The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-15
N O one who is fortunate enough to VII receive an invitation to the cas-
 tie at Craig-y-Nos down in South

VII receive an invitation to the cas- tie at Craig-y-Nos down in South Wales, fails to accept 1t. Here a woman reigns as queen, and the guests who en- ter her castle pay her the homage that is paid a queen. When she enters the room, every visitor present bows half way to the polished floor, and no one takes a seat until this queen sits down.
 By merit raised to this proud eminence, Adelina Patti, as she is generally known to the world, reigns supreme in her do- main Fame and wealth have brought her about all the honors she could wish for, and it must be with a certain degree of satisfaction that she has retired to her castle in Wales to spend the even ing of her life She is reputed to be worth about s300o,000; at one time in America she was drawing s5000 a night; and of course wherever the fame of grand opera has gone, the fame of Mad anne Patti has gone with it. It is de-
 clared that the annals of the musical world hold the name of no one who at any time could compete with Patti as a singer; she is considered to be the masterpiece of nature so far as singing goes. her for she accomplished almost at the first efforts what others spend six, eight and even more years in trying to att tain. To train the voice for the music of the opera requires the expenditure of
 much time and paintakng effort with
 most people who reach success In this field but Patti just took to it naturally; her vocal organs had the proper strength and facility of movement almost from
 the very start. When she was but small girl she heard her older sister Car lotta making unsuccessful efforts to ex- ecute a trll properly Stopping her in the midst of her exercise Adelina said:
 "Why don't you do this way?' And with out any apparent effort she sang the notes to perfection which her sister after years of training could not properly execute.
 By birth this wonderful singer was a Spaniard; by adoption she was an Amer- ican; and as a musician, Italy claims her.
 She was born in Madrid February 10, 1s43. Hence, she is today nearly 65 years of age. Her father was a professor of music and was a Sicilian by birth, while her mother was a native of Rome. While
 Adelina was yet almost baby her pa- rents came to America, where they en-
 gagged in opera singing. They met the impresarios, the Strakosches, and one of
 them noticed that the little Adelina had something more than an ordinary voice;
 he undertook to instruct her and to his amazement found that she needed prae- tically no instruction-the voice was al ready there. At the age of she began to sing in public, though it was not until
 she was 16 that she made her operatic de-
 but. This was in New York and she
 handled in faultless manner the title role in Donizettis Lucia" She exercised
 a great deal of wisdom in using her voice, for she refused to undertake parts to which she was unsuited; she wouldn't
 sing anything at all when she was in- disposed Her voice was from the first in such fine stage of development that she never attended rehearsals, but when the hour arrived she would sing herself to a triumph and have the whole audience at her feet Her art" says another great singer, twas absolutely correct and fiawless, her voice like a bell that you
 seemed to hear long after its ringing had ceased Yet she could give no explana- tion of her technique, and answered all her colleagues questions concerning it. with oh. know nothing about it. . And lnat was all there was to 1t.
 Of course such a noted woman was sure to have many lovers, and, as result, she has thrice been led to the altar. Her first marriage, to the Marquis de Caux, equerry to Napoleon III, was a failure. and divorce was secured. Ernesto Mi colini, tenor, next won her affection and married her, the union proving to be a happy one until the husbands death in l 1898. After this her present husband Baron Rolf Cederstrom, swede, wooed | and won her. and their domestic life at