Emma Eames.
Emma Eames.
With this slight sketch of an interesting career we must be content, for a word must be added about Mlle. Zelie de Lussan, who made herself popular to Americans during her connection with the Boston Ideal Opera Company, from 1885-88, when she secured an engagement in London, and is rapidly{259}building a great reputation. Her great part is Carmen, and in this and Mignon she has delighted the Parisians. She is piquant and brilliant, and has the faculty of charming the audience by her grace and personal magnetism. Mlle. de Lussan was born in New York of French parents, and received her musical education from her mother, who was once a well-known singer.{260}
Theoperatic tenor is frequently as much of a trial to the impresario as the soprano. Brignoli would feel hurt unless he received what he considered the proper amount of applause, and then he would have a sore throat, and be unable to sing. Ravelli had a mortal hatred of Minnie Hauk, because she once choked his high B flat with a too comprehensive embrace, and his expression of rage, being understood by the audience as a tremendous burst of dramatic enthusiasm, was, in consequence, loudly applauded. Nicolini, in behalf of Patti, once went out and measured the letters on a poster. It had been agreed that Patti's name was to{261}be in letters half as big again as those used for any other singer. It was discovered that the name of Nevada, who was also a member of the company, was a fraction over the stipulated size, and all the posters had to be cut in such a way that a strip was taken out of Nevada's name, and the middle dash of the E and of the A's was amputated.
Some tenors have travelled with numerous retainers, who always occupied seats at the theatre for the purpose of directing the applause, but nothing of the kind has ever been heard of with a contralto or basso.
Ernest Nicolini, who made his début in 1855, was for some time considered the best French tenor on the stage, but he is better known as Madame Patti's husband than as a singer. Nicolini died in January, 1898.
Fancelli and Masini were tenors of merit, with beautiful voices; also Brignoli, who for twenty years lived in America. Fancelli was a very ignorant man, scarcely able to read{262}or write. According to Mapleson, he once attempted to write his name in the album of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, with deplorable results. He wished to write "Fancelli, Primo Tenore Assoluto," but after great efforts, which resulted in overturning the ink-bottle, the signature appeared thus: "Faneli Primo Tenore Ass—"
Masini's voice was more sensuously beautiful than Fancelli's, and he was more full of conceit. He travelled with a retinue of ten people, including cook, barber, doctor, and lawyer. He also distinguished himself in London by sending word to Sir Michael Costa, the conductor of the orchestra, to come around to his apartments, and run through the music of his part, as he did not care to attend the rehearsal. Costa did not go, and Masini returned to Italy in great wrath.
Joseph Victor Amédée Capoul, who made his début in 1861, was for many years considered{263}one of the best tenors on the French stage. He was born in 1839, at Toulouse, and entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1859, gaining the first prize in comic opera in 1861. He was good-looking, and had a pleasant voice, somewhat marred by vibrato, and he was an excellent actor in both light and serious parts. He visited America first in 1873, as a member of Strakosch's company, which included Nilsson, Miss Cary, Campanini, Maurel, Del Puente, and others not so well known, and to which were afterwards added Pauline Lucca and Ilma di Murska. He was also chief tenor of a French Opera Bouffe Company, which visited America in 1879-80. During the past few years M. Capoul has lived in New York, where he has become a teacher of singing.
Theodore Wachtel was for a long time one of the leading German tenors. He was the son of a stable keeper in Hamburg, and began life by driving his father's cabs.{264}He was born in 1823, and obtained his first operatic engagements in 1854, singing in several German cities. His first appearance in London was in 1862, when he sang the part of Edgardo in "Lucia," and made a complete failure. His later appearances brought better results, and yet his popularity was gained more on account of the fine quality and great power of his voice than from any artistic use of it. His high C was his chief attraction, and this note he produced from the chest with tremendous power.
Wachtel sang in America during several seasons. He died in Berlin in 1893.
The greatest German tenor, however, for many years was Albert Niemann, who was blessed with a magnificent voice and a fine appearance, suitable for the impersonation of Wagner's heroes, in which he excelled. He was born in 1831, at Erxleben, Magdeburg, and went on the stage in 1849. At{265}first he sang only small parts, or else in the chorus, but, as he improved with study, he attracted the attention of Herr von Hülsen, General Intendant of the Royal German Theatres, who took him to Berlin. He enjoyed a great reputation for a quarter of a century in Germany, and was selected by Wagner to sing Siegmund at Bayreuth, in 1876. Until he came to America in 1886, and 1887, when his voice had long since departed, his only appearances out of Germany were in the unsuccessful production of "Tannhäuser" at Paris, in 1861, and he sang in London in '82. In 1887 he formally retired from the stage.
Heinrich Vogl won distinction as an interpreter of Wagner rôles. He was born in 1845, at Au, near Munich, and was instructed in singing by Lachner, and in acting by Jenk, the stage manager of the Royal Theatre, Munich. At this theatre he made his début in 1865 as Max in "Der Freischütz.{266}" He was engaged at the same theatre almost permanently after his début and was always immensely popular. In 1868 he married Theresa Thoma, also a singer of renown, and from that time they generally appeared together.
Vogl played Loge, in the "Rheingold," and Siegmund, in "Walkyrie," when they were produced in 1869 and 1870, and his greatest triumphs have been gained in Wagner's operas. When the Trilogy was produced at Bayreuth, in 1876, he played the part of Loge, and was highly praised for his admirable declamation and fine acting.
