The San Francisco call., 1896-10-15

! not pose as q rival TO the one ana only fSoseH-
thai He has been engaged by Frederick
Archer to appear with the Pittsburg SYM
| phony Orchestra for two concerts on Novem-
| ber and z, and has also made a number OF
other engagements. 1t is not yet stated
whether his tour will extend to the Pacific
Coast
| Tenors are so rare, says LIE Figaro, that
when we have them, we want TO keep them till
! they are 80 years old. The excellent Duprez
who has just died at that age, was the JOY OF
| his own generation, but he has been the night
mare of succeeding generations Whenever
new tenor made his debut in Paris, the anna
| teurs recalled Duprez, tie great Duprez! In
| vain the newcomer toiled and suffered, it was
| always "Ah, if you had heard Duprez in the
rolel" And with that phrase, certain poor
devils who should have been encouraged were
entirely crushed. Even the people who had
| never in their lives heard Duprez took up the
! phrase because they. too, thought it chic ana
knowing. 1t was repetition of the old story of
the subscriber who went into the foyer, say
! ing "Ah, Mario sir; what a voice, what admi-
rable timbrer'
"You have heard him ?"
! "Yes; one evening in restaurant. He was
| ordering tenderloin of SOLE"
| 1t is pleasure that we all seem to feel, the
| pleasure of crushing people with the souvenirs
| of their predecessors. Aman reaches celebrity !;
| he believes himself the first in his art, and in
few words he is annihilated with: "Ah, if
| you had heard Duprez." This has the appear
| ance OF honor rendered to the ancients; is it
not oftener form of jealousy of newcomers2
| Gilbert Duprez, the great tenor who has just
died in Paris, quilted the stage in 1851, but
most people who take an interest in lyric art
have heard OF him, partly through his book
! "Souvenirs of a Singer" How many singers
/ 49,
history of his debut and his struggles and the
| brilliant page OF his ultimate success For ten
| years he was the glory of the Paris Opera, and
| his triumphs in Italy are matter of musical
| history. 1t is said that no one has ever sung
| the tenor role as he did in s.La Favorita" and
| "La Refine de Chypee." But Duprez did not
want to lag superhuous on the scene, and
| when he felt his voice falling him he retired
| from the stage and began teaching. The
greatest OF his pupils was Nine. Nolan
| Carvalho. While Duprez taught he composed
| operas, but his numerous attempts in that line
| were not successful. 1t is almost fifty years
| since his best work "Joan of Arc" was pro-
duced, and though he penned many other
| compositions during his years a maestro
they did not add TO his fame. Duprez vas
! born in 1906.
In his Souvenirs of a Singer" c'Souvenirs
dun Chanteur), Duprez tells this story of his
debut at the Paris Opera: "I knew that my
success could not come from my personal ap-
pesrance. A little incident just before the
final rehearsal took away all illusion in that
regard. During an entr'acte de ballet Halevy
and were walking arm in arm about the
theater, while some of the dancers were prae-
ticing their steps, One of them, beautiful
fgurante. stopped suddenly and looked at
US. What's that? she asked comrade, indi-
eating me. Hes the new tenor, who replaces
house. 'BahP replied the fgurante; that
toad it is not possible He's too ugly.''
The popular American prima donna, Emma
Eames, has just delivered herself. with re-
fresh1ng smartness on the subject OF some OF
the founders of her country. Having just re-
turned from Italy to Paris to get ready for
another trip across the Atlantic, she was
sought by an interviewer, to whom she con-
tded that she had been indulging in complete
idleness, neglecting everything and living
without conscience. Having unsuccessfully
attempted to discover If the newspaper man
was possessed of such article, she went on
in this style. "The New England conscience
is too dreadful and whenever have peen told
stories of the privations of the pilgrim fathers
l have always said: Think OF the pilgrim
mothers. They had to put up with not only
the same trias and privations, but with the
pilgrim fathers as well.' Rough on the faith
ers. En-?
The last issue of the Bayreuther Blaetter
contains letter from Frau Cosima Wagner
addressed to Seckendorf and Muneker, presi-
dent of the General Committee of Wagnerian
Associations. In this letter the widow of the
Bayreuth master expresses her gratitude to all,
both near and far, who have collaborated since
1876 in the work at BGyreuth. The Bayreuther
Blaetter also states that in the answer to the
appeal for funds to assist poor artists in visit
ing the performances 49, 900 marks have al
ready been paid in, and that other subscrip-
tions and government subsidies have been
promised.
In Germany the thunders of justice fall on a
music critic who makes use of too picturesque
language. 1t is thus that the music critic of
the Tagblatt of Ulm has been condemned to a
fine of 80 marks by the tribunal OF Ulm. be-
cause he spoke irreverently in his paper of a
concert singer, as "a damsel who sings like a
rooster" This metaphor was certainly un-
kind and the critic might have expressed him.
self in less vivid language, but the expression
carries with 1t no slur on the singers reputa.
tion. She would certainly not have com.
planned if the critic had compared her to
nightingale or a lark.
The inhabitants of Cardiff gave an almost
royal reception to Patti when she sang there
recently for the profit OF the town hospital
and the poor OF the county. The streets we're
filled with dense crowd, which saluted Patti
with acclamations as she drove past Her
success at the concert was overpowering, fran
tic "Hurrahs'' and "Bravos'' being awarded
her. Among the other artists who took part
in the concert were: Clara Eisser, Hirwen
Jones, Ben Davis, Tito Mattel and Ganz.
No celebrity has ever been killed oftener by
the newspapers than Carlos Comes, the Bra
lillian composer. According to kilograms
Gently dispatched from Brazil, the author of
"Salvator Rosa, ""Il Guarany," etc., has finally
departed this life for good and all. The direc-
tors of the Conservatory OF Para are looking
out for musician to succeed Comes as head
OF their institution.
Paul and Lucien Hillemacher, two young
French composers almost unknown to fame,
have composed lyric drama called "Drac"
which they have had the surprising good for
tune to have accepted by Felix Mottl for the