The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-06-19

or to rep!ne The fact that she is not as bril-
liant mentally as Harriet Martineau, or
even as a high-SChoOl graduate. Nor is the
tenor who pockets $1,000 per night much
put out by the reflection that he has to call
In others TO read the love letters addressed
20 hi N by the bushel in barbarous English,
which ne naturally deSuises and not in
mellihuOus Italian. Ludicr0us rs IL may
appear, great singers are much more adOred
than great thinkers. The fact that they are
TaTer may account fer human folly; but it
may also be allowed that mankind must be
amused. and that a vast proportion succeed
In being happy and successful without any
severe mental struggle. The idOlZatiOn Of
brains is not general. as was tesuhed by
the rustic who was sorry az the death OF
the Duke of Wellington, but confessed he
had never heard Of him.
TIE weak side of the cpera-singer's char
acter IS seen in the litte-mindednesS and
the contemplate jealOusies and idiOtiC puer-
ilities of conduct that with little exception
prevail IN the profession. Eccentricties Of
humOT, and egregiCus C0nceits OF vanity, stir
the operate circle with a real passion quite
as constant as their love Of art which with
many may be innate, but is never forgotten
as a means 10 an end. TIE selfshuess Of
some celebrities is beyond eXaggeFation.
There IS often little cOTdlality Ia the love
duet sung so raptur0usly behind the foot
lights. An extra bouquet to a rival thrills the
Patti IN San Francisco go into paToxysmS
Of rage because poor GersteT got a basket
OF flowers and was CheeTed by the whole
audience. She forgot the mountain Of flow
ers she herself had received as though they
were her due. and thought she should have
bad that solitary basket also What
world Of vanity Il Is. The wonder Is the
impTesarii, who have to coax and wheedle
all these grOw1-up children. do not 90 in
sane, especially as most OF them DRIFT into
the bankruptcy court owing TO the out
rageOuSly high scale OF payments they pay
these strutting peafoWl Of the stage. Colonel
Mapleson has good occasion to write him.
self down an lmpreSaTiO OF woes and ac-
quaiRted with grief, but throughout his
memoirs be is a cheerful man Of the world,
and he tells many story mat may taiTly
make the reader quake with laughter.
Take for instance the rival conductors,
ATditi and Benedict, both eminent men
and both bald headed. As il happened they
had to appear in one com bined performance.
Each went to the dTesslng-TO0m aud OpeT-
Rted on his remnants Of hair with brush,
and Benedict avOwed he did not want 70 be
mistaken for ATditi and ATditi ayOwed he
did not want to be mistaken for Benedict,
but as they had come to no understanding
they were both IS they were.
Giuglini, the famous tenor, was truly a
spoiled child. He delighted in setting off
fireworks and in flying kites, but like the
rest Of his kidney he was excessively vain.
He went down to Brighton with a spell Of
mgraine and the society Of q lady TO CON-
fort him. He was obIiVious TO the gap be
had made in the cast Of "TTovaiOre" and
would listen to no reason, but the hare an
nOuncement Of the fact that another tenor
had succeeded in bis role caused him to aban-
don Brighton for London in an hour His
migraine fed. Otherwise he exhibited bis
vanity in bringing out a csntata in which
one scene had to show 40 windows, and