Theresa Vogl was the original Sieglinde, at Munich, and was very successful in Wagner opera. She was born in 1846, at Tutzing, Bavaria, and studied singing at the Munich conservatory, appearing first in opera at Carlsruhe in 1865.
As Mario's powers began to wane, people wondered who would succeed him, and many{267}based their hopes on Antonio Giuglini, a native of Fano, Italy. Giuglini was born in 1827, but did not appear in England until 1857, when he sang at Her Majesty's Theatre. He possessed a sweet, high tenor voice and an elegance of style which some critics complained of as cold, languid, and drawn out. His singing was without variety and his acting colorless and tame. Notwithstanding all this, he was called by one eminent critic "the best that has been heard since the arrival of Tamberlik," seven years previously.
Giuglini's career was, however, of short duration, for he became insane in 1862, and died at Pesaro three years later.
In 1872 a tenor appeared who at first seemed to be a worthy successor to Mario,—Italo Campanini, who was born at Parma in 1846. He first attracted public attention by singing the part of Lohengrin when that opera was produced at Bologna, in 1871, and beginning with 1872, he was engaged every{268}season for ten years in London. His first engagement in America was in 1873, when he was a member of a company organized by Mapleson, which included Nilsson, Annie Louise Cary, Capoul, and Maurel. In America he became very popular, although he was considered in Europe to have disappointed the high expectations which his early career had justified. He had a pure tenor voice of richest quality, but owing to some fault in his method of production it decayed rapidly, and his declining days were a succession of unfortunate and unsuccessful attempts to regain his lost powers. As an actor he was melodramatic rather than powerful, and he was looked upon as a hard working and extremely zealous artist.
Campanini had a varied and highly interesting experience of the triumphs and vicissitudes of life. He was the son of a blacksmith, and was brought up to his father's trade, which he first left to go{269}soldiering with Garibaldi. He returned after the war, and his vocal powers were soon discovered by a musician who happened to hear him sing, and secured for him a course of free tuition in the Parma conservatory. At the age of twenty-one he commenced his career as an opera singer. He met with some success, and was engaged to travel in Russia for twenty-four dollars a month. On his return to Italy, Campanini went to Milan and took lessons for a year with Lamperti, when he appeared at La Scala in "Faust."
His repertoire was remarkable, consisting of over eighty operas. Beginning his career with a salary of eighty cents a night, he rose until he received, under Mapleson's management, $1,000 a night, and in one season with Henry E. Abbey he was paid $56,000,—yet he died poor as well as voiceless. He was simple and unaffected in his manners, and, like many of his fraternity, careless and improvident, but he had many friends and{270}with the public was very popular on ample grounds.
Mapleson relates that when he first engaged Campanini to appear in London, he was one day sitting in his office when a rough-looking individual in a colored flannel shirt, with no collar, a beard of three or four days' growth, and a small pot hat, entered and announced that Campanini had arrived in London. "Are you sure?" exclaimed the impresario, wondering how it could interest the individual before him. The strange-looking being burst out laughing, and declared that he was quite sure, as he was himself Campanini. It was a terrible crusher for Mapleson to find that his great star was such a rough-looking customer, but Campanini more than justified the reports about his singing as soon as he made his first appearance on the stage.
An American who had the honor of being for three years first tenor at the Royal Opera{271}House, Berlin, and nine years first tenor at the Vienna opera house, is Charles R. Adams. He was born in Charlestown, Mass., in 1834, and after some study with Boston teachers went abroad, where he became a pupil of Barbière in Vienna. After acquiring a high reputation in Europe, he came to America as a member of the Strakosch opera company in 1878, being associated with Miss Kellogg, Miss Cary, Miss Litta, and others. In the following year he decided to remain in Boston, and has since devoted his time chiefly to teaching.
The latter half of the nineteenth century has witnessed the growth of the Wagner opera. In several ways has the doctrine of Wagner made itself felt in musical art. Operas no longer consist of a series of solos, duets, and concerted numbers, with an opening and closing chorus, all strung together in such a manner as to give the greatest opportunities to the soloist. An opera at the{272}present day must be a drama set to music. The action of the play must not be interrupted by applause, encores, and the presentation of flowers. This continuity of action is noticeable in every opera of modern times, whether German, Italian, or French, and in itself marks a decided forward movement in the annals of lyric art.
Ed. de Reszke as Mephistopheles.
Ed. de Reszke as Mephistopheles.
There have been many complaints that the singing of Wagner opera ruins the voice, but to contradict this statement we have only to look at the careers of the greatest Wagnerian singers,—Materna, Lehmann, Brandt, Niemann, Winkelmann, Vogl, the De Reszkes, Nordica, Brema, and others who have sung the music of Wagner for years without any unlooked-for deterioration. The fact is that they learned the art of vocalization, while many who have come before the public as Wagnerian singers have been practically ignorant of the first principles of voice production. To shout and declaim{273}does not by any means constitute the Wagnerian idea. The music is as singable as the most mellifluous Italian opera of the old school, although it does not call for the flexibility and execution which were considered the great charm of singing in the time of Malibran, Jenny Lind, and Grisi. An eminent London critic writes: "We were tired to death of German coughing, barking, choking, and gargling, when suddenly Jean de Reszke sang Tristan beautifully."
