The Mapleson Memoirs, 1848-1888 Volume Ii Part 11

"With congratulations we remain--

FREDK. AUSTIN, 1st Regt. Military Band Leader, A. ROSENBECKER, Drct. 1st Regt. Grand Orchestra, ALBERT KLEIST, Pres. of Committee on C. Musical Sy., => Address and Resolutions.

E. B. KNOX, Col. 1st Rgt. Inf. I.R.G., GEO. W. LYON, P., CHAS. N. POST,

Done at Chicago, April 21st, 1885."

This may be the place to mention, what I am reminded of whenever I have to speak of America, the cordial, lavish hospitality with which English visitors are received in that country. Apart from the favour shown to me by railway and steamboat companies, who, so far as I was personally concerned, carried me everywhere free, the committees of the leading clubs offered me in all the princ.i.p.al cities the honours and advantages of members.h.i.+p. Not only was I a member of all the best clubs, but I was, moreover, treated in every club-house as a guest. This sometimes placed me in an awkward position. More than once I have felt tempted, at some magnificent club-house, to order such expensive luxuries as terrapin and canvas-back duck; but unwilling to abuse the privileges conferred upon me, I condemned myself to a much simpler fare. It seemed more becoming to reserve the ordering of such costly dishes for some future occasion, when I might happen to be dining at a restaurant.

It must be admitted that in many of the conveniences of life the Americans are far ahead of us, and ahead are likely to remain; so averse are we in England to all departures from settled habits, inconvenient, and even injurious as these may be. Every opera-goer knows the delay, the trouble, the irritation caused by the difficulty, when the performance is at an end, of getting up carriages or cabs. This difficulty has, in the United States, no existence.

When the opera-goer reaches the theatre an official, known as the "carriage superintendent," presents a large ticket in two divisions, bearing duplicate numbers. One numbered half is handed by the "carriage superintendent" to the driver. The other is retained by the opera-goer, who on coming out at the end of the representation exhibits his number, which is thereupon signalled or telegraphed to a man on the top of the house, who at once displays it in a transparency lighted by electricity or otherwise. The carriages are all drawn up with their hind wheels to the kerbstone, so that the approach to the theatre is quite clear. The illuminated number is at once seen, and the carriage indicated by it is at the door by the time the intending occupant is downstairs in the vestibule.

It is astonis.h.i.+ng how easily this system works.

CHAPTER IX.

"COUNT DI LUNA" INTRODUCED TO "LEONORA"--A PATTI CONTRACT--THE STING OF THE ENGAGEMENT--A TENOR'S SUITE--A PRESENTATION OF JEWELLERY--"MY DON GIOVANNI"--A PROFITABLE TOUR.

THE public are under the impression that the closest intimacies are contracted between vocalists in consequence of their appearing constantly together in the same works. Under the new system, by which the prima donna stipulates that she shall not be called upon to appear at any rehearsal, this possible source of excessive friends.h.i.+p ceases to exist. It now frequently happens that the prima donna is not even personally acquainted with the singers who are to take part with her in the same opera; and on one occasion, when _Il Trovatore_ was being performed, I remember the baritone soliciting the honour of an introduction to Mdme. Patti at the very moment when he was singing in the trio of the first act. The "Manrico" of the evening was exceedingly polite, and managed without scandalizing the audience to effect the introduction by singing it as if it were a portion of his _role_.

To show that the stipulation I have just spoken of is made in the most formal manner, and to give a general idea of the conditions a manager is expected to accept from a leading prima donna, I here subjoin a copy of the contract between Mdme. Patti and myself for my season at Covent Garden in 1885:--

"THE ENGAGEMENT contracted in London Sixth day of June 1885 BETWEEN JAMES HENRY MAPLESON Operatic Manager, henceforward described as Mr. Mapleson and ADELINA PATTI, Artiste Lyrique, henceforward described as Madame Patti.

"Article 1.--Mr. Mapleson engages Madame Patti to sing and Madame Patti engages to sing at a series of Eight Operatic Representations in Italian or high cla.s.s Concerts to be given under his direction from Sixteenth June and ending the Sixteenth July One thousand eight hundred and eighty five in London in such manner that two of such Representations or Concerts (as the case may be) may be given in each week of such period and so that an interval of at least two clear days may elapse between each Representation or Concert unless the contracting parties otherwise agree.

