The record-union., 1899-05-28

Brignoli, the great Italian singer, was
very susceptible to f1attery, and it is
said that once in New York, when the
orchestra vigorously applauded one of
his favorite songs, he was so touched
that he came down to the footlights
and invited them all to a champagne
supper at the Everett House. The sup
per cost him $500. Brignoi was very
careful of his voice. and was terribly
afraid of draught 1t was once stated
that during the winter it always took
him three-quarterS of an hour to get
from his room to the street. First,
he would ON leaving his room, pace
the hall for ten minutes to get ac-
climated. He then descended to the
lobby, where the temperature was a
little lower, and spent twenty min
uteS there. He then ventured to the
vestibule, from which the door opened
into the street He would parade the
vestibule for fifteen minutes, OCCASION
ally opening the door to let in a little
cold air. Being now accustomed to
cool temperature, he would button UP
his coat and sally forth. He once
agreed to sing a solo at ST. Agnes
Church, New York City. He came
in late, and after divesting himself of
many coverings, tumbling over music
racks and exasperating the choir by
trying his voice he came to the con-
clusion that he was ready. BY this
time, however, the sermon had COM
menced, but Brignoli, una Dashed.
leaned over the choir ratings and
tried to attract the attention of the
preacher by shaking his head and ges-
ticulating with his hands. At last he
called out in a voice which was audi
BILE for some distance: Me ready for
ze singl Stoppa re preach Stoppa ze
preach" And the priest actually cut
the sermon short in order to accommo-
date the impatient tenor, whose voice
now rang out with such fervor as to
thrill the worshipers and justify the
sacrifice
'-The Covent Garden syndicate" says
London critic, had the good fortune
of a state performance in 1897 and
the Wagner boom in 1898 These, be-
yond much question, increased the
profits and consequent dividends. We
cannot, of course, reasonably expect
another Wagner boom in 1899. more
particularly as the present is a Bay
opera, at the head of whom may, be-
yond much question, be placed the
Princess of Wales, have to be catered
for, and accordingly. during the first
six weeks of the season, two nights
weekly will be set apart for a series
of special representations of Wagner's
operas in German, sung mainly by
German artists, and with a chorus
tod 5Nath hG1
land"
1t would appear, according to Lon
don Truth that the English capital
has been unjustly maligned regarding
it's alleged Indifference to opera in
English: Although no doubt the fact
will greatly annoy those who are clam
oring for a municipal subsidy, it new
ertheless is the truth that London has
this year boasted a larger number of
operatic performances than at any pre-
vious time in its history. and at prices
which compare very favorably with
those charged at the subsidized opera
houses of Germany. That opera with
out stars" is not appreciated in the
West End was doubtless proved by
the result of the Carl Rosa experiment
and suburban theaters, easily accessi-
Bile by twopenny tram or omnibus from
central London, opera for the million
has flourished. 1t is true that We have
heard nothing from the pens of those
who signed the petition to the County
Council, a fact which may, perad-
venture, tempt the champions of the
proposed opera rate" to deny that
this sort Of thing is opera at all. But
Wagner and Gounod, Verdi and Bizet,
Balfe and Wallace have freely been
drawn upon, and we have during the
past seven weeks had in Greater Lon
don no fewer than 1872 representations
in English by some half-dozen COM
| panies, among them the Carl Rosa
troupe, the National Opera Company,
| directed by Mr. Cunningham; Mr.. Tur-
ner's troupe, Mr.. Rousbey's company.
Nine Fanny Moody's troupe and 9TH
| ers These performances have been
given at wonderfully cheap prices, the
scale of charges, indeed, ranging from
| a Cd gallery and Is. Cd. pit to Is.
stalls, while the companies, although
not, of course, boasting any special
stars, have included many well-known
artists and other younger vocalists
from the leading schools and acad-
emies of music in short, the very
| promising young people partly for
whose special behoof the proposed ''op-
era rate" is to be levied. In amy event,
SO far as the public are concerned,
/ private enterprise has afforded them
plenty of opportunity Of hearing op-
era if they chose to do SO.
| Vienna still remains the chosen home
of the spectacular ballet. In most cities
this class of performances seldom out
| last a season, but the Viennesa will at
| tend repetitions of a ballet for half
century. A case in point is Satan
| ella 1t was first given forty-six
years ago, with Marie Taglioni, and
it's recent revival was it's 195th per-
| formance.
| When Anton Seidl was at Bayreuth
two summers ago, conducting "Parsi-
| fal," he received a number of offers
from opera-houses and concert orches-
| tras. Among the latter was the Kahn
| Orchestra of Munich. This famous
! band lately made tour of Italy un-
der Felix Weingartner, and scored tre-
mendcUs successes everywhere. In
! Turin the "Leonore" overture had to
be repeated. No nation appreciates Ger
| man music more than the Italians
when they can hear it properly per-
| formed
| Richard Wagner did not as is gem
/ 11x, ho1i