Jean de Reszke is a native of Poland, having been born at Warsaw in 1852. His father was a councillor of state and his mother an excellent amateur musician. Their home was the centre of attraction for many notable artists and musicians, so that the children were brought up in an atmosphere of art. Jean was taught singing by his mother, and at the age of twelve sang the solos in the cathedral at Warsaw. He was educated for the profession of the law, but his love of{274}music was such that he decided to prepare himself for the operatic stage, and began to study with Ciaffei, and later on with Cotogni. He made his début in 1874 at Venice as a baritone, and for some years sang baritone parts, until he found the strain telling upon his health. He phrased artistically and possessed sensibility, and his voice was of excellent quality; but feeling that he was not fully prepared, he retired from the stage for a time and studied with Sbriglia in Paris. In 1879 he appeared again, but as a tenor, in "Roberto," at Madrid, when he made a great success, and from that time he was regarded as one of the greatest tenors of the age. Of recent years his successes have been chiefly in Wagnerian rôles. He is an ideal Lohengrin, and has added to his laurels as Tristan and as Siegfried.
Probably no tenor since the days of Mario has awakened such widespread public interest. His estates in Poland, which in 1896{275}were extensively improved for the reception of his bride, the Countess Mailly-Nesle, his love of horses and of sport in general, as well as the jealousies of the numerous ladies who vied with one another for his smiles, all in their turn formed themes for newspaper and magazine comment. The personal appearance, as well as the geniality of the great tenor, helped to make him an object of interest, for he is a man of great physical beauty and grace.
Jean de Reszke created a furore in America, and has visited the country several times under the management of Abbey and Grau. When that company failed in 1896, De Reszke attempted to form an opera company to finish the season, and in so doing he incurred a great deal of popular indignation by his treatment of Madame Nordica, who felt obliged to leave the company, and by inducing Madame Melba to assume Wagnerian rôles, in which she proved to be a failure.{276}He became the object of newspaper attack on account of the large price which he demanded for his services, but much of this indignation is unmerited, for the simple reason that the remedy lies with the public rather than with the singer. An opera singer is justified in getting as much money as his services will bring, and as long as he finds people, whether managers or public, who are willing to pay that price, he will ask it. When the price is refused, it lies with him to determine whether he will sing for less money or withdraw, and it seldom happens that it is necessary for a thoroughly popular artist to withdraw, except at the end of his career. Patti received her highest prices when she was past her prime, and the same may be said of almost every great artist. The reason may be found in the fact that their greatness does not dawn upon the general public until years after their position is earned.{277}
In 1896 Jean de Reszke married the Countess Mailly-Nesle, to whom he had been engaged for several years. She is an amateur musician of exceptional ability, and a lady of much personal beauty.
One of the more recent stars in the operatic firmament, and which is at its height, is Ernest Marie Hubert Van Dyck, born in Antwerp, 1861. He at first intended to become a lawyer, and for a time studied jurisprudence at Louvain and Brussels. His musical gifts and love of art could not be repressed or hidden, and whenever he sang his voice created so great a sensation that, in spite of family opposition, he went to Paris to study. As a means of helping himself he was for a time assistant editor of a Parisian paper,La Patrie.
In 1883 Massenet heard him sing at a private party at which they were both guests, and was so much struck by his voice and style of singing that he asked him then and{278}there to act as substitute for a tenor who was ill, and could not fill his engagement. The occasion was the performance, under Massenet's management, of a cantata, "Le Gladiateur," by Paul Vidal, at the Institut de France.
Within two hours Van Dyck studied and sang the tenor solos with such an effect that he immediately became the topic of conversation among musical Parisians.
He was now engaged by Lamoureux, the champion of Wagner in Paris, for a term of four years, during which he sang the rôles of Tristan, Siegmund, etc. In 1887 he sang Lohengrin, but its production caused a great deal of excitement, owing to political causes. Nevertheless, the performance formed a golden epoch in the history of Wagnerian art.
Van Dyck was now induced by Levy and Goo, of Bayreuth, to take part in the production of "Parsifal," in 1888. For this he was{279}drilled by Felix Mottl, and he made so great a success that he was at once engaged for the following year.
He has proved himself the finest representative of the character of Parsifal that has yet been heard, even Winkelmann not being excepted. Since 1888 Van Dyck has been engaged at Vienna.
Mr. Van Dyck married, in 1886, the daughter of Servais, the great violoncellist and composer. He is a knight of Baden of the order of the Lion of Zahringen, and an officer of the Academy of France.
Of Wagnerian tenors, Anton Schott and Hermann Winkelmann gained a high reputation. The former made his début in 1870, but his career was interrupted by the outbreak of the Franco-German war, through which he served, as he had also served through the war of 1866 against Austria. Although his reputation was high in Germany, he made a comparatively small impression{280}in England. Winkelmann took the part of Parsifal at Bayreuth, when, in 1882, sixteen performances of that work were given under Wagner's supervision. He also came to America with Materna and Scaria, making a good impression.
Max Alvary also was well known in the United States as a Wagnerian singer. He made his operatic début in 1881, and appeared in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, in 1885, since which time he has been heard in America during several seasons. His best parts were Siegfried, Tristan, and Tannhäuser, and he was for many years leading tenor at the Opera in Hamburg. His death, in November, 1898, at the age of forty-one, was the result of an accident.
Alvary in Rigoletto.
Alvary in Rigoletto.
Of the Italian school, Francisco Tamagno holds a high position in the operatic world of to-day as a robust tenor. He excels in dramatic rôles, such as Otello and Arnoldo, and he made a great success in "Cavalleria{281}Rusticana." In heroic rôles he sings and acts with a simplicity, power, and authority not surpassed by any other tenor of this generation. He was born at Turin, and began his musical education at the age of eighteen. His début was made in Palermo, at the age of twenty-three, his studies having meanwhile been interrupted by military duties. In Venice he sang with Josephine de Reszke, the sister of Jean and Edouard, who had a short but brilliant career. For many years he remained at La Scala, where he was immensely popular. He is tall, big-chested, and erect, always imposing, and, unlike most Italians, he has fair hair and blue eyes. An American critic wrote of him as "hurling forth his tones without reserve, and with a vocal exuberance not reached by any living tenor. He quells and moves by overwhelming strength and splendor."
