The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-04-22
THE QUEENS OF SONG.
4 CHAPTER OF CHAT ABOUT CHRIS.
TINE NILSSON.
The Tyrants OF the stage-Nilsson's Per.
sonality - Ali 80 Lovely-Poor Brig
noli.

Nym Crinkle, the and musical
critic of the New York World, chats very
pleasantly of prlma donnas in general, and
Nilsson in particular:
Prima donnas are called queens and nearly
all Of them are tyrants. They belong to q
line of despots who have governed the world
Without law or reason ever aimee song became
q sovereignty. Theirs is q divine right to dis
pense Joy, madden managers, fascinate the
| public, and receive the homage and the pres
| ents OF all smaller despots. Nobody ever saw
an humble prima donna or a meek prima
| donna. 'tWhen God has given to a mortal 90
extraordinary q talent as / possess" said Cata-
| lini, tpeople ougbtto applaud and honor 1t as
a miracle. 1t is profane to depreclate the
| gifts of Heaven n
The lmpious criticism Of Catslini's time has
happily passed away. Even the judges now
| array themselves In court robes of fattery aud
bring only flowers of speech to these queens.
And we rather like their sweet arrogance.
We want them to rule u.s.. II Is aaf mankind,
| robbed of Its saints and heroines, with Its god
desses all relegated to fable, n even Its Ma
donnas become q matter Of barren chtGre
scuro, chung to these wandering monarchs
with a great deal of Its old superstition and all
OF Its old chivalry.
They may be imperious, exacting, cruel,
mercenary, but II they are pretty, graceful,
volupluous. or vivacious, straightway we fall
GOWN aQQ WORSHIP luem.
suppose Piccolominl carried away more
hearts from thisc country than did Grsi. And
Lagrange told me herself that q prima donna
never lived to an age that would protect her
from lovers. '=j
Christine Nilsson Is without doubt the rul-
ing queen In the direct line ofdescent.. She is
the beat praised and the best managed prima
donna OF our time.
BEST praised and best managed are not ne
npaaarilV enuivalent terms.1
With less personal beauty she has more per-
sonal magnetism than the PATHS; with lees
voice Bhe outsipgs Lind; with an incredibly
small repertoire she has filed the season with
success.
For a queen who comes Of q long line of
peasants I think she has more royalty In her
mien and manner than any woman I ever
Something of the weird fascination Of her
person follows her into all her roles, for she
never disgulses her face. whether oaref0ot
In ''MignoR" or languishing elegantly In 1.-THE
Traviata" there is the same inexpllcaole
charm of her own strong personality.
There is something childlike In the freedom
and s%pontanelty OF her manner. She looks
you straight In the eyes with the steady gaze
of innocence and curiosity combined. There
ia q flicker Of pathos in her face. It Is always
there as If 1t were a heritage and organic.
When she laughs she shows q magnificent set
VI gSCkuS v AK ntLo ia w
tenderness. There ia none OF the Southern
righteousness ia that face. Hlt were not tor
the Intelligence In II, It would be rugged. 1t
Is the face Of q s%trong.willed woman or the
kind that can suffer self-denial, when the time
comes, though It kill them.
She speaks English with a slight accent, and
shows q curious Interest In anything Ameri-
eau.
I thought her affection for the country
rested in q great measure on the advantages
1t offered TO the poorer classes. That was q
novel discovery to make In q pr1ma donna,
wasn't 1t?
But you must. remember her origin; how
many generations of her people toiled I'M
known to luxury before the vlgor and virtue
OF the stock took vocal form and opened the
wa Into the world; what traditions of hunger
and peuury and t~hankless labor must have
cuu5 uuuu to hes, and mnat poep uka- 1hnSfa
of memory Into her mind when she wears the
regal robes of ''Leonora' or gloriaes the fnery
of Nyioletta."
Do you wonder at the pathos born In her
She isn't ashamed of her origin. Not she.
Didn't I tell you she belonged to the royal
line Where did Grisl come from! Some OF
us can remember when the Marquise de CauX
ran about barefoot IN New w YSIe; d auD,n Il
cab In Homburg. he told me 80 himself, and
many a tenor he look 10 the op%era.house be.
fore ne got into 1t himself
The fact Ia that these artists all fancy Wnen
thew come TO America that their humble origin
gives them a patent OF natural nobility with
our people. -
1t takes them some time to find out hat we
Democrats are rather ashamed OF 1t.
But, as I was saying, Nilsson admires the
material prosperity Of the country. They say
she clapped her hands with delight when they
told her the wonderful history OF Chicago.
| And when that city disappeared IN q night,
like the dream that 1t was, the tears came
Into her eyes.
Everywhere In the West she saw the poorer
classes happy and becoming prosperous. she
saws she sang better for 1t. Some of her let
tiers to Europe glow with q ndtue enthusiasm
that Is charming.
Everything pleases her. She never saw such
warm-hearted people: She never saw people
make money 30 fast. She never saw such q
grand sight as a prairie. She fell In love with
Peoria, and when they gave her the Illinois
wine TO drink she ordered 1t for her hotel IN
New York, and sought q farm and a vineyard
In Peoria. She said there was more musical
culture In the middle classes Of our society
thnn opoopo rho ga mo nlaagaa In