, 1881-11-06

ulueLy uayS.
| A HlGH-PRICED ARTIST.
| MIME. Adelina Patti, the prlna donna, In:
returned to this country, after an absence O.
| twenty-five years, and the first announce
nlent which she makes to the American pub
lie, through her accredited business agent. i
; at1er services are worth now about twenty.
two times what they were then. She is tc
give ten concerts in New York and thirty
! more in other cities, two Or three Of which
| will be given in Chicago early in the spring,
/ and tilen III May she will return to Europe,
hoping to take back'a small fortune with her.
| The scale OF prices for her concerts in Stcin-
| way Hall is as. follows: Floor, first row, Sec
ond to fifth row, facing stage (Which are the
poorest seats in the house for hearing), SO
showing that she expects to get this exorbi-
! tant price for seeing rather than hearing her;
first balcony, side rows aud rear recess, So;
second balcony, first row, 81; second to fifth
row, So; side rows and rear recess {from
which nothing can be seen'or heard), 81; and
admission (rhe privilege Of standing up), 81.
Is Adellna PATHS singing worth this exor-
: bitant price? No. She has been absent
from this country twenty-five years, and,
rs she was (: young prima donna already
singing in opera when SHE went, it does not
/ require very involved sum in mathematics
to show that the best part Of her life has al
ready been consulned-that is. the best part
Of her professional life, She cannot any
!, longer be ali artist i'll the freshness and
bloom OF her career, however great she still
may be, and the Inference is obvious that she
depends not alone upon her vocal attain
mcnts, but also upon her European reputa-
ton. to draw these immense prices from the
pockets Of curious Americans, and upon the
weakness OF Americans, which amounts al
most to d mania, for running after
weitadvcrtised sensations, as was sig
nally shown in the craze to see Sarah
Bernhardt, who was only talented artist,
and was second to some American actresses
i'll real ability. Again, it is to be remembered
that Nine. Patti is to appear III concert, not
in opera. # the public we're promised the
opportunity to see her in her operate roles,
ut the head of Il Strong troupe, with other
prominent artists clustered about her, there
might be some little defense for these exorbi-
tant prices, though, even then there could be
no excuse for paying them. She comes here
in concert She viii sing at the most two |
songs in all evening, and perhaps in one
concerted number, occupying fifteen or |
twenty minutes Of her golden time, and for
this condescenslon she proposes to charge t
more than three times as much as |
we are charged to hear grand opera I
performed by troupes with five Or |
six artists Of Worldwide reputation. /
She has associated with herself a troupe !
Of artists entirely unknown in this
country, even by reputation, trick often !
performed by frst-c1ass artists who desire to
secure all the glory for themselves by ap-
pearing with second-rate people who can be
obtained very cheaply, thus Increasing the
profits.
The truth is that Nine. Patti has come to
this country simply to make money and to
nake'just as much of it as she can in thes.
shortest space of time, just as Bernhards did, +
only she has had more audacity than any
)tler artist in fixing the scale of her prices.
She cannot return an equivalent for these
prices, because she is not worth the money.
We have no disposition to decry the
ame of Nine. Patti Or to belltue
Ter reputation. She is a great artist,
md has been supreme in her position
many years, but she is not worth the money,
LOT can she earn it, nor can any other artist,
wen on the operatic stage. 1t is simply
,ross imposition, and should be treated as
uch. Had SHE returned to this country and
harged reasonable prices, she would un-
uestionably have received welcome and
amounting to something like an
walton, for the: American people feel that
lie belongs to them, and they are very proud
f her position as an artist, but rapacity Of |
his sort would indicate that she is fonder Of |
he peoples pockets than Of the people them
elves, and that money rather than art is the =
bject of her visit. Our dispatches indicate r
hat the people Of New Z York City do not pro- t
ose to pay such prices and deem them exor- | t
liant. The people of every other city where | Z
he Intends to sing should take the same :.
lew Of them and make the same refusal :