Tamagno was once the defendant in a lawsuit brought against him by the manager of{282}the opera in Buenos Ayres. It appears that in 1890 the tenor was engaged for a season of forty performances, for which he was to receive $130,000. Of this sum $31,000 was paid in advance before he would leave Italy. When he arrived at Buenos Ayres a revolution broke out, and only four performances of opera were given. The manager endeavored to recover his money. An interesting feature of the trial was that it brought out the fact that Tamagno always travels with a claque of eight, and that it is stipulated in all his contracts that he shall have eight tickets for their use. This, however, has been denied, and it is stated that Tamagno has not read a criticism of his singing for years, knows nothing about the critical opinion of him, cares less; also that the eight tickets are intended for his family. He is said to be the highest-priced tenor of the age.
Before leaving the tenors a word should be said concerning Edward Lloyd, who in{283}England seems to have inherited the mantle of Sims Reeves. He was born in 1845, and was educated as a chorister in the choir of Westminster Abbey. He has devoted himself entirely to concert and oratorio singing, and possesses a voice of the purest quality, with a style noted for its excellence and finish.
Henry Guillaume Ibos, also, a French tenor formerly a cavalry officer, who made his début in 1885, is a singer whose voice possesses much beauty. He was born at Toulouse in 1862, and has appeared with much success in France, Russia, and England. He also made a tour in 1897-98 in America.
There are tenors coming to the surface continually. Some will sink into obscurity, while others will ascend the ladder of fame; but we must leave them to the future and pay a little attention to the baritones, of whom Van Rooy has recently made his mark{284}as Wotan. He has a tremendous voice, sings with ease, and gets a pleasing softness into his tones. He is likely to be well known in the future.
Charles Santley, who is known in England as the greatest baritone of the Victorian era, was born in Liverpool in 1834. Having a voice of fine quality, extensive compass, and great power, he left England to study in Milan in 1855. Returning in 1857, he took lessons of Manuel Garcia. In the same year he appeared in oratorio, singing the part of Adam in the "Creation." His first appearance in opera in England was in 1859, as Hoel in "Dinorah" at Covent Garden.
Although Mr. Santley sang almost all the baritone rôles in opera, he was not noted for histrionic powers, but rather for his vocal abilities, and his power of seizing on the exact sentiment and significance of his part.
In 1871 he visited the United States as a{285}member of the Carl Rosa opera company, during which time he reaped substantial honors. In 1889 he made a concert tour in Australia.
In 1892 Joseph Bennett, the eminent critic, wrote: "The foremost baritone of the day is still with us, and though his physical means have suffered changes which no skill can avoid, he is a greater artist than ever, and retains plenty of vitality for his work."
Mr. Santley married, in 1859, Miss Gertrude Kemble, the granddaughter of the celebrated actor, and his daughter, Miss Edith Santley, had a short but exceedingly brilliant career as a concert singer, previous to her marriage, in 1884, to the Hon. R. H. Lyttelton.
Jean Baptiste Faure, a French singer, will be remembered as the creator of the part of Mephistopheles in Gounod's "Faust." He was a good musician and a fine actor, and he owed more to his genius as a comedian than{286}to his voice, which was of great compass, though not of a brilliant quality. In the winter of 1861 he made his first appearance at the Grand Opera in Paris, though he had made his operatic début nine years before at the Opera Comique. For many years he remained at the Grand Opera, during which time he was a prominent figure in operatic history. Faure was born in 1830, and was the son of a singer at the church of Moulins. His father died when he was but seven years old. At the age of thirteen he entered the solfeggio class at the Conservatoire in Paris, to which city his family had moved when he was three years old. At the breaking of his boy's voice he took up piano and double bass, and was for some time a member of the band at the Odéon theatre. After his voice was settled he joined the chorus at the Théâtre Italien, and in 1850 again entered the Conservatoire, where he gained, in 1852, the first prizes for{287}singing and for opera comique. He is a man of refined tastes and great culture, and an enthusiastic collector of pictures. In 1859 he married Mlle. Lefebre, an actress at the Opera Comique. Of Faure's Mephistopheles, in "Faust," a critic of 1876 writes, "No impersonation of this character at all approaching the general excellence of his could be named." What Faure respected most was the intention of the composer. It is impossible for any one to penetrate more deeply into a part, to adorn it with more delicate gradations of light and shade, to hit upon more felicitous contrasts and juster intonations, to identify himself more thoroughly with a character or an epoch. He proceeded by degrees, led his audience to sublimest heights of enthusiasm by cleverly calculated stages,—he fascinated them.
Of French baritones, Victor Maurel is the one who has succeeded Faure. His creation{288}of the part of Iago, in Verdi's "Otello," was considered a masterpiece of lyric acting, and Iago is at the present day his greatest rôle.
Maurel was born in 1848 at Marseilles, and, having a penchant for acting and singing, began to play in comedy and light opera in his native town. His ambition soon led him to Paris, where he entered the Conservatoire and studied singing with Vauthrot, and opera with Duvernoy. He gained the first prizes in both subjects in 1867.
