The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1907-01-19
FROM A PROGRAM SELLER
TO QUEEN OF GRAND OPERA
Surprising Career of La Cavalieri the Most Beautiful
Woman in the World.

The most beautiful woman in the
world has now taken her place as
queen Of the Metropolitan opera house.
When La Cavalieri recently made
her debut as member of Herr Con-
reid's famous constellation, New York
endorsed the verdict of Rome, Milan,
Berlin, Paris, st. Petersburg and vi
emma that hers was beauty such as
had seldom been seen before, and GER
tainly never surpassed.
Better STILL, talent came with it. No
one ever heard. of Director Conreid Of
fering such undoubted beauties as
Cleo de Merode or Otero $1,000 night
1y to display their charms in his opera
house. She who would shine there
must be able to charm the ear as well
as the eye.
More than any other artist now be-
fore the public, La Cavalieri combines
ability to do the two things.
For ten years La Cavalierii has
ranked in a class by herself, and when
she passes the class will probably go,
Tor Dame Nature is seldom so gener-
GUS as to give great voice in addition
to surprising loneliness. There have
been at the Metropolitan opera house
other singers who were good to look
upon. The statuesque lines Of Emma
Eames, the naughty beauty Of Breval,
the chic charm of Alien and FRITZ
Scheff, the ample pulchritude Of Nor
dica, the stateliness of Lehman and
the Teutonic attractions of the blonde
Gadski, all of these have made their
appeal to the eye.
But with La Cavalieri the beauty is
not merely incidental. 1t Is SO ravish-
ing, SO irrascible that none can with,
hold acclaim.
Royal knees have bent before this
superb Italian woman, jewels have
been lavished upon her, potentates
have offered their protection and
shouting multitudes of her own beau
ty loving countrymen have acclaimed
her queen of the Italian stage
Yet she has not been content to
rest her reputation alone on her
beauty. With as much ambition as
though she had been the most ill-fa-
vored of women she has studied hard,
and has developed a repertoire that
includes many difficult modern roles.
1t is not entirely surprising that hav-
Ing this extraordinary attraction of
face and figure, La Cavalieri should
have a preference for the opera CO.
quotes in which she can display her
beauties to the best advantage
She is fond Of Carmen, the beautiful,
but vicious heroine of Bizet's opera;
she sings the butterfly Mimi in PUG
cini's tuneful LA Boheme;" she is a
brilliant Media in Leoncavallo's "Pag-
liacci;" and is alsosfamous in "Toca,"
Fedora '"Traviata" and "Manon
Lescaut."
1t will be noted that nearly all these
parts are those of heroines who are
represented as having possessed WON
derful beauty and coquetry
In Europe La Cavalieri has made
such parts so distinctively her own
that other singers shrink from risking
comparison.
Like many other great artists, La
Cavalier came up from the gutter.
Not so many years ago she was
barefoot girl running around the
streets of Rome, beautiful child, with
passion for music
Hers was the humble lot of selling
programs to the patrons of a Roman
theater. One night young Carlo di Ru-
DIM, son of the Italian premier, caught
glimpse Of the girls face, and on
questioning, found that she possessed
the gift of song.
His interest aroused, he found out
her address, visited her family, and