The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-08-26
THEY COME HIGH.
Prices Paid to Artists at Private
Entertainments.

IIACcS dlu " ArClSIS al TrlVaCC
Entertainments.
Ignace Paderewski received 81, 800 for
playing recently at a musicale in Lon
don, and Melba, who sang at the same
function, got $500 for three songs.
Plancon was among the other ~soloists
n received sums proportionately
as large. Probably the price paid to
Paderewski is the largest given to any
musician at a private entertainment.
The london musicales are arranged on
quite a different scale from that which
is customary here. They are not nearly
so expensive in this city, a the New
York Sun. Melba was engaged last year
to sing at a musicale and received about
the price paid to her in London. But
that was the only engagement Of the
kind which she had during the winter.
In London she has appeared frequently
at private houses, and sang but three
times at Covent Garden. For a per-
Torrance Of an entire opera she re-
ceived at Covent Garden 81, 900. With
the assurance of a certain number of
drawing room engagements it can be
we'll understood that Covent Garden
could be neglected, with it's greater de-
mands and its smaller compensation.
But the situation Is exactly reversed
in this city. 1t is the public perform
ances that pay while private engage
ments are scarce. Melba's appearance
last winter was followed by that of
Nordica, who is aid to have received
$500 for singing at a fashionable mu-
sicale. Sembrich sang before a club here
and her fee was $1,250. After that ap-
pearance h announced that in the
future the price Of her services would
be considerably higher. Calve, who
rarely appeared at private musicales,
got $1,000 for singing one afternoon at
the house of a well known merchant.
After that she declined to appear any
more in private IN the ground that it
was as much as she could do to attend
to her work at the Metropolitan. Emma
Eames has not sung at conspicuous pri-
vate musicales since her first season
here. Rejane played with several men,
bers of her company at the house of a
AAAlIAAOAAoAACS IN AO compensation AOA
acting in a twenty-minute comedietta
was $500.
Yvette Guilbert proclaimed on her ar
rival here her willingness to sing at
musicales for $1,000. But there
was little demand for her SER
vices. and she appeared only
once or twice under circumstances
.-h{o1 ~oolo T. ooa-, %lo+ oao hol -o% M
ceived anything like that sum. She had
supposed that her services would be
very much in demand, and her chagrin
at the indifference of society to her
presence was frequently expressed with
great emphasis. There seemed to be a
prejudice against her by the people Of
society, who seemed to think that she
would 10 be restrained by the atmos-
phere Of a drawing room, but certainly
sing something that would shock every
body. Yet she finds plenty of drawing
room engagements in London and Paris.
The singers who entertain the guests
at the New York musicales are usually
the local artists, who receive compare
lively small compensation for their SER
vices. They are really more novel than
the opera singers. The set of society
people in this city who entertain in a
way that would be likely to include the
presence of the operate singers at their
musicales all go regularly to the opera
and constantly hea these singers under
much more favorable circumstances
thar are possible in a residence, what
ever the size nay be.
In London, on the contrary, the art
lists appear only a few times, and it is
greater luxury to hear them. New York
would rather listen to them at the Met
ropolitan, and for that reason they are
not often engaged for private houses.
The singers who do appear at these mu-
sicales are of a class almost unknown
to the fashionable society. They are
choir and concert singers, who are
rarely heard in this city, az they are
more interesting to society than the
performers they hear regularly at the
M~etropolitana
The men of the opera companies are
rarely heard in private. Jean de Reszke
has always refused to appear at must
Gales, although Edouard, during his
first season here, sang at several
houses. He explained the difference be-
tween his action and his brothers by
saying that he was a married man with
a family and could not afford to lose
the money he made in this way. Signor
Campanari has sung more frequently
in private than any other member of the