The Mapleson Memoirs, vol II

a performances, in which Mdme. Patti was the principal prima donna, and bu

's indisposition arose from a morning drive she had taken on the previous day over some Welsh mountains during the journey from her castle to the station. Signor Nicolini, either from fear of the bill at the Midl

a Diva having taken a second cold, of which I was not notified until seven p.m. There was scarcely time to make the

the Swedish vocalist, Mdlle. Fohstr?m, who afterwards made a very successful career under my management. Of course, on this occasion she was heavil

atti appeared as "Leonora" in Il Trovatore, renewing the suc

of her admirers formed themselves into a committee for the purpose of celebrating the event by presenting her with a suitable memor

e liberal support you have accorded my humble efforts to preserve the existence of Italian Opera in this country. When I state to you that I had barely ten days to form my present Company, including the orchestra and chorus, I feel sure you will readily overlook a

the band and orchestra of the Royal Italian Opera. This was the moment chosen for the presentation of a superb diamond bracelet, subscribed for by admirer

you their heartfelt congratulations. Many of them have watched with the deepest interest an artistic career which, beginning in the spring of 1861, became year after year more brilliant, until during the season which terminates to-night the last possible point of perfection seems to have been reached. You have been connected with the Royal Italian Opera uninterruptedly throughout your long and brilliant career. During the winter months you have visited, and have been received with enthusiasm at Paris, St. Petersburg, Berli

, was received with loyal cheers, a

he band and of the shouting and occasional singing of the very motley gathering, which was reinforced by all sorts and conditions of persons as it went along, awakened the inhabitants throughout the whole of the long route, which was as follows: Endell Street, Bloomsbury Street, across New Oxford Street and Great Russell Street, down Charlotte Street, through Bedford Square by Gower Street, along Keppel Street, Russell Square, Woburn Place, Tavistock Place, Marchmont Street, Burton Crescent, Malleton Place to Euston road, halting at the Midland Railway Hotel, where Mdme. Patti was staying. Along the whole of this distance the scene was extraordinary. The noise, and the glare of the coloured lights, and the cracking of fireworks which were let off every now and then, aroused

arted for the Continent in order to secure new

ent Company than I had had for the previous five years; except that the name of Adelina Patti was not included, she having de

OF MUSIC,

n 188

E-SOPRANI

lle. Marie Engle, Madame Lilian Nordica, Mdlle. de Vigne, Md

NO

co, Signor Bieletto, Signor R

ITO

na and Signo

SS

de Vaschetti, Signor Vett

THE MUSIC AN

or A

RE DAN

alvina C

ere the promise

aut," Signor Del Puente; "Guillot Morfontaine," Signor Rinaldini; "The Count Des Grieux," Signor Cherubini; "De Bretigny," Signor Caracciolo; "An Innkeeper," Signor de Vaschetti; "Attendant at the Seminary of St. Sulpice," Signor Bieletto; "Poussette," Mdlle. Bauermeister; "Javotte," M

gnor Tito Mattei. "Don C?sar de Bazan," Signor Ravelli; "The King," Signor Del Puente; "Don Josè," Signor De Anna; "Il Marchese," Signor Caracciolo

uente; "Giacomo," Signor Cherubini; "Lord Allcash," Signor Caracciolo; "Lorenzo,"

or Del Falco; "Lothario," Signor Del Puente; "Laertes," Signor Rinaldini; "Frederick," Mdlle. De Vig

developed for Anglo-German Opera, or "American Opera," as it was denominated. The prospectus of the latter setting it forth as a "national" affair, everyone rushed in for it, and considerable sums of money were subscribed. Its projectors rented the Academy of Music where I was located. The upshot of it was that a considerable number of intrigues were forthwith commenced for the purpose, if pos

that I could even open my season, as they began carpentering and hammering every time I attempted a rehearsal. Howe

ancairo," Signor Caracciolo; "Il Remendado," Signor Rinaldini; "Morales," Signor Bieletto; "Michaela," Mdll

supported by Mdme. Malvina Cav

upported by Lablache, De Anna, the admirable baritone, and Giannini, one of the favourite tenors of America, who after the Pira was encored and recalled four times in

L'Africaine, I found the stage built up with platforms to the heig

lding the baton with such vigour that no one could approach him. I said nothing, therefore. In spite of formidable obstacles, the march and the

l affixed by the rival Company for the same hour; and as they employed some 120 choristers, who had about an eq

he female form divine, catches the taste of the public. The piece runs for hundreds of nights without a change in the bill, the singers appearing night after night in the same parts. The maladie de larynx, the extinction de voix of which leading opera-singers are

and sometimes years, at a time. The manager probably complains of being terribly over-worked; but all he has really to do is to see that some hundreds of po

eipts are affected in a way unknown to the ordinary theatrical manager. Court mourning, for instance, will keep people away from the opera; whereas the theatre-going public is sc

ready to play every night? Or for a public who, like the audiences at the St. James's Thea

she receives ￡30 or ￡40 a week, boasts of it to her friends. In an Italian Opera