In 1869 he made his début in "Les Huguenots," but he was not considered sufficiently successful to secure a permanent engagement, so he went for a series of tours in Italy, Spain, and America. His first London appearance was made in 1873, when he took the part of Renato at the Royal Italian Opera, and was engaged there, as a result of his success, every year until 1879, playing the parts of Don Giovanni, Tell, Almaviva,{289}Hoel, Peter the Great, Valentine, Hamlet, and the Cacique. He also played Wolfram and the Flying Dutchman, and in 1878 appeared as Domingo in Massé's "Paul and Virginia."
In 1879 he once more appeared in Paris, taking the part of Hamlet. His name had become established since his previous appearance in that city, and he was now a most decided success.
About this time M. Maurel undertook the management of Italian opera at the Théâtre des Nations. His enterprise was hailed with joy by the Parisians, who were desirous of having Italian opera.
Maurel surrounded himself with a company of the finest artists, including Mesdames Marimon, Adler-Dévriès, Nevada, and Tremelli, and Gayarré, the brothers De Reszke, and Maurel himself.
Notwithstanding the attractions offered, the outlay exceeded the income, and M.{290}Maurel relieved himself of a large amount of money in a remarkably short time. His financial disasters in no way interfered with his artistic successes, and his production of Massenet's "Herodiade," on February 1, 1884, was a great triumph.
Victor Maurel combines a good voice with a most attractive personality and a great love of his art. He is undoubtedly to be considered one of the greatest baritones of the present day. As an actor M. Maurel is magnificent, as a singer he has never had a marvellous organ, but he has used it with exquisite art. If he ceased to sing he would still be one of the greatest of Shakespearean actors. As Iago he is insidiously great, as Rigoletto overwhelming and thrilling.
He first visited the United States in 1874, and he was at once accepted as a great artist.
Amongst operatic baritones of the past{291}twenty years Señor Guiseppe Del Puente, a Spaniard, descended from an old and noble family, must be mentioned. He was born in 1845, and studied at the conservatory at Naples. Being a true artist in his instincts, and having a fine voice, he speedily excelled. He became connected with the best operatic enterprises, and was always popular on account of his handsome stage presence, dramatic capability, and fine, rotund, musical baritone voice. He was equally valuable in the comedy parts of light opera, or the heavier ones of serious opera.
He was well known in America in the eighties, when he belonged to the Mapleson company, and sang with Gerster, Valleria, Scalchi, Ravelli, and Galassi.
The greatest English baritone of the present day is Ffrançon Davies, whose voice was declared by Sims Reeves to be the purest baritone he had ever heard. Besides having this beautifully pure tone, he has perfect control{292}of the breath, and remarkable breadth and intelligence.
His first appearance took place at Free-trade Hall, Manchester, at Mr. de Jong's concerts in January, 1890.
Mr. Davies was born at Bethesda, Carnarvonshire, North Wales, and, after receiving his early education at Friar's Grammar School, at Bangor, he obtained an exhibition at Jesus College, Oxford. He gained his B.A. and M.A. degrees, but was not devoted to studies only, for he stood well in the athletic world of his University, playing football in his college team, and rowing in the Varsity trial eights.
After leaving Oxford he began to study music seriously, and entered the Guildhall School, taking lessons later with Shakespeare. He has a large repertoire of baritone operatic parts, in which he has sung with great success, and he is one of the best oratorio and concert baritones of the day.{293}He visited America in 1896, and confirmed the good accounts which had preceded him.
In the list of famous baritones of the present day, America is admirably represented by David Bispham, who has gained his greatest reputation in the part of Falstaff in Verdi's opera of that name.
Mr. Bispham was born in Philadelphia, in 1857, his father being a Quaker. Like many of the singers of to-day, he was intended for a commercial career, but, being more interested in music, he eventually allowed his love for art to overcome his desire for business, or, as he has himself said, he went the way of least resistance. His father's musical proclivities manifested themselves on the flute, which instrument he played beautifully, and young Bispham solaced the leisure hours of his youth with the guitar and zither, but never learned much of any other instrument. On every possible occasion he sang. He was a member of{294}several choral societies and church choirs, and had the advantage of many musical friends. He took parts also in amateur dramatic performances, and thus made some progress in his art.
In 1885 he gave up business and went to London, where he has since resided. He studied with Vannucini, Shakespeare, and Lamperti, and in 1891 made his début in London in "La Basoche," scoring an instantaneous success. He also made a provincial tour with Sims Reeves.
Mr. Bispham has a repertoire of nearly fifty rôles, and can sing entire parts in German, Italian, French, and English. There are few artists who work as conscientiously for the general good of art, and there are few who have made so general a success in such a wide variety of rôles, among the best of which are Wotan, Wolfram, and Beckmesser. He is also without a peer on the concert platform as an interpreter of Wagner.{295}He was seen in opera in America in 1896, and his artistic efforts made a deep impression, for he is one of the few artists who combine with unusual vocal accomplishments great dramatic powers.{296}
Thecontralto in an opera company has a somewhat thankless task. Her fate is to be either a boy, or else a nurse, duenna, or some character which implies age. She frequently is obliged to stand mute while the prima donna warbles and trills and receives the applause of the house, and yet the musical demands upon the contralto are equal to those made upon the soprano.
