ENGLISH OPERA (_Continued_)
No account of our English Opera would be complete without mention of
Mike. He was an Irish lad with all the wit of his race, and his head was
of a particularly classic type. He was only sixteen when he joined us,
but he became an institution, and I kept track of him for years
afterwards. His duties were somewhat arbitrary, and chiefly consisted of
calling at the dressing-room of the chorus each night after the opera
with a basket to collect the costumes. Beyond this, his principal
occupation was watching my scenes and generally pervading the
performances with genuine interest. He particularly favoured the third
act of _Faust_, I remember; and absolutely considered himself a part of
my career, constantly making use of the phrase "Me and Miss Kellogg."
One of the operas we gave in English was my old friend _The Star of the
North_. It was quite as much a success in English as it had been in the
original. We chose it for our _gala_ performance in Washington when the
Centennial was celebrated, and my good friends, President and Mrs.
Grant, were in the audience. The King of Hawaii was also present, with
his suite, and came behind the scenes and paid me extravagant
compliments. His Hawaiian Majesty sent me lovely heliotropes, I
remember,--my favourite flower and my favourite perfume. At one
performance of _The Star of the North_ at a matinee in Booth's Theatre,
New York, there occurred an incident that was reminiscent of my London
experience with Sir Michael Costa's orchestra. It was in the third act,
the camp scene. There is a quartette by Peter, Danilowitz and two
_vivandieres_ almost without accompaniment in the tent on the stage, and
I, as Catherine, had to take up the note they left and begin a solo at
its close. The orchestra was supposed to chime in with me, a simple
enough matter to do if they had not fallen from the key. It is
surprising how relative one's pitch is when suddenly appealed to. Even a
very trained ear will often go astray when some one gives it a wrong
keynote. Music more than almost any other art is dependent; every tone
hangs on other tones. That particular quartette was built on a musical
phrase begun by one of the sopranos and repeated by each. She started on
the key. The mezzo took it up a shade flat. The tenor, taking the phrase
from the mezzo, dropped a little more, and when the basso got through
with it, they were a full semitone lower. Had I taken my _attaque_ from
their pitch, imagine the situation when the orchestra came in! My heart
sank as I saw ahead of us the inevitable discord. It came to the last
note. I allowed a half-second of silence to obliterate their false
pitch. Then I _concentrated_--and took up my solo in the _original and
correct key_. That "absolute pitch" again! Behrens expressed his
amazement after the curtain fell.
The company, after that, was never tired of experimenting with my gift.
It became quite a joke with them to cry out suddenly, at any sort of
sound--a whistle, or a bell:
"Now, what note is that? What key was that in, Miss Kellogg?"
Most of our travelling on these big western tours of opera was very
tiresome, although we did it as easily as we could and often had special
cars put at our disposal by railroad directors. We were still looked
upon as a species of circus and the townspeople of the places we passed
through used to come out in throngs at the stations. I have said so much
about the poor hotels encountered at various times while on the road
that I feel I ought to mention the disastrous effect produced once by a
really good hotel. It was at the end of our first English Opera season
and, in spite of the fact that we were all worn out with our
experiences, we proceeded to give an auxiliary concert trip. We had a
special sleeper in which, naturally, no one slept much; and by the time
we reached Wilkesbarre we were even more exhausted. The hotel happened
to be a good one, the rooms were quiet, and the beds comfortable. Every
one of us went promptly to bed, not having to sing until the next night,
and William Carlton left word at the office that he was going to sleep:
"and don't call me unless there's a fire!" he said. In strict accordance
with these instructions nobody did call him and he slept twenty-four
hours. When he awoke it was time to go to the theatre for the
performance and--he found he couldn't sing! He had slept so much that
his circulation had become sluggish and he was as hoarse as a crow.
Consequently, we had to change the programme at the last moment.
Carlton, like most nervous people, was very sensitive and easily put out
of voice, even when he had not slept twenty-four consecutive hours. Once
in _Trovatore_ he was seized with a sharp neuralgic pain in his eyes
just as he was beginning to sing "Il Balen" and we had to stop in the
middle of it. During this same performance, an unlucky one, Wilfred
Morgan, who was Manrico, made both himself and me ridiculous. In the
_finale_ of the first act of the opera, the Count and Manrico, rivals
for the love of Leonora, draw their swords and are about to attack each
other, when Leonora interposes and has to recline on the shoulder of
Manrico, at which the attack of the Count ceases. Morgan was burly of
build and awkward of movement and, for some reason, failed to support
me, and we both fell heavily to the floor. It is so easy to turn a
serious dramatic situation into ridicule that, really, it was very
decent indeed of our audience to applaud the _contretemps_ instead of
laughing.
