, 1874-01-25

| qnarrela OF the company; thore are the grrna-
blingz of everybody. There are tho disappoint.
! nents Of the prima donua when she is sick, and
the popular indignation, which is hurled at the
unfortunate manager, as Il he we're al accom-
plice instead Of q victim. In such cases We have
| loads Of trouble. A prima donna's contract
reads that she shall not Bing on consecu:
on her to sing she refuses. because it ls not Oh
| the bond, although she would not be obliged tQ
| sing more than three times in the week instead
| OF four. The game wiki the tenors.
TIE MYSTERY or TESoRs.
| Reporter-How is it, Mr.. Strakosch that the
Sopranos and tenors are so often SICK, Wh1lo tue
! contralto is seldom aillng?
Mr.. Strakosch-Thcre arc many wayB OF M
swering the question. As mattcr Of fact So
pranos and tonora do not suffer more than others.
but there are always two Of each, and they give
wav when thoy need not. With our contrnl-
to there is no such word Us fail. We nre under
more obligations to Miss Cary than you would
think. Well or sick, she il always ready to go
Oh and do her best; there is nobody to relieve
| her; she sings every night, and never complains
at being suddenly called upon.
OUR JEWEL
Reporter-You must have jewel in such q
lady.
proud of having brought her out, and she never
forgetH that. Her conduct is in such contrast
with that Of most singers, contraltos even, that
We are glad Of any opportunity to express our
admiration OF her publicly.
THE STARS.
Reporter-How many 'stars" have you in your
company?
Mr.. Strakosch-1here are two sopranos, two
teuors, two baritoues, one bnsso, and ono con-
tralto; We travel with twenty in the orchestra,
and fill up in the large cities we reach; thrty-fse
in the chorus; then VIC hare in addition, stage
managers, tailors, dressers, carpenters, and
others. There are eighty-fve OF us altogether
travelling, with additions Of temporary charac-
ter in the cities.
THE CHORUS.
Repurter-Where do you get your chorus
Mr. Strakosch-We bring half OF them from
Europe, and the remainder from New York.
Shall 1 tell you why? 1t is piece OF strategy.
Their contracts read differently, and they cannot
all strike on us ut once.
Rcporter-What is their vocation. generally?
Mr. Strakosch-They are professional chorus
singers. How they live between seasopH puz-
zlcs me. cannot guess any nehrcr thau YOU can.
Reporter-What nationality predominates
among them ?
Mr. Strakoech-They arc principally Germans.
but there are French, Italian, and others among
them.
Reporter-The press hax commented favora-
bly, upon the appearance Of your chorus as well
as its yocallsrn.
AIR strakoscl, Well, they arc not absolutely
lovely women and noble looking men, but they
are bottor chorus than has ever travelled in this
country before. The fhot IT, you can get as
good chorus us you want by paying for it.. We
nav our chorus enough to live upon, and, in
consequence, they lcok better on the stage,
sing better, and are happy.
Reporter-Chorus singers are pretty badly
paid. generally. arc they not?
Mr.. Strakosch--Ies; very. Ny experience is
that to get the beat can even If it costa money,
is the wiser policy. Especially is this apparent
in chorus. You have the secret Of the strength
Of our chorus.
Reporter-Could you not rely upon your high
priced people to draw?
care. ny object is to run as good company as
l can. II good one will not pay for itself
will retire from the business. I do not want
any niakeshift. have fancy that the public
is beginning to tire Of tue ordinary run Of n1iser-
able makc-weights.
Rcporter-Is that Hhat ruined Maretzek?
Nr. Strakosch-3fy experience leads me to
think that when q COMPANY IL organized to ruin
another, it generally comes to grief ITSELF That
is what wrecked Mnretzck.
Reporter-How are you coming out7
Dir. Strakosch-I think I shall clear my e1-
penses and be dollar or 80 ahead. Tint will
Ds doing well for such a season as this.
PROFESSIONAL RANK.
Reporter-How do your singers rank?
Mr.. Siraloecl-It is hard to say. Su7posing
them to be Of euual merit, the sopranos come
first. tenors mkt, coutraltos batitones, and
bassos, in order. But you cannot rely on this.
good BARITONE ranks higher. aud is paid more,
than q mediocre tenor; q rare basso will be more
expensive thyn good soprano.
4 MATTER OF LOOKS.
Repoter--The soprano captiyates the men, |
and the tenor the women in the audience. Is |
not that rht. case |
Mr.. Stra'iosch-~If the soprano and tenor are |
better looking than the contraIto, baritone. or
bass; Otherwise not. l think they divide the |
pretty evenly throughout tho pro-
fession- I know that the popular theory |
but il is not altogether correct. Tie basso's
[ookx may pnt him q long way ahead Of the ten |
or's voice. He is generally less graceful, but |
mot:e manly. There ia no accounting for tastes,
after Ill. ]
PERSONAL. PREFERENCES.
Roporter-Nhich do you prefer, a eop1ano or |
. contrnto7 |
Mr. Strakosch--As u manager am bound to |
admit that contralto whose name I have men |
toned already is the most obliging, most agroea-
BILE, most charming person l hare ever met in
the profession.
oPERArIc EXPENSES.
Reporter-Wel1 did not mean as manager, |
but you are not on trial, suppose. But what
are the expenses Of running an opera COM
pany {? Let us make up schedule.
Mr. Strakosch-1t will astonish you. To begin
with: Madame Nilsson has $1,000 for every
performance. This il sometimes three and
sometimes four times week. We will take the
maximum, and the schedule for one week will
20 as follows:
)sher sopranos. -......................... GOO
iontfa<os. 40o
lcnofs GOO
wv
3aasos. b00
j0ufub l,1OU |
~ '.-.-..-.. l,30V
Ehe house. 5000
lEcnts. .-..........-.............. 35n
travelling. ..........---............. 500