A contralto who was deservedly popular for many years during the middle of this century was Adelaide Phillips. She was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1833, and in 1840 went with her family to Canada, afterwards settling in Boston, where, in 1843, she appeared as an infant prodigy at the Boston{297}Museum. In 1850, her voice having attracted attention, she was introduced to Jenny Lind, who advised her to study music. A subscription soon raised the necessary funds, and she was sent to Manuel Garcia in London, after which another fund was raised to enable her to go to Italy, where she made her début in 1854 at Milan. She sang with success in many cities of both hemispheres, and her repertoire consisted of all the contralto parts in the operas that held their places on the Italian stage during the twenty-five years that she was known as an opera singer. In 1879, when the Boston Ideal Opera Company was formed, Adelaide Phillips was the chief contralto. She made her last appearance, in Cincinnati, in December, 1881.
In 1882 the state of her health was such that she was obliged to go to Carlsbad, and she died there on October 3d of the same year.{298}
In private life Miss Phillips was highly esteemed, for she was not only an artist of sterling abilities, but a woman of grand character and a most devoted friend. She was buried at Marshfield, Mass., where the family had lived for some years on an estate which her success had enabled her to buy. Her life was one of hard and unceasing labor, but she had the satisfaction of being able to care for the necessities of her family, who were thrown upon her in early life.
A mezzo-soprano who took the public by storm in the early sixties was Zelia Trebelli, or, as she was more widely known, after her marriage, Madame Trebelli-Bettini. No member of Merelli's Italian troupe was gifted with so brilliant a voice and so much executive power. Her appearances in the opera houses in Germany were a series of triumphs, public and critics alike being carried away by her voice, with its brilliancy and flexibility, and her control over it.{299}
Her early triumph was the result of long preparation, for her musical education began when she was six years old, and her vocal training ten years later. It was not until after five years of close application to study that she made her début in Madrid, playing Rosina in "Il Barbiere," with Mario as Count Almaviva.
For many years Trebelli-Bettini remained one of the best of the galaxy of opera singers which the operatic stage has displayed during the last half of the century. In 1884 she made a tour in the United States with Mr. Abbey's troupe. She was born in Paris in 1838, and died in 1892. Her proper name was Zelia Gilbert, which expanded and Frenchified into Gillebert and reversed gives Trebelli(g), the Italian name which has for some years appeared to be necessary for all those who wish to succeed in opera.
When Gounod's "Faust" received its first performance in England, in 1863, the cast{300}included Tietiens, as Marguerite; Trebelli, as Siebel; Giuglini, as Faust; Gassier, as Mephistopheles; and Charles Santley, as Valentine.
Since the days of Alboni there has been no contralto singer to whom the adjective "great" could be so fitly applied as to Sofia Scalchi. She was born in Turin, and her parents were both singers. She made her début in 1866 at Mantua, in the part of Ulrica (Un Ballo in Maschera), when she was only sixteen years of age. Her first appearance in London took place two years later, and from that time she remained a favorite in England, where she sang in the memorable season of "Cenerentola," and every season afterwards for more than twenty-five years. Madame Scalchi is well known in America, where she first appeared under Mapleson's management in 1882. She had been singing in Rio Janeiro, and reached New York after a stormy voyage of twenty{301}two days, which left her in such an exhausted condition that she was incapacitated for a month, and her illness played havoc with Mapleson's managements.
Sofia Scalchi.
Sofia Scalchi.
Scalchi was the possessor of a voice of delicious quality and unusual range, every note in its compass of two and a half octaves being of a wonderfully soft yet penetrating tone, and of great power. Her popularity was such that Patti and other prima donnas feared her as a rival, and regarded with jealousy the applause which attended her performances. Scalchi was imbued with the prima donna temperament, and had the regulation parrots and other pets during her travels. Concerning this portion of her equipage, Mapleson tells an anecdote to the effect that Scalchi's parrot died the night before the company reached Salt Lake City, in 1884, a bereavement which caused that lady to go into hysterics and take to a bed of sickness. Notwithstanding every art of{302}persuasion and such threats as could be used, Scalchi refused to appear, and her part had to be taken by a substitute.
In 1876 Signora Scalchi married Count Luigi Alberto Lolli, and her home is at the Villa Sofia, Turin, Italy.
Marianne Brandt is one of those singers who have made their reputation as exponents of Wagner opera. She is the daughter of a gentleman of Vienna, named Bischoff, and it is related that she assumed the name of Brandt upon beginning her stage career on account of her parents, who strongly objected to her going upon the stage, and threw in her way every possible obstacle. Marianne, however, was determined to persevere, and she went through a period of patient, hard work, in order to gain her education. It is said that at one time she supported herself, and paid for her lessons by sewing.
Her first teacher was Frau Marschner, at{303}the Conservatorium in Vienna, but later on she took lessons of Madame Pauline Viardot-Garcia.
In 1867 she received an engagement at Gratz, where she made her début as Rachel, in "La Juive." Her parents had expected failure, hence their unwillingness to allow the use of the family name.
In 1868 she sang at Hamburg, when she played Fides with such success that she was immediately offered a permanent engagement, which was accepted, and lasted for many years. During her leaves of absence she appeared in London as Fidelio, but did not make a remarkable success, though ten years later, when she sang in "Tristan and Isolde," her artistic efforts were heartily appreciated.
Fraulein Brandt sang the part of Kundry at the second representation of "Parsifal" at Bayreuth, and it is said that she generously gave her services on that occasion. She has visited the United States several{304}times, taking part in some of the earlier representations of Wagner opera in New York and other cities.
