Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-15
The Musical w World
"MaIibran
1SOS-1S3G
by Genevra Johnstone-BIshop

Daughter of the great Garcia, the
prince of singing masters
The chamber of death--A woman ly-
ing in eternal sleep. But what wo-
man!
The voice that had charmed the world
that matchless voice has sung it's last
song and her spirit has gone to join the
angels before Gods throne and swell
the mighty chorus singing endless hal
lelujahs.
There is a crowd in front of the house,
a mighty crowd of men and women, rich
and poor; carriage after carriage drives
mp and whispered inquiries are made at
the door with its muffled knocker.
The crowd is mute, anxiously watching
the windows. 1t is near midnight, but
no one thinks of the hour. They are
waiting-waiting for what?
To hear how their idol is progressing
Some are hopeful, others know that
her life is passing away at each tick of
the clock.
Suddenly the blinds are pulled down,
strong men sigh, women burst into tears
the crowd melts away.
Malibrau is dead.
With such singing master as her
father it is not difficult to account for
Malibran's marvellous power. At first
as a child her voice, they say, was harsh
and discordant, but Garcia. the prince of
masters and her father, was not slow to
discover that in that voice, properly
trained and educated, he had one of the
grandest artists in the world.
Garcia was a stern taskmaster. He
was almost brutal and his poor child ap-
preached her lessons in fear and trem-
bling, but he made her what she proved
to be, the prima donna of the world at
that time.
Her first appearance was at the age
of years at the Fiorentini theater in
Naples. when she took a child's part in
s"Agnese."
She showed remarkable talent, both
yocally and dramatically. At times her
father would get up and leave the room
and, say, Cant you hear how you are
out of tuner
But this being her one fault she de-
termined to conquer II by iron will pow
er and work, which she did.
Her First Appearance
The first appearance of any Importance
was in a cantata by Rossini, who was
not favorable toward debutantes, but her
success was great one, as she won the
esteem of this great master.
In 1924 the family went to London.
Maria was now fully qualified to ap-
pear in opera-nothing was wanting but
an opportunity, which soon presented it
self. She was the means of helping the
management of the Kings theater out
of an awkward situation, owing to the
illness of pasta" their prima donna,
and Malibran took her place and dis
tinguished herself.
Her debut was in the "Barbiere," and
she at once became great favorite with
the London public.
She had youth. good looks conscien-
tious acting, besides that glorious voice.
Her stay in London was not long this
time. Her father had engaged himself
foY1 In New York. Maria
taking the principal parts.
She appeared in a great number of
operas "Otello," Don Giovanni y
"L'Amante Astuto," "Lafigliadell Aria"
(operas we seldom hear now, and met
with great success.
The American public, says a critic.
treated the company with that effusive-
ness and cordiality which has become
proverbial, and yet the venture was q
failure from pecuniary point OF view.
Here Maria Garcia married "Malibran,"
whose name she always bore from the
time of her marriage.
Her father insisted on his unwilling
daughter accepting this suitor. The mar
riage settlement contained a clause by
which Garcia was to receive $4,000
as a solasium for the loss of his daugh-
ters services.
Malibran. already seriously compro-
missed, went into bankruptcy court before
the end of the first year of their married
life.
This was Il most unfortunate marriage,
rendered even more irksome to the wife
by an estrangement from her relatives,
which lasted over a number of years.
She then obtained her liberty from the
husband for whom she preserved feel
ing of hatred the rest of her life owing
to his fraudulenty causing her the sacri-
fee of her life.
In all my experience l have never
heard as unsatisfactory, unpaianceu'
poorIv given rendition of that glori-
Gus oratorio of Handel "The Messiah" as
presented to Los Angeles audience by