Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-19
ANECDOTES OF ADELlNAPATTI
Public and Domestic Features Of the Life Of
the Queen Of Song,
SOME TlFFS AND ILLS WITH ROYALTY
Hitherto Unpublished stories of Her
Youth, of Her Parents, Her saucy
speech and Her inc
Yankee Parrot.
SOME TIFFs AND THIS WITH RoYALT

Nine. Adelina Patti Nicolini-Ce derstrom
is never quite out of range OF the public
eye. A woman who was closely associated
with her for a number Of years tells many
amusing anecdotes and episodes Of the diva's
career. Patti loves to recall her youthful
days at length.
Il believe / sang in my cradle" she de-
%clares, and was the most weird and preco-
cious baby ever known.
when onry . or 8 months old l had a
troublesome way of sending up a long, wild
cry, directly my mother sat down to dinner.
Every Establishment was tried in vain to
soothe me, until the happy thought struck
my mother of letting me drink out of her
glass of claret. That was all l wanted and
regularly every day at the sam hour l
cried for my claret until / got it.
LAS ! grew older my joy was to go be-
hind the scenes at the opera when my pa
rents were singing. The artists used to
bring me cakes and maccaroni and peeping
through a hole in the scenery ] enjoyed
mysen nightly, watching the performance.
MY musical ear was so keen that one night
when a famous artist had performed her
long show piece l toddled up to her and
said in my little Yankee way, Just you
listen to me right away! Try to trill as l
do! You trill at tiat!'
''Of course, to me my parents seemed
the best and greatest people in the wide
world. And l doubt, indeed, whether any
woman / have since met ever came up to
my mother for beauty Of person and up
rightness Of character. She was excessively
pious and never missed attending early
mass. Attracted by her grace and beauty
a member OF the congregation used to fol-
low her SO persistently every morning on
the way to church that my mother became
annoyed. One day she turned upon him
suddenly, with her purse in her hand.
Here, poor man. she said in a plying tone,
this must be what you want; take all !
have And she was never followed again"
The great Adelina cherishes with unceas-
ing love and duty the memory of her pa
rents and will often tell how her mother,
in the pride of her heart, would join the
crowd waiting nightly at the stage door to
see La Somnambula, cloaked and bonneted,
step into her carriage. Mia hglia! Mia
Adelina!" would the fond mother exclaim,
vastly enjoying the surprise and curiosity
of the crowd about her.
Refused TO ObIise an Emperor.
Patti has naturally met every European
sovereign. The old German emperor was
her greatest favorite. When a naive girl,
singing at Hamburg, the emperor sent her
d IuGSSuSS ltAuSSIlIS Atl ~ ar L MN
early in the morning while he drank the
waters. Certainly not" was her reply to
the bearer. 81 get up early for no king in
Europe
The last time before his death that she
saw the emperor he sent to ask her to visit
him in his opera box, apologizing for being
too unwell to come behind the scenes, and
when she appeared he playfully thanked her
for the condescension. "Oh! now. sire"
she replied, with tears in her eyes, 81 would
run anywhere to see you"
The Emperor Alexander the Second Of
Russia honored Patti by a peculiar distinc-
ton, OF which no one but the celebrated
Bosio could boast. He bestowed upon her
n large gold medal set in brilliants and re-
quested her to wear it on the ribbon belong
ing to the order of st. Andrew. He also
appointed her his court singer in ordinary.
The duchess of Edinburgh has known Patti
since her childhood. A few years ago they
met at a Rothschild reunion. Looking
down at a bracelet on the diva's arm, the
duchess recognized it as a present of her
father's-the Russian emperor. Those We're
happy days when you sang in st. Peters
burg" she exclaimed, adding regretfully,
Tout passe, tout case, tout lasse."
The prince and princess of Wales have
always shown Patti a great kindness, most
cordially appreciated by her. The princess
she considers the p~rettiest woman in Eng
land. When maTquise de CauX, dining at
Marlborough house, Patti caused much con-
| sternation among the guests and amuse-
ment to the prince, by eXclaiming in her
impulsive way, as she slipped her coffee
"Oh, sire! Que votre cafe est degoutant!'
Patti and
The occasion of the first meeting between
Patti and the divine Sarah Is related by
the woman who was a close companion OF
| PATHS at the time, Immediately on our
arrival in Paris she says, "Adelina was
besought by several journalists to coop
| crate in a benefit TO be given in aid of the
| obscure actress, Sarah Bernhard, who had
lost all her small possessions in a fire. The
marquis of Caux did not at first like the
idea OF his wife singing for an actress of no
| renowp, but at last he gave his consent.
On the 9TH of November, 1869, Adelina Patti
sang at Odeon theater for the benefit OF
Sarah Bernhard. After the concert the
latter, clad in a black wooden gown, timidly
| approached the great singer and offered her
a small bouquet and being too shy to utter
a word of thanks, she kissed her hand,
Who would have guessed that so insignia
cant a girl would develop into the famous
Sarah Bernhard of today and astonish the
world by her triumphs and her quarrels?'
Her First Courtship.
This same woman tells of the unique pro-
posal OF the marquis Of Caux. This noble
gentleman had been following the diva
about for many months, in opposition to
his mothers wishes and meeting with but
little encouragement from Adelina's family.
They were living at the time in the Champs
Elysees. The marquis came daily to the
house and at last succeeded in securing
the good will of PATHS father and her
brother-in-law Strakosch. "one evening"
she says, lit was after the performance OF
the Traviata, the marquis remained with us
when all the rest had left Adeflna's dress
ing room. AS he always detailed minutely
the gossip of the town, Adelina turned to
him with a smile and said: Now, marquis,
what news? What do they talk of in
Paris?' 'The latest news was his reply,
is that we are engaged This was rather
startling, but Adelina's features lighted up
with d charming expression. Smiling, she
turned to the marquis. And why not? ]
hope you do not object|
Al first somewhat embarrassed, and then
with joyful agitation. the marquis STAN
mered out: oh, no. Certainly not; ! should
be the h~appiest of mortals If it were true!'
with a lovely blush Adelina put out her
hand to the marquis, who was almost beside
himself with joy, and said; IT would make
me happy, too
THE marquis pressed the proffered hand
to his lips and, intoxicated with delight, he
c1asnad AdaIina In his arms and then rushad