The next contralto singer to appear in opera was Annie Louise Cary, a native of the State of Maine, where she was born in 1846, at Wayne. Her family were all musical, and she was the youngest of six musical children. By the time she was sixteen her voice had developed wonderful qualities, and she was able to sing from C in the bass clef to F in alt, a range of three octaves and a half. At the age of eighteen she went to Boston, and secured a position in a church choir, while she studied music. Her career in Boston was much the same as that of many young aspirants for artistic honors,—"church choir and chores," it has been facetiously called. By this it may be understood that she earned her board by assisting in the household duties, while her church choir position enabled her to pay for{305}her vocal lessons. Her splendid voice and musical intelligence soon enabled her to obtain concert engagements, and before she went abroad she sang in many festivals and at the Handel and Haydn Society concerts, on one of which occasions she was associated with Parepa-Rosa.
Being possessed of much ambition, and with the energy which characterizes the natives of the State of Maine, Miss Cary organized and gave a concert in Music Hall, which brought her enough funds for a year's study abroad. Her Puritan training forbade the idea of opera, and it was her intention to study for concert and oratorio. At the end of her year she was discouraged, and declared that she sang no better than when she arrived. To this her teacher, Giovanni Conti, made no dissent, for his one idea of singing wasopera. Miss Cary flung down her music, and left the room in disgust. And now came a curious mental revolution:{306}having refused to consider the possibility of singing in opera, and having on that account left her teacher, she shortly afterwards met an impresario named Lorini, for whom she sang. He offered her an engagement to sing in Italian opera, and she accepted it. For two years she was in Lorini's company, taking all kinds of parts. In 1869 she went to Paris for further study, and while there met Maurice Strakosch, who was at that time forming the Nilsson concert company, for a tour in America. Miss Cary accepted the engagement which he offered her. The company consisted of Miss Nilsson, soprano; Miss Cary, contralto; Brignoli, tenor; Verger, baritone, and Vieuxtemps, violinist. This tour lasted two years, and in 1873 Miss Cary again appeared in opera, creating the part of Amneris, with Italo Campanini as Rhadames, when "Aida" was produced at the Academy of Music in New York. The{307}following year Miss Cary sang Ortrud in "Lohengrin."
In 1879 and 1880 Miss Cary was a member of the Kellogg Concert Company. During the last years of her career, 1879 to 1881, she sang again in opera, adding to her repertoire the contralto part in "Favorita." Campanini and Gerster were the tenor and soprano. In 1881 she made her last appearance in opera in Philadelphia, and in 1882 she sang for the last time at the Cincinnati festival, having taken part in each one given from 1873. So well was she known at these festivals that when, in 1884, she attended as a member of the audience, she was at once recognized and received an ovation on taking her seat. On retiring from the stage in 1882, Miss Cary married Dr. C. H. Raymond, putting an end to her public career when she was at the height of her popularity. All young singers may take her early career as a model, for it should give{308}hope and courage to the many who are to-day making a similar struggle.
One of the members of Mapleson's company which visited the United States in 1884, and which included Patti and Gerster, was Anna de Belocca, a contralto of much merit. Her first appearance in this country, however, was made under the auspices of Maurice Strakosch, in 1876, when she was a new star on the operatic horizon. Mlle. de Belocca was unusually attractive in person, with brown hair, large black eyes, dead-white complexion, and symmetrical form. She was the daughter of M. de Bellokh, a scholar of St. Petersburg and acting Imperial Councillor of State. Mlle. de Belocca spoke five languages, and because of her aristocratic birth was sought after by the highest circles of society.
Mapleson seems to have been well aware of her ideas on social matters, for on one occasion he made use of his knowledge to help himself out of a dilemma. His company{309}was in Dublin, and the one suite of rooms at the hotel was claimed by both Mlle. Salla, the prima donna, and Mlle. Belocca, the contralto. Neither would give way until a happy thought struck Mapleson, and, after taking the landlord aside for a short conference, he asked whether there were actually no other rooms in the house equal to the disputed ones. "There is a suite above this," was the reply, "but they are reserved specially for Lady Spencer (wife of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at that time), and it would be impossible for me to let any one else use them." "Well, can't we look at them?" suggested Mapleson. The landlord assented, and showed Mapleson up, Mlle. Belocca following. As soon as she entered the rooms she declared that they were delightful, and she should insist on remaining there. Of course the landlord and Mapleson gave a reluctant but delighted consent, and Lady Spencer made no requisition.{310}
The principal contralto at the festival at Cincinnati in 1896 was Marie Brema, who is to-day considered one of the greatest interpreters of Wagner. Miss Brema was born in Scotland, and made her first appearance in concert at St. James's Hall, London. She was introduced to Frau Wagner, who was so well pleased with her that she offered her an engagement to sing the part of Ortrud in "Lohengrin" and gave her personal instruction.
In 1888 a London theatrical manager saw her play in some amateur theatricals, and was so struck by her talent that he wanted to star her as an actress. She declined his proposition, feeling that the operatic stage was better suited to her capabilities. When she appeared at the Bayreuth festival, in 1894, as Kundry and Ortrud, she made an immense triumph. She sang with no apparent effort, naturally and gracefully, as all true singers do. Her voice was full, round, and well placed, and her coloring perfect.{311}
Since that time she has fully maintained her reputation, and has been heard in America with the Damrosch company, in 1894-5-9, and with Abbey and Grau the following year. During the opera season in London in 1898 her work elicited the highest praise of the critics. Miss Brema is still young, and is likely to hold a high rank among singers for many years to come.
