The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-31
NINE. ANARCHISTS BOOK
LIFE STORY or THIS DISTINGUISHED
TEACHER or SINGING.
Her Successful Methods and Ce1e-
brated PupiIs-RecOIIection of
IIIustriOus Composers.


g l1EDHy ana II Ou6tfk " NC q WGA~oA@A~ eee'~A
ton to every library of current knowledge,
for ii certainly furnishes valuable inforna-
ton about very celebrated singing school
and its preparation Of lyric stars, as well as
personal "reminiscences of most all of the
illustrious composers of the present century.
These "memoirs'' are entitled "Marchesi and
Music; or, Passages in the Life OF Famous
Singing Teacher" ard they have been edit
ed and prepared for publication in the United
States and Great Britain by Mr.. Henry Hav-
ME. the welI-known writer and for many
years staff contributor to this newspaper.
The book is illustrated, has a pleasant and
characteristic introduction by AIassenet,
and embraces an outline history of the
Marchioness of Castroni, alias Nine. Mar
chest, from the time when, as a young girl,
and then known as Mathilde Graumann she
went to live at Vienna, where she stayed
with her fathers sister, Baroness Won Ert-
mann, widow of a famous Austrian field
marshal, up to the present time. This aunt
was for many years friend and pupil of
Beethoven, and 1t was to her that his sonata,
Op. 1OI, was dedicated. The anecdotal story
of how the baroness and the illustrious COM
poser originally met is pleasantly told in
these pages.
AS will be learned from this book, Nine.
Marchesi is not only earnest professor,
whose work as teacher has been going
on for nearly half century, but she has
known more celebrated musicians and more
great singers than perhaps any other living
woman. The present writer has frequently
assisted at the lessons she giving her
scholars in different classes at her own
house. as he has also had the enjoyment of
being present at their professional debuts,
now in Paris, now IN Brussels. in LONDON,
raFU Nc an a Monte Carlo
Lyons, in Vienna, etc. 1T would be difficult
to recall the names of even half of those
thus heard, either pupils or as debut
tantes, within the past fifteen or sixteen
years. and some of whom are to-day the
most celebrated singers living; but OF the
large number there are at least dozen
this galaxy particular mention must be
made of Nine Nellie Melbay the incom-
parable. Here is q partial list: Mile.
Emma Calve, Miss Sibyl Sanderson, Nine.
Eanes-Story, Nine. Nevada-Palmer, Nine.
Kate Rolla Mrs. Blanche Barton and her
sister, Agnes Stone-Pyne, Miss Nadine Bou-
htchof, a Russian girl who became great
prima donna in her own country; Miss Eu-
1alia Risley, an american mezzo-soDrano
singer, now dead; Mile. Jane Horwitz,
French, richly gifted and lovely voiced;
Miss Mendelssohn, an English girl, said to
% q grand niece Of the illustrious COM
poser; Miss Gertrude Aud, of California,
whose small voice is unsurpassed in purity;
Nellie Rowe, a nople-hearted' earnest g III
from Australia, who overcame many diff
cuties and is now a favorite singer Ger
trude Sears, a beautiful person, with
splendid voice, who became a professional
only to quit the stage when she married
man of wealth; Frances Saville, another
Australian; Miss Susanna Adams, an ideal
Juliet and who made successful debut in
that role at the Paris OPERA Mrs. Julia
Wyman, fine as a concert singer; Mary
Howe. very beautiful and very successful;
Rose Stewart, who is now doing remarka-
bly, well as a teacher of singing here in
Boston; Marie Decca, whose musical edu-
cation was looked after and paid for by one
nf fHN most generous and public spirited
citizens OF Massachusetts; Nine. Fatma
Diard, Miss Esther Paliser, Mile Francisco,
etc.
WHEN SHE WAS A GOvERNESS.
These are the names of only few of the
pupils of that Nine. Marchesi who, when
~wery young and as Fraulein Grammar,
went hfty-fve years ago to Vienna to be
governess and in the meantime took music
lessons from her aunt. In the spring of 1874
Italian opera was given in that city, and
during the season she met Pauline Viardot-
Garcia. already a famous cantatrice, and
who when she heard our heroine sing. ex-
claimed; My dear, you are not in the right
road; you must go to Paris and study with
my brother, Manuel Garcia"
so she went there in October 1916 and
studied with Garcia for two years. as Jenny
Lind had done before that, meanwhile TAX
ing lessons in elocution from Samson. of the
Theater Francois. From Garcias class she
went to Italy in search of engagement,
was compelled to leave that country for po-
litical reasons and returned to Paris to re-
sumo her lessons with the same distin-
guished maestro. About that time her par
ents compelled her to promise that she
would never adopt the theater opera as
a profession, but she continued to study for
the concert stage. She was very successful
In England, and at one of her London con-
certS sang with an Italian baritone who be-
longed to an old and aristocratic family at
Palermo. But he had taken part in the
revolutionary movement in Italy, well as
in the famous five days at Milan in 1S48. and
was obliged to quit the country. He fled to
the United States sang here as Salvatore
Marchesi. then went to London to sing in
concerts and drawing rooms. He met
Fraulein Graumann; later they We're
married, and now you know why the wife
of the Marquis De CaStroni flor that is his
title and real name) is called Mime. Mar
chest.
1t was while she was singing at Welmar,
where she was next engaged in concert
work, that the fraulein made the acquaint-
ance of the great LisZt, who remained her
good friend until his death. Next she went
to Leipsic, where she was completely chilled
by the very stiff and puritanical atmosphere
OF city which even to-day gives a feeling
OF depression to all artists who happen 10
visit that place. The only happy recollec-
ton Nine Marchesi has OF Leipsic is that
it was there she renewed acquaintance with
Felix Mendelssohn, who, with his lovely
wife, she had already met in Germany
IT was after this engagement that Frau
lein Grammar was welded to Salvatore
Marehesi and together they went to sing
at Berlin, Meyerbeers invitation. at
some concerts he was organizing. Years
afterward Meyerbeer's youngest daughter,
Cornelia, was q pupil in the Marchesi
school at Paris. The happy couple next
sang in Florence, and there Nine. Marchesi
gained another friend in Rossini. He used
to relate interesting anecdotes of his trav-
els tell of his adventures and repeat again
and again the incidents of the first per-
f0rmagce of III Barbiere de Seviglia'' an
opera which was numerically Kissed from
beginning to end that night in Rome.
In. 1854 Nine. Marchesi was appointed
professor of singing at the Vienna Con-
servatoire, and there she remained for
many years While there she prepared An
toinette Fricci, Caroline Dory, lima De
Murska, Gabrielle Krauss and others for
the lyric stage. OF these we know De
Murska we'll in this country. and Krauss
was for many years the leading prima don
ma of the Paris Grand Opera troupe. She
was succeeded in that position by Nine.
Adiny another great dramatic soprano, a
she Is also an American. though married
now to a French poet of aristocratic fam
lily But Ada Adinv was by means the
first OF our prime donne to sing in the
French Academic Naticnale de Musique ct
de Ia Danse. If ! mistake not, that honor
belongs TO Miss Gertrude Griswold while
the second was Lillian Nordica. Since then
there have been dozens of them, so to
speak.
DISAGREED WITH WAGNER.
While in Vienna. Nine Marchesi met
the great Wagner, and ut once they had
long discussion on matters relating TO
singing but there was one point on which
they could not agree. lie was of opinion
SO We are informed in this book. that every
voice should be at the composers orders
and subordinate to him. while she held
that the composer ought to take into con-