Ryloff, an eccentric Belgian, was our musical director for a short time.
He was exceedingly fond of beer and used to drink it morning, noon, and
night,--especially night. Even our rehearsals were not sacred from his
thirst. In the middle of one of our full dress rehearsals he suddenly
stopped the orchestra, laid down his baton, and said to the men:
"Boys, I _must_ have some beer!"
Then he got up and deliberately went off to a nearby saloon while we
awaited his good pleasure.
I have previously mentioned what a handsome and dashing Fra Diavolo
Theodore Habelmann was, and naturally other singers with whom I sang the
opera later have suffered by comparison. In discussing the point with a
young girl cousin who was travelling with me, we once agreed, I
remember, that it was a great pity no one could ever look the part like
our dear old Habelmann. Castle was doing it just then, and doing it very
well except for his clothes and general make-up. But he was so extremely
sensitive and yet, in some ways, so opinionated, that it was impossible
to tell him plainly that he did not look well in the part. At last, my
cousin conceived the brilliant scheme of writing him an anonymous
letter, supposed to be from some feminine admirer, telling him how
splendid and wonderful and irresistible he was, but also suggesting how
he could make himself even more fascinating. A description of
Habelmann's appearance followed and, to our great satisfaction, our
innocent little plot worked to a charm. Castle bought a new costume
immediately and strutted about in it as pleased as Punch. He really did
present a much more satisfactory appearance, which was a comfort to me,
as it is really so deplorably disillusioning to see a man looking frumpy
and unattractive while he is singing a gallant song like:
[Illustration: Musical notation; Proud-ly and wide ... my stand-ard
flies O'er dar-ing heads, a no-ble band!]
Naturally these tours brought me all manner of adventures that I have
long since forgotten--little incidents "along the road" and meetings
with famous personages. Among them stand out two experiences, one grave
and one gay. The former was an occasion when I went behind the scenes
during a performance of _Henry VIII_ to see dear Miss Cushman (it must
have been in the early seventies, but I do not know the exact date), who
was playing Queen Katherine. She asked me if I would be kind enough to
sing the solo for her. I was very glad to be able to do so, of course,
and so, on the spur of the moment, complied. I have wondered since how
many people in front ever knew that it was I who sang _Angels Ever
Bright and Fair_ off stage, during the scene in which the poor,
wonderful Queen was dying! The other experience of these days which I
treasure was my meeting with Eugene Field. It was in St. Louis, where
Field was a reporter on one of the daily papers. He came up to the old
Lindell Hotel to interview me; but that was something I would _not_
do--give interviews to the press--so my mother went down to the
reception room with her sternest air to dismiss him. She found the
waiting young man very mild-mannered and pleasant, but she said to him
icily:
"My daughter never sees newspaper men."
"Oh," said he, looking surprised, "I'm a singer and I thought Miss
Kellogg might help me. I want to have my voice trained." (This is the
phrase used generally by applicants for such favours.) Mother looked at
the young man suspiciously and pointed to the piano.
"Sing something," she commanded.
Field obediently sat down at the instrument and sang several songs. He
had a pleasing voice and an expressive style of singing, and my mother
promptly sent for me. We spent some time with him in consequence,
singing, playing, and talking. It was an excellent "beat" for his paper,
and neither my mother nor I bore him any malice, we had liked him so
much, when we read the interview next day. After that he came to see me
whenever I sang where he happened to be and we always had a laugh over
his "interview" with me--the only one, by the way, obtained by any
reporter in St. Louis.
On one concert tour--a little before the English Opera venture--we had
arrived late one afternoon in Toledo where the other members of the
company were awaiting me. Petrelli, the baritone, met me at the train
and said immediately:
"There is a strange-looking girl at the hotel waiting for you to hear
her sing."
"Oh, dear," I exclaimed, "another one to tell that she hasn't any
ability!"
"She's _very_ queer looking," Petrelli assured me.
As I went to my supper I caught a glimpse of a very unattractive person
and decided that Petrelli was right. She was exceedingly plain and
colourless, and had a large turned-up nose. After supper, I went to my
room to dress, as I usually did when on tour, for the theatre
dressing-rooms were impossible, and presently there was a knock at the
door and the girl presented herself.
She was poorly clad. She owned no warm coat, no rubbers, no proper
clothing of any sort. I questioned her and she told me a pathetic tale
of privation and struggle. She lived by travelling about from one hotel
to the next, singing in the public parlour when the manager would permit
it, accompanying herself upon her guitar, and passing around a plate or
a hat afterwards to collect such small change as she could.
