Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-04-21
GREAT SINGERS.
The Enormous Salaries Demanded by Patti
and others.
NOT MUCH PROFIT LEFT FOR THE
MANAGERS.

pany, was standing at the counter Oh
the Southern Hotel. smoking his pipe,
when a Post Dispatch reporter lald
hold of him.
rs there much money in the bust
ness, really?' Mr.. Gye was asked.
NO, indeed, not SO much. The
salaries now are so terribly high that
a manager has not very rich piskings.
The singers want entirely too much
"Are salaries higher than usualF
Indeed they are, higher than ever
before. 1t will not be long before
Italian opera will cease to be given,
if some change does not occur. Peo-
pie will not stand higher prices, and,
indeed, do not patronize opera in a
very liberal fashion at the present
price of tickets If the singers do
not re duce their prices, opera, l am
afraid, will soon be as rare as angels
visits"
docs Patti really get S4,400 a
night? There is considerable incredu
lily out here about the figures
Indeed she does; "a, 400 for every
night she sings
The figures are correct, them"
Il wish they were not, but, as man
ager, know only too well that they
are dead letter perfect tits big pay,
surely, more than Patti ever got be-
fore, and, 1 think, more than she will
ever get again."
eff these figures are correct there
is not so much money in the business
after ALL" ,--r
mo, not so much. In tho Patti
house ON Tuesday night, for instance,
there was something over $4,000, and
when Patti got her check, you can see
just how much we had left to cover
everything. Yet Patti sang to a SO,
600 audience in New York, and of
course, there is money in such house
for us. We are disappointed in ST.
Louis so far" f35
"To whom is PATHS money paidP'
''Franchi, her agent, gets her check
early in che morning after every night
on which she sings. He is after it
very early, you can be sure, and he
wants it right away"
1.-The common talk is that Franchi
gets ten per cent. of all PATHS re-
ceipts."
'He does almost that. You see. he
makes all her engagements, looks to
what opera she sings, attends to her
private business, is her secretary and
indeed, manages all her affairs. He
was with her in the same capacity
when she was the wife of the Marquis
de Caux. De Caux never did any
thing but smoke his cigar and pose
as a fine gentleman, and Franchi
managed all Nine. PATHS affairs. OF
course, ten per cent. of her present
receipts is large sum, but / suppose
he had his contract, and it could not
be broken. This was, as I said an
exceptional engagement at exception
al salary, and Franchi profits by it.
He is as shrewd as it is possible for
one man to be in the making of bust
ness agreements. You know that
PATHS contract stipulated that ST.
900 should be deposited in New York
to secure tho carrying out of the con-
tract before she came to America, and
as a guarantee for her last ten nights
salary in the season in New York next
spring. 1t is hard on the manage
ment to have all that money locked
up and useless to us, but it had to be
done. The sum exceeds consider
ably the whole amount of the sub
scriptions made in New York to the
opera"
"What is Nine. Albani's salary?"
'tMy wife gets $1,000 for every
night she sings. Nine. Patti and her
self are the only persons in the troupe
that are paid by the night
"And what is Scalchi paid?"
"Mme. Scalchi's contract calls for
$1,000 per month, and she sings, on
an average, in three operas during a
week. Scalchi was with me at Gov
ent Garden several years, when she
was almost a little girl, in fact. Her
father was with her. I believe that
she scrubbed floors during the day
and sang in opera at night. When
young her form and appearance was
not good, but she always had glori-
GUS voice and she rose rapidly. Col
onel Mapleson never had much opin-
ion of her, but 1 told him she would
make a great success in America, and
you see 1 was right"
"What is the rule about salary in a
case like Nine. Scalchi's, where a sing
er is sickw
eff a singer is sick whole week
we deduct the salary, but if she is un
we'll for one night it usually makes
no difference. If Scalchi should be
unable to sing all week, of course, she
will get no pay. think that the rea
son she does not appear tonight is
that Colonel Mapleson is afraid she
would not be able to appear twice and
he is saving her for Don Giovanni
on Saturday night"
Nine. Albani, Mr.. eyes wife, is in
perfect health. and will sing in "Lo-
hengrin" at the Saturday matinee.
Nine. Albani sang "Lohengrin" in
German at the Royal Opera, in Ber'
lin, last winter, having expressly
studied for this occasion. She was
called into the royal box and much
complimented by the Emperor and
Empress. The Emperor named her
royal court singer on the spot, and
afterwards sent his photograph with