"Article 2.--Mr. Mapleson engages to pay to Madame Patti or her representative for such series the sum of Four thousand pounds and for all additional Representations or Concerts the sum of Five hundred pounds each; such payment to be made in advance in sums of Five hundred pounds each before 2 o'Clock in the afternoon of the day on which a Representation or Concert is to be given.

"Article 3.--The repertoire to comprise the Operas of _Martha_, _Traviata_, _Trovatore_, _Lucia di Lammermoor_, _Il Barbiere di Seviglia_, _Crispino_, _Rigoletto_, _Linda_, _Carmen_ and _Don Giovanni_; and thereof 'Il Barbiere,' 'La Traviata,' 'Martha' and 'Zerlina' in _Don Giovanni_ shall be a.s.signed exclusively to Madame Patti during the entire Operatic Season. The Airs to be sung at the Concerts (if any) are to be selected by Madame Patti.

"Article 4.--The selection from such Repertoire of the Opera to be given at her re-entree shall be selected and be fixed exclusively by Madame Patti; but with that exception the choice therefrom of the Operas to be given at the several representations shall be Tuesdays and Sat.u.r.days, and the days of the week on which Concerts (if any) shall be given shall be fixed by the mutual agreement of the contracting parties; and Mr. Mapleson engages to adhere thereto except in case of sudden, necessary change through the illness of other princ.i.p.al Artistes in the cast of the chosen Opera.

"Article 5.--Madame Patti shall be free to attend Rehearsals, but shall not be required or bound to attend at any.

"Article 6.--Madame Patti will at her own expense provide all requisite costumes for the Operas selected.

"Article 7.--Mr. Mapleson engages that Madame Patti shall be announced daily during the series of Representations or Concerts in a special leaded advertis.e.m.e.nt among the Theatrical Advertis.e.m.e.nts over the Clock as well as in the Operatic Casts or Concert Programmes in all Journals in which he may advertise his Operas or Concerts and likewise that her name shall appear in a separate line of large letters in all Announce Bills of Operas or Concerts in or at which she is to appear and that such letters shall be at least one third larger than those employed for the announcement of any other Artiste in the same Cast or Programme.

"Article 8.--Madame Patti is not to be at liberty to sing elsewhere during this engagement except at State Concerts.

"Article 9.--In the event of Madame Patti not appearing in Opera or at Concert on the day for which she may have been announced to sing owing to her indisposition such intended appearance shall be treated as postponed if such indisposition be of a temporary character, and for every such non-appearance a subst.i.tuted Representation or Concert shall be given before the Sixteenth July One thousand eight hundred and eighty five, but if such indisposition continues during a period longer than two succeeding Operatic or Concert nights provided by the first Article the number of non-attendance nights shall be counted off the Eight agreed for Representations or Concerts as if Madame Patti had actually appeared thereat. In the case of such postponement the payment of the Five hundred pounds shall be postponed until the morning of the day on which the subst.i.tuted Representation or Concert shall be given; but in the case of counting off the day as wholly gone no salary shall be payable by Mr. Mapleson therefor; but beyond such postponement or deduction from payment, as the case may be, he shall have no ground of complaint nor claim for non-attendance or otherwise. And he engages to announce her indisposition or withdraw her name from all advertis.e.m.e.nts and other announcements of performance at the earliest time and with all due diligence and publicity.

"Article 10.--In the event of an Epidemic of Cholera, Small pox, Fever or other contagious or deadly disease breaking out within the range of the London Bills of Mortality Madame Patti shall be at liberty to cancel this Engagement by notice in writing as provided in the Twelfth Article, and thereupon she shall be no longer required nor bound to continue the Representations or Concerts, and thereupon the Two thousand pounds deposit in the Eleventh Article mentioned, and no more, shall be repayable to him if he shall have duly performed his several engagements herein.

"Article 11.--Mr. Mapleson, as a preliminary obligation performable by him (and on performance of which Madame Patti's obligations under her engagements herein depend) hereby engages to deposit the sum of Two thousand pounds Cash with Messrs.

Rothschild, at their Counting-house in New Court, St. Swithin's Lane, London, on or before the Tenth June One thousand eight hundred and eighty five to the credit of Madame Patti, as part guarantee for Mr. Mapleson's fulfilment of this engagement. Such Two thousand pounds are to be applied by Madame Patti as payment for the last four actual Representations or Concerts, or (as the case may be) retained by her as her own property for and on account of damages sustained by her through the nonperformance of this engagement by Mr. Mapleson.