"I sang last night here," she told me, "and the manager of the hotel
collected eleven dollars. That's all I've got--and I don't suppose he'll
let me have much of that!"
Of course I, who had been so protected, was horrified by all this. I
could not understand how a girl could succeed in doing that kind of
thing. She told me, furthermore, that she took care of her mother,
brothers, and sisters.
"I must go to the post-office now and see if there's a letter from
mother!" she exclaimed presently, jumping up. It was pouring rain
outside.
"Show me your feet!" I said.
She grinned ruefully as she exhibited her shoes, but she was off the
next moment in search of her letter. When she came back to the hotel, I
got hold of her again, gave her some clothes, and took her to the
concert in my carriage. After I had sung my first song she rushed up to
me.
"Let me look down your throat," she cried excitedly, "I've got to see
where it all comes from!"
After the concert we made her sing for us and our accompanist played for
her. She asked me frankly if I thought she could make her living by her
voice and I said yes. Her poverty and her desire to get on naturally
appealed to me, and I was instrumental in raising a subscription for her
so that she could come East. My mother immediately saw the hotel
proprietor and arranged that what money he had collected the night
before should be turned over to her. It has been said that I am
responsible for Emma Abbott's career upon the operatic stage, but I may
be pardoned if I deny the allegation. My idea was that she intended to
sing in churches, and I believe she did so when she first came to New
York. She was the one girl in ten thousand who was really worth helping,
and of course my mother and I helped her. When we returned from my
concert tour, I introduced her to people and saw that she was properly
looked out for. And she became, as every one knows, highly successful in
opera--appearing in many of my own _roles_. In a year's time from when I
first met her, Emma Abbott was self-supporting. She was a girl of
ability and I am glad that I started her off fairly, although, as a
matter of fact, she would have got on anyway, whether I had done
anything for her or not. Her way to success might have been a longer
way, unaided, but she would have succeeded. She was eaten up with
ambition. Yet there is much to respect in such a dogged determination to
succeed. Of course, she was never particularly grateful to me. Of all
the girls I have helped--and there have been many--only one has ever
been really grateful, and she was the one for whom I did the least. Emma
wrote me a flowery letter once, full of such sentences as "when the
great _Prima Donna_ shined on me," and "I was almost in heaven, and I
can remember just how you sang and looked," and "never can I forget all
your goodness to me." But in the little ways that count she never
actually evinced the least appreciation. Whenever we were in any way
pitted against each other, she showed herself jealous and ungenerous.
She made enemies in general by her lack of tact, and never could get on
in London, for instance, although in her day the feeling there for
American singers was becoming most kindly.
Emma Abbott did appalling things with her art, of which one of the
mildest was the introduction into _Faust_ of the hymn _Nearer My God to
Thee_! It was in Italy that she did it, too. I believe she introduced it
to please the Americans in the audience, many of whom applauded,
although the Italians pointedly did not. And yet she was always trying
to "purify" the stage and librettos! I have always felt about Emma
Abbott that she had _too much_ force of character. Another thing that I
never liked about her was the manner in which she puffed her own
successes. She was reported to have made five times more than she
actually did; but, at that, her earnings were considerable, for she
would sacrifice much--except the character--to money-getting. Indeed,
she was a very fine business woman.
I have spoken about George Conly's tragic death by drowning and of the
benefit the Kellogg-Hess English Opera Company gave for his widow. Conly
had also sung with Emma Abbott and, when the benefit was given, she and
I appeared on the same programme. She knew my baritone, Carlton, and
sent for him before the performance. She explained that she wanted him
to appear on the bill with her in _Maritana_ and, also, to see that all
donations from my friends and colleagues were sent to her, so that her
collection should be larger than mine. Carlton explained to her that he
was singing with Miss Kellogg and so would send any money that he could
collect to her. It seems incredible that any one could do so small an
action, and I can only consider it one of many little attempts to be
spiteful and to show me that my erstwhile _protegee_ was now at the "top
of the ladder."
Her thirst for profits finally was the indirect means of her death. When
Utah was still a territory, the town of Ogden, where many travelling
companies gave concerts, was very primitive. The concert hall had no
dressing-room and was cold and draughty. I always refused outright to
sing in such theatres, or else dressed in my hotel and drove to the
concert warmly wrapped up. Emma Abbott was warned that the stage in the
concert hall of the town of Ogden was bitterly cold. The house had sold
well, however, and the receipts were considerable. Emma dressed in an
improvised screened-off dressing-room, and, having a severe cold to
begin with, she caught more on that occasion, and suddenly developed a
serious case of pneumonia from which she died, a victim to her own
indiscretion.