The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03
SPECIAL DISPATCH TO THE CALL

donne who will make their first ap
pearance> on June 4 are destined to
rank among the great singers Of the
world. The applicants were about one
hundred. OF these eight have been
selected They have. of course. all
studied or are at present studying in
Paris
The programme will consist of
Glucks "Orphee," in two acts, and Of
single acts of Gounod's, Romeo ct
Juliette,'' Verdis Aida Delibes
"Lakme" and Meyerbeer's "Hugue-
nots." The best professional orchestra
and chorus will be engaged and no
pains will be spared to make the stag
ing as perfect as that of the Grand
Opera.
Miss Esther Taylor of Detroit. who
will appear in "Lakme.'' is an artist
of extraordinary capabilities. At the
finale of the bell song she will sing
the famous cadenza which was special
ly written for Van Zandt. She takes
A in altissimo with the greatest ease,
and what is rare in such voices. her
notes are clear and velvety through
out. Her velocity in scales and trills
is marvellous.
Miss Brooks of Denver. Colo. who
sang for several years with Mr.. Saw
ages companies. will make her debut
in Europe on this occasion She has
majestic presence and her soprano
reminds one forcibly of Nine Nordica.
Orphee will be taken by Miss Mary
Louise Rogers of New York. who is
the fortunate possessor of that rarest
of rare voices, a genuine contralto.
With. every manager eagerly looking s
out for contraltoS her future should
be brilliant one.
Miss Ruth Martin. a handsome girl
from Memphis. Tenn. has very beau
tiful and carefully trained soprano.
Raoul de Valmar, who comes from
Toronto, Canada. in spite of the for
eign guise of his stage name. has a
rich and flexible tenor voice, with an
extremely fine top register. He sings
with taste and feeling.
MISS ARTA'S ENGAGEMENT.
Then there is Miss Mary Gordon of
New York, high soprano. who will
sing Cupid in "Orphee," anu valentin
| Andreal of New Orleans. who is most
promising barytone Last. but not
least. Miss Regime Arta. This artist S
name calls for special mention as her
career bids fair to be brilliant one.
Miss Arta, who in private life is
known as Miss Loefffer. is a Pittsburg
girl. She has been studying for about
five years under M. Arteau, a very ex-
| cellent French teacher and an artist
| of vast experience. Her voice is a
dramatic soprano. big in range and
! powerful. She will appear in French
and Italian roles. Aida "Armide"
| (Gluck). Les Huguenots," La Juive'
| (Halevy), etc. She will make her de-
but in Paris as Valentine in the fourth
| act of Les Huguenots.'' This young
artist had already been selected to sins
| on June 4 when she heard that Oscar
| Hammersteirf was staying at the Grand
Hotel. She plucked up courage. called
upon him and asked him to hear her
sing. The story of her reception by
the famous manager is worth telling.
| who are you and who knows your
was Hammerstein's disconcertins
! question.
I'm nobody and nobody knows ME
| but just want you TO give me a hear
| ing" was the equally frank reply.
Hammerstein. who had come to Eu-
rope in quest of the first artists in the
world for the new Manhattan Opera
house and who had already engaged
such singers as Edouard and Jean dc
Reszke, Melba, Bonci. Ancona, Del
morris, Renaud. Dufrannes and Kruc-
nicki. was not very eager to waste his
i valuable time over a humble aspirant
to fame whom nobody knew. Still
there was something in the girls frank
courage that pleased him and he final
ly consented to give her a hearing.
Il engaged a hall and went down
with my teacher at IL o'clock on the