The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1897-05-05
ICONTINUEDl |

At this moment the overture came to
an end, and the order was issued for the
stage to be cleared. The prima donna
found herself again in her dressing room,
but not in the same mood as she had left
It. She was warm, composed and happy.
She looked in the tall mirror, and for the
first time saw Marguerite reflected there.
Then into her serene and awakened
mind entered all the tenderness, sim.
plicity an pathos of Gretchen's lovely
story. and she felt the spirit of the Ger.
man peasant maiden take possession of
her. The appurtenances of the stage,
the mechanism of the effects. the glare
of the footlights, no longer had power
to disturb her illusion. They seemed
themselves an Illusion, and only the
story was real And when the moment
came that she stood before the mighty
audience they We're to her no longer
hostile and opposing presence. with
which she must struggle in hopeless con
test. but vast reservoir Of human sym.
pathy, aiding her, supporting her, com
pretending her, supplying her with life
and inspiration, and responding a thou
sandfold to every chord she touched.
AS her voice flowed out and abroad
from her lips it seemed to owe its en-
chanted sweetness and resonance not to
her, but to its echo in the hearts of her
listeners Whence, then, had come this
marvellous change in the mutual rela
| tions between her audience and herself:
She was conscious only of the joy of un-
restrained expression; the audience, only
of the delight of ear and eye; and
Geoffrey Bellingham, sitting with folded
arms and charmed pulses in the midst
of the assemblage, had no suspicion that
any part of this triumph of harmony and
beauty was due tc him. His eyes and
all his senses were turned toward her,
but how should he imagine that amid
the crowd of that great amphitheatre
her glances were conscious of no face
but his, and that all the stupendous
magnetism of their silence aud their ap-
planse was centered and concentrated in
him? He had even forgotten that his
Marguerites were in her girJle.
AS has already been intimated, how
ever, it would be superfluous to give any
account of this memorable performance
from the audiences point Of view. Com
petent Judges who attended many repe-
titions of the opera. have declared that
Mile. Mariana never afterward surpassed
the standard of excellence she attained
on this first occasion. 1t was the topic
,of the time. and the fame of it spread
all over the United States. and was
spoken of next day in London and Paris.
The public, which is so inhuman and
tyrannical in its apathies and antipathies.
Is like child and slave in its favorit-
ism and its homage. 1t jdolized the in
comparable Mariana, and would have
built her II house of gold, with jeweled
4 windows. if she had demanded it. The
I unknown girl from the upper reaches of
the Hudson was crowned queen of New
| York for the sake of tw9,or three hours
sweet singing.
1t is seldom that Adam, and even divin-
er Eve, in the days of their youth, are
wholly insensible to the worship of their
\ fellow creatures. They may say and be-
lieve that dattery cannot make them
alter their own estimate of their merit
nevertheless, the eve that sees admira-
ton in all other eyes involuntarily wakes
brighter and more assured, and the pres
ence before which others bow down, ii
it do not besr itself more
can at least scarcely avoid a graceful
condescensien. Doubtless it is not the
merit but the homage which the merit
causes that creates the elation. And by
and by the suggestion will inslnuate it.
self that there may, after all. be some
thing exceptional in the nature gifted
with such talents. apart from the talents
themselves. From this point il is not far
70 the conclusion that exceptional natures
demand exceptional treatment and con-
dderation--ckould not be made account
able to ordinary rules; should be a law
INTO themselves. No position is more
susceptible than this of being vindicated
by plausible arguments, and a poor argu-
ment warmed by good will has always
been worth dozen better ones chilled
and torpid from the breath OF disinclina-
ton.
Now Mile. Mariana, though she could
not estimate the influence upon others
bf the personal quality of her voice.
could not help knowing that she sung in
tune and correctly; but, inasmuch as
many other women could do this, she
was forced to infer that her being made
queen of New York must be due to some
personal quality, as aforesaid. This just
persuasion gave her pleasure ON more
accounts than one; bnt one account was
that it seemed to justify in some measure
the deception which she was maintain
ing before the world. Though still
chargeable with purloininJ Marana's
name, she might, perhaps, acquit her
conscience of damaging that lady in her
musical reputation. If she were listened
to with as great favor as the genuine
Russian diva would have been, surely
the latter could not complain of any
very great practical injury. On the