement he offered her if she would link her
fortunes with the new Metropolitan Opera-house the following season. She
was further to have a special private drawing-room and sleeping car, the
like of which had never yet been run on rails, to be specially built for
her, fitted with a conservatory, fernery, &c.
There was no reason, however, why these propositions should interfere
with the formal acceptance of a contract already drawn up and verbally
agreed to. The next day, then, about 11 o'clock, I was going in joyously
to sign my contract when I was met by Signor Nicolini at the door, who
told me that a very dreadful thing had happened since he last saw me. On
my inquiring what it was he informed me that Mr. Abbey's visit had quite
upset Mdme. Patti, who was ill in her room. She had not even spoken to
the parrot, which was a sad sign. He then communicated to me Mr. Abbey's
proposition, as above.
Nicolini, however, assured me that Mdme. Patti held me in the highest
esteem, and would on no account throw me over, considering that my
engagement with her would be just as good as Mr. Vanderbilt's. If I
would call later in the day, after luncheon, he hoped to get the matter
concluded. He, at the same time, gave me to understand that no
reduction could be made in the terms which had been offered by
Vanderbilt through Abbey.
On leaving I at once consulted with Mr. Gye, the General Manager of the
Royal Italian Opera Company, Covent Garden, Limited, and he fully agreed
with me that there was no alternative but to accede to the terms, the
sum demanded being but a trifle more than Patti had been receiving
throughout the season then about to close. Gye telegraphed the
particulars to his London Directors.
I accordingly went round in the afternoon and signed the contract. The
visit of Mr. Abbey to Mdme. Patti on the previous day had meanwhile
caused a rise of no less than 50,000 dollars (£10,000) in her demands.
Next day Mdme. Patti sailed for Europe on the _Arizona_, Signor Franchi,
her agent, remaining behind to complete the details of the new
engagement.
About this time Mdme. Cavalazzi, my daughter-in-law, informed me that
she had had an offer from Abbey's agent of double the amount I was
paying her. I at once told her to accept it, and that I would keep her
place open for her, when she could return the following season, by which
time Abbey would be closed up. The following season she duly returned,
Mr. Abbey, as I shall afterwards relate, having duly come to grief.
Prior to my departure I was entertained by a number of my friends and
supporters at the Manhattan Club. The dinner was arranged partly as a
farewell to me and partly in acknowledgment of the aid I had given to
young American artists essaying an operatic career. Judge J. R. Brady
presided, and the company included the Mayor Edson, the Reverend Dr.
Hoffman, Recorder Smyth, Judge Abraham R. Lawrence, Chief Justice Noah
Davis, Judge W. H. Arnoux, the British Consul General Booker, Chief
Justice C. P. Daly, General de Cesnola, Chief Justice Shea, General
Stewart L. Woodford, General Hancock, Commissioner J. S. Coleman, Mr.
John H. Starin, Mr. F. B. Thurber, Mr. Aaron Vanderpoel, Professor Henry
Drisler, Mr. Wm. Steinway, the Reverend Professor Seabury, Professor A.
Charlier, Mr. Oscar S. Strauss, and many others.
On the removal of the cloth Judge Brady gave the toast, "The guest of
the evening," to which I replied. Other toasts followed, and the
entertainment passed off merrily enough. Signor Clodio, Signor Ravelli,
and Signor Ronconi came in with the cigars, and pleasantly varied the
latter portion of the evening by a choice selection of operatic arias.
At the close of the entertainment it was unanimously resolved to charter
a special steamer to accompany me the following morning down the bay
conveying those who were present at the dinner. Mr. Starin, who was
sitting at the table, offered to place one of his magnificent steamers
at their disposal, which was to leave Pier 41, North River, at a quarter
to nine the following morning. After singing "Auld Lang Syne" and "He's
a jolly good fellow" the company separated. Just prior to my departure
the following morning my friends appeared on the chartered steamer,
which followed us down the bay with a band of music, accompanied by
hearty cheers until we were out of sight.
END OF VOL. I.
(note of etext transcriber:)
scarely=scarcely
Italian verson=Italian version
singing in Rio Janiero=singing in Rio Janeiro
be promised to go on=he promised to go on
End of Project Gutenberg's The Mapleson Memoirs, vol I, by James H. Mapleson