"Article 12.--Should Mr. Mapleson fail to make such deposit in full by the day named Madame Patti shall be at liberty at any time afterwards, and notwithstanding any negotiation, withdrawal of notice, waiver, extension of time for depositing, or acceptance of part payment of such Two thousand pounds to put an end to this Engagement by lodging with Mr. Mapleson's Solicitors, Messrs. J.

and R. Gole in London, a letter signed by her, announcing her determination of this Engagement; and thenceforth this Engagement shall be at an end except so far as regards the Agreement next following, that is to say, That on such failure and determination Mr. Mapleson shall, and he hereby agrees to pay to Madame Patti on demand the sum of Four thousand pounds as and for compensation to her for expenses incident to this Engagement and for loss of time in procuring other engagements of an equal character.

"ADELINA PATTI."

About the sum payable per night to Mdme. Patti by the terms of the above agreement I say nothing. Five hundred pounds a night was only half what I had paid her in the United States; and soon afterwards at Her Majesty's Theatre I myself offered to give the famous vocalist six hundred and fifty per night. The sting of the contract lies for the manager, pecuniarily speaking, in the clause which empowers the singer to declare herself ill at the last moment, while guaranteeing her against all the consequences sure to arise from her too tardy apology.

The manager has suddenly to change the performance, and, worse by far, to incur the charge of having broken faith with the public; for however precisely the certificate of indisposition may be made out, there are sure to be some knowing ones among the disappointed crowd who will whisper, as a great secret known to them alone, that the prima donna has not been paid, and that the certificate is all a sham.

What an unfair clause, too, is that by which, if the manager does not pay in advance to the prima donna at the exact time prescribed the whole of the sum payable to her for all the performances she binds herself to give, he will by such failure render himself liable for the entire sum without the prima donna on her side being called upon to sing at all.

The clause liberating the prima donna from attending rehearsals will be condemned by all lovers of music. During the three or four years that Mdme. Patti was with me in America she never once appeared at a rehearsal. When I was producing _La Gazza Ladra_, an opera which contains an unusually large number of parts, there were several members of the cast who did not even know Mdme. Patti by sight. Under such circ.u.mstances all idea of a perfect _ensemble_ was, of course, out of the question. It was only on the night of performance, and in presence of the public, that the concerted pieces were tried for the first time with the soprano voice. The unfortunate contralto, Mdlle. Vianelli, had never in her life seen Mdme. Patti, with whom, on this occasion, she had to sing duets full of concerted pa.s.sages. At such rehearsal as she could obtain Arditi did his best to replace the absent prima donna, whistling the soprano part so as at least to give the much-tried contralto some idea of the effect.

In addition to the clauses in the prima donna's written engagement, there is always an understanding by which she is to receive so many stalls, so many boxes, so many places in the pit, and so many in the gallery. How, it will be asked, can such an ill.u.s.trious lady have friends whom she would like to send to the gallery? The answer is that the distinguished vocalist wishes to be supported from all parts of the house, and that she is far too practical--high as may be the opinion she entertains of her own talents--to leave the applause even in the smallest degree to chance.

There are plenty of great singers--though Mdme. Patti is not one of them--who carry with them on their foreign tours a _chef de claque_ as a member of their ordinary suite. Tenors are, at least, as particular on this score as prime donne; and if one popular tenor travels with a staff of eight, his rival, following him to the same country, will make a point, merely that the fact may be recorded in the papers, of taking with him a staff of nine.

Signor Masini, the modest vocalist who wished Sir Michael Costa to come round to his hotel and learn from him how the _tempi_ should be taken in the _Faust_ music, went not long since to South America with a staff consisting of the following paid officials: A secretary, an under-secretary, a cook, a valet, a barber, a doctor, a lawyer, a journalist, an agent, and a treasurer. The ten attendants, apart from their special duties, form a useful _claque_, and are kept judiciously distributed about the house according to their various social positions.

The valet and the journalist, the barber and the doctor are said to have squabbles at times on the subject of precedence.

The functions of the lawyer will not perhaps be apparent to everyone.

His appointed duties, however, are to draw up contracts and to recover damages in case a clause in any existing contract should seem to have been broken. The hire of all these attendants causes no perceptible hole in the immense salary payable to the artist who employs them; and the travelling expenses of a good number of them have to be defrayed by the unfortunate manager.

