The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-03-24

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ranged, and as result the tenor was
engaged for six monthse al g salary of
! five hundred dollars a week-not a
princely figure compared with present
salaries at the Metropolitan Opera
House, but yet considerably in advance
of European standards then and now
prevailing.
| 1t was with mingled feelings of pa
| triotism and gratitude that Baltistini
| looked forward to a return to his native
| land For fifteen years he had been
abroad, and for ten years the opera
houses of Italy had reSounded with ac-
carnations in his honor and he felt that
he would like to show his compatriots
and those who had befriended him what
an American singer could do, and that
the money originally expended on him
had not been spent in vain. So he ac-
cepted the offer, justly expecting to win
new triumphs in the United States with
possibilities of a further tour to Mexico
and Havana. Like many other singers,
he had not laid by much money-Mme
Baltistini had retired from the stage
and what little ready money they pos
sessed went to defray the cost of new
costumes, travelling expenses, and some
rather choice gifts for old friends in
America.
Upon arrival in the United States Bal
tistini was instructed to proceed to Chi
cago where the American Opera COM
pany was then playing. For two weeks
after he reported for duty none of his
operas We're produced, consequently, al
though under salary, he was not called
upon to sing At the beginning of the
third week it was announced that the
company was bankrupt, and must dis
band, owing to long-continued losses
and the inability Of its patroness to adj
vance further funds
A crueler reverse rarely befell a man.
Baltistini sacrificed lucrative engage
ments for the European season in favor
of the American tour, and it was too
late to return in time to recover them.
Moreover, the fact of the intended visit
to America had been printed on every
musical capital and every musical pa
per on the continent, and it had been
confidently predicted on every hand
that the popular idol would return
from the Occident wearing fresh lau-
rels. Those familiar with the peculiar
politics and intrigues of European ope-
IA houses will at once realize the i'm
possibility of his returning without full
filling these conditions. To have gone
back devoid of added reputation and
eclat would have been equivalent to a
confession of a complete fiasco-than
Which there is no more expressively
condemnatory word in the copious ar
tistic vocabulary of the Italians.
&c. well nigh penniless in America,
Signor Baltistini was compelled to stay,
and what had seemed like land of
promise turned out to be a desert He
had his contract, which was valid
enough, but there We're no effects which
could be attached, no money in bank no
one to assume the liabilities of the de-
funct organization, The smash was
complete. Eventually suit was brought
against director and a verdict Sc
cured; but the case dragged in the
courts for five or six years, and the
amount that was ultimately recovered
nearly all went for legal expenses, and
the remainder came too late to be of
any material use.
Baltistini tried in vain to secure an
other engagement, and the next two
years We're passed in dire destitution
The health Of Nine. Baltistini began to
fail, owing largely to anxiety, dsap-
pointment and chagrin. and she was in
capacitated for teaching, to which field
she had instinctively turned in their day
of adversely. But it is long musical Z
tune which has no variations. A few
church and concert engagements began
to come in. Then Signor Baltistini--or
Henry Dwight, as he preferred to be I
a forty weeks engage \
ment with one Of our famous military
bands, which was repeated the following |
season, and in the course of these tours
ne sang in concert in every city of size
IN the country. The health of the sig |
nora improved, pupils began to gather |
around her, and a fair income was as
sured once more
For months prior to the last dread call /
hey had been engaged on scheme for
an international school of ope-
"a, which, had death spared them,
would undoubtedly have proved of /
value to American students. Two an I
acdotes in lighter vein illustrate the vi
'issitudes Of the artistic career abroad
The ordeal of debut before an Italian
audience may be likened to the baptism
If fire of a young soldier, and the test is
he more crucial when the debutant
happens to be foreigner. Upon one
occasion of Baltistinis first appearance
he opera was "Ruy Bias" In the great
luet with the soprano the tenor makes
lis initial entry There comes short
irietta for the hero, after which the duo
S resumed and concluded. In the ariet-
a the young American introduced a
Eight innovation in the shape of a new
adenza written for him and interpola-
ed by his teacher, Mazzucato The
niger was rather fearful about this de-
,arture from the score, for the Italians
now every ndte of the standard operas,
nd are wont to resent iealously any
lbertes taken with note.
However, the cadenza was sung with
10 signs of the popular disapproval, and
t the conclusion of the duet the house
ang with rapturous applause, shouting
Bis! Bis!" C'Twice! Twicel") instead
f the French 'Encore!" Baltistini, like
nany another novice, was nearly blind
nth stage fright, and mistook the sibi-
ant sounds of the Bis! Bis!" for vehe-
lent kissing. He thought he had made
fasco, and tried to get off the stage
n this effort he was only prevented by
he friendly soprano Selling his hand
nd leading him toward the footlighta
i. |