The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-03-19
4 PAGE OF HISTORY.

The death of Max Strakosch, which was
announced in yesterdays CALL, stirred up
the musical community and evoked men,
cries which are growing dim. His elder
brother. Maurice, died in Paris five years
ago, and since then the name. which was
once so well known, has been rarely heard
The brothers were Moravians. They came
to this country over forty years ago. and
became identified with the first attempts to
plant opera in the United States. Until
the days of Abbey and Gran, there was
hardly any operate enterprise with which
they were not connected.
They had very slender means when thew
landed in the United States, and they took
mp their abode on a farm on Staten Island,
which was chiefly desirable because il was
impossible to spend much money on it, the
soil being mainly gravel, on which nothing
would grow. Here, however, they gathered
round them society Of congenial musicians,
Max MaretZek and his wife, Antonio Barili
and his brother and the Patti orphans
Amelia, Cariotta and Adelina. All man.
aged to make living The Baril.s taught
singing Max MaretZek was for q genera
ton the most popular orchestral leader in
New York, and his wife is to this day the
best harpist in the country. Amelia Patti
married Maurice Strakosch, Carlotta went
on the stage as a dancer and Adelina spent
her youth on that grayelly farm until she
inaugurated her marvellous career. Maurice
Strakosch berame an impresario and asso-
Glazed with himself bis brother Max.
The record of his managerial career is the
history of operate music in America
Jenny Lind and Grisi antedated him by
four or FIVE years. Sontag died the year
haF ava ha fret H.,
the public. But since their day almost
every great singer has appeared under the
auspices of the Strakoschs They managed
Adelina Patti. Christine Nilsson, Nine.
Alboni. Tiijens. Parepa Rosa. Pauline
Lucca among queens of song and among
male singers. Brignoll, Karl Formes. Cam
panlni and others, some Of whom are still
living, while others have only recently died.
For many years their skill as impresarii
and their popularity with the public were
unriyaled.
1t is feared that they never reaped the
due reward of long life OF hard work and
desperate risks. II they accumulated a
small competency it was all they accom-
plshed. Operate management is about as
unfruitful a business as inventing The
diva OF the hour takes all the profit and the
manager ali the risk. When an mpTesarIo
has to set aside from $1,000 to $4,000 night
Tor bis star, and couple of thousand more
for her support. including the orchestra, he
must have a steady succession OF bumper
| houses to come out whole. And the price
of admission must be so high that people
cannot afford it to pay it except once In a
way, just to follow the fashion.
In Paris and Vienna artists are paid mod
est salaries; it Is supposed that they viii
| consider the honor of playing before such
audiences sufficient reward In London,
| New York and st. Petersburg, men oil
| wealth tax themselve to defray any losses
| to which the impresario may be put. No.
where in the world can an opera which counts
among its singers such expensive artists as
! Patti sustain itself on its own merits. The
fact may be discreditaDle to the musical
taste OF the Christian world, but it is fact
nevertheless, and there is 40 PROSPECT Of O
change. On the contrary the chances are
! that opera will continue to be given at o
loss in the great cities for an indefinite
period in the future. There are a given
number of persons In the great capitals who
will go to hear the greatest sin ger of the
day no matter what ii costs. Therefore the
lady on whose shoulders PATHS mantle will
fall when she retires will probably ask even
higher pay than Patti gets. And. on the
other hand, with the growth of luxury and
| extravaganza, there will always be a class