Only an oriental prince or a musical _parvenu_ would dream of maintaining such a suite; and soon, I believe, the following of a vocalist with a world-wide reputation will not be considered complete unless it includes, in addition to the other gentlemen who wait upon the Masini's and the Tamagno's, an architect and surveyor.

It will perhaps have been observed that by one of the clauses of Mdme.

Patti's engagement the letters of her name are in all printed announcements to be one-third larger than the letters of anyone else's name; and during the progress of the Chicago Festival, I saw Signor Nicolini armed with what appeared to be a theodolite, and accompanied by a gentleman who I fancy was a great geometrician, looking intently and with a scientific air at some wall-posters on which the letters composing Mdme. Patti's name seemed to him not quite one-third larger than the letters composing the name of Mdlle. Nevada. At last, abandoning all idea of scientific measurement, he procured a ladder, and, boldly mounting the steps, ascertained by means of a foot-rule that the letters which he had previously been observing from afar were indeed a trifle less tall than by contract they should have been.

I can truly say, "with my hand on my conscience," as the French put it, that I had not ordered the letters to be made a shade smaller than they should have been with the slightest intention of wounding the feelings or damaging the interests either of Mdme. Adelina Patti or of Signor Nicolini. The printers had not followed my directions so precisely as they ought to have done.

In order to conciliate the offended prima donna and her irritated spouse, I caused the printed name of that most charming vocalist, Mdlle.

Nevada, to be operated upon in this way: a thin slice was taken out of it transversely, so that the middle stroke of the letter E disappeared altogether. When I pointed out my revised version of the name to Signer Nicolini in order to demonstrate to him that he was geometrically wrong, he replied to me with a puzzled look as he pointed to the letters composing the name of Nevada: "Yes; but there is something very strange about that E."

To return to my narrative. At the conclusion of the great Chicago Festival, we left, in the middle of the night, for New York, and reached it on Monday morning, where we opened with _Semiramide_ to as large an audience as the Academy had ever known. On the Friday following, on the occasion of my benefit, the receipts reached nearly 3,000, the house being crowded from floor to ceiling.

At the close of the opera I was called before the curtain, and on quitting the stage, with Adelina Patti on my right and Scalchi on my left, I was met by Chief Justice Shea, who approached me and said--

"Colonel Mapleson, a number of our citizens who represent significant phases of social life and important business interests in this metropolis desire to testify in a public and notable manner that they understand and laud the superb success which has followed your efforts to establish Italian Opera in this city. It is seldom that public men are understood. It is very seldom that they are offered an acknowledgment beyond the few earnest friends that cl.u.s.ter around them.

Those citizens to whom I refer recognize that your career amongst us has not been a mere chance success, but the result of patience, energy, and the intelligent courage which comes of ripe experience. They think this an apt occasion on which publicly to express the sincerity of that opinion. Sir, allow me on their behalf to offer you this memorial."

I was then handed a magnificent ebony case, fitted with a crystal gla.s.s, containing the following:--A valuable repeater watch set in diamonds, a gold chain with diamond and ruby slides, diamond and ruby charm in the shape of a harp, a pair of large solitaire diamond sleeve b.u.t.tons, a diamond collar stud, a horse-shoe scarf pin (nine large diamonds), three diamond s.h.i.+rt studs, a gold pencil-case with a diamond top and a plain gold pin with a single diamond; the whole being valued at 1,300.

The ebony case and crystal gla.s.s I still possess. The contents, together with everything else, went to keep the Company together during the disastrous retreat from Frisco of the following year, as to which I will later on give details.

I thanked the Chief Justice briefly for the gift and the public for their patronage, and with difficulty left the stage amidst ringing cheers and waving of pocket-handkerchiefs: I say with difficulty, because at that critical moment, as I was picking up a bouquet, the buckle of my pantaloons gave way; and as my tailor had persuaded me, out of compliment to him, to discard the use of braces, it was only with great difficulty that I could manage to shuffle off the stage, entrusting meanwhile some of the jewellery to Patti and some to Scalchi.

At New York, as previously at Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco, lively complaints were made of the vanity and levity of my tenor, Cardinali, who was an empty-headed, fatuous creature unable to write his own name or even to read the love-letters which, in spite, or perhaps in consequence of his empty-headedness, were frequently addressed to him by affectionate and doubtless weak-minded young ladies. Cardinali possessed a certain beauty of countenance; he had also a sloping forehead, and a high opinion of his powers of fascination.