The singer in an opera company who shares with the contralto the hard work, but seldom reaps much of the glory, is the bass, while the tenor is always an object of adoration, or should be, if he is a good singer, and the baritone has many good parts. The basso not only has thankless parts allotted to him, but, from precedent, one generally expects him to be wobbly and to sing frequently out of tune. Some bassos have broken through the law of precedent, and then they have been delightful. An operatic king or duke, who is usually a bass, is very seldom heard to sing in tune,{312}nor is the heavy villain of the opera, who is always a bass, able to keep within half a note of the path laid down for him by the composer. Two bassos who made their appearance at about the same time were Signor Foli (1862) and Signor Agnesi (1864), and for many years they were associated with Italian opera and oratorio throughout Europe. Signor Foli was an Irishman whose real name was Allan James Foley. He was born at Cahir, Tipperary, and went to America when very young. His voice was a rich, powerful bass of more than two octaves, from E below the line to F, and he had a repertoire of over sixty operas.
Of late years several singers of English and American origin have achieved distinction without the necessity of Italianizing their name,—Bispham, for instance, being a striking example. There are various reasons assigned for the necessity of a change. One is that the name must be possible of pronunciation{313}by the Italians, in whose country the opera singer germinates, and the other is that Americans and English have not yet learned to appreciate a singer by his merits, but rather by his name. One of the most ridiculous instances of Italianizing was in the case of Mr. John Clarke, of Brooklyn, who became Signor Giovanni Chiari di Broccolini. On the other hand, Santley never found it necessary to become Italian, nor did Sims Reeves. Myron Whitney is a name needing no Italianization. Emma Eames has found her name no bar to renown, and a score of singers who are now climbing the ladder of fame are not ashamed of their Anglo-Saxon origin. Louis Ferdinand Leopold Agnesi (Agniez) was a native of Namur, Belgium, and in his early days essayed to be a composer. He brought out an opera, "Harold le Normand," which met with indifferent success, and then he became a singer, receiving instruction from Duprez. His career was{314}not long, for he died in 1875, but he was a most popular singer.
Emil Fischer, who for many years has been associated with Wagner opera, was the son of musicians, his father having been a well-known basso and his mother also a singer of renown. He first appeared at Gratz at the age of seventeen. In 1862 he took the management of the theatre at Dantzig and held it for eight years. In 1882 he became a member of the Royal Opera at Dresden, and remained there until, in 1885, he went to New York and joined the German opera. Since that time he has become well known in America, having appeared in most of the representations of Wagner's operas.
Emil Scaria was for many years known as a versatile singer and actor, more particularly in German opera. He made his début in 1862 at Dessau, after having studied in the conservatoire at Vienna and with Garcia in London. From 1865 to 1872 he was at{315}Dresden, and then at Vienna for several years. Later on he visited America, and was one of the celebrated Wagner trio, consisting of Materna, Winkelmann, and Scaria, who in 1884 sang in the Wagner festivals. Scaria was born in 1838 at Gratz. He created the part of Gurnemanz in "Parsifal," at Bayreuth. In 1885 he became a victim to insanity, and died the following year.
In 1876 Edouard de Reszke made his début at Paris in "Aida," and entered on a career of renown. He is the younger brother of Jean de Reszke, the tenor, and it was at the instigation of Jean that he abandoned his proposed occupation and took to the stage. Edouard had undergone a course of study at the Agricultural College at Prikao, with a view to developing the resources of the great estates in Poland belonging to the De Reszke family. He accordingly proceeded to Milan, and studied with Stella and Alba, and later on with Coletti. At the end{316}of four years he went to Paris for further study, and to make his début.
His voice is a full, rich, resonant bass, capable of sending forth notes of immense volume, or those of the most tender quality. His appearance is that of a great, tall, broad-shouldered giant, with fair skin and blue eyes, and his stage presence is imposing.
Four years after his début in Paris he created the part of Il Re, in Catalani's "Elda," and Massenet entrusted to him the creation of "Le Roi de Lahore" when it was produced at La Scala in Milan. He has also created the parts of Carlo V., in Marchetti's "Don Giovanni d'Austria," and Don Diegue, in "Le Cid." He was engaged in London during the seasons from 1880-84, and became immensely popular. He has many friends in England, for he has a weakness for everything connected with sport, in the best sense.
Notwithstanding the many parts in which{317}he has made the greatest success, his assumption of the rôle of Mephistopheles, in "Faust," more than any other, established his reputation as a great lyric artist, and he is generally conceded to be one of the greatest bassos of the century.
Of late years a French basso has arisen to share the popularity of Edouard de Reszke,—Pol Plançon, who for more than a decade has been one of the permanent stars of the Paris Opera House. M. Plançon was intended for a mercantile career, but having been an enthusiastic singer from the age of four, he rebelled against the decision of his parents. He was nevertheless sent to Paris, and entered a large and fashionable store to learn the business. One day Theodore Ritter, the pianist, heard him sing, for he sang upon every possible occasion, and was so pleased with his voice that he advised him to turn his attention to music. Through the influence of Ritter he was admitted to{318}the École Duprez, and thereby incurred the severe displeasure of his family.
M. Plançon made his first appearance at Lyons as St. Bris, in "Les Huguenots," and remained there for two seasons. In 1883 he returned to Paris, and made his Parisian début at the Grand Opera House as Mephisto, in "Faust," a part in which he excels. Since that time he has sung all the chief bass rôles at the Grand Opera House, and has created the parts of François I., in Saint-Saëns's "Ascanio," Don Gomez, in Massenet's "Le Cid," and Pittacus, in Gounod's "Sapho," when that work was revived in 1893.
M. Plançon was born in the Ardennes, but since his position as a singer was assured he has resided in Paris, where also his parents, whose objections were disarmed by his success, have joined him.