Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-06-28
ny HOWE WILLIAMS

n YER on Broadway New York, not
"a Los Angeles), almost anywhere
" between Twenty-third and Forty
second streets, one might have heard
this conversation during the last sea-
son of grand opera:
II say, old chap, you don't want to
miss seeing Mary Garden"
IT know it. Now take a tip from
me and go to hear Mauricia MORT
chini"
That was the difference-you saw
one and heard the other.
After a season of grand opera at the
Manhattan opera house, New York.
Madame Morichini may now be heard
in vaudeville. 1t is her last week of
an engagement of nine weeks with the
Orpheum circuit. 1t is also her last
week In vaudeville, she says.
II will show you how much I like
Los Angeles" she said. when my
engagement at the Orpheum is ter
minated l am going to remain here an
other week just because / like your
city. We will go to Catalina" she
nodded to her husband. perhaps we
will go fishing-and catch nothing"
she added naively. Then we shall
go to Paris and then to Naples, where
1 am 10 sing in the opera and then to
Buenos Ayres, where l have another
opera engagement. Vaudeville is all
right for a change, but to sing four
teen times a week is a great strain
on the strongest artistic. I think 1
shall go back to grand opera"
1t seemed to me as / listened to her
sing a barcarolle from Offenbach, "Ah,
Fors LUZ from La Traviata," a
canzone from 'Di Taromina," and fin
ally Home, Sweet Home" that men
and women in the audience did not
quite realize they were listening to a
marvelously gifted singer. Some, per-
haps, were little startled at the I'M
expected quality of her voice, but
while the majority appeared to be in
sympathy with the singer few seemed
to appreciate the fact they were hear
ing prima donna OF exceptional
ability.
Her stage department is dignified
and simple. She made use of none of
those little familiar articles that are
sure to win hand" no matter how
often they are repeated. Hardly once
did she change her position or the
pose of her hands that held her fan
Only the expression of her face-of
cordance with the feeling expressed by
the music.
The grace and simplicity of her
bearing was accumulated by the same
qualities in the gowns she wears. No
man can describe a gown so that a
woman will know what he is talking
about. Consequently many male writ
ers have recourse to such vague and
inaccurate descriptive terms as "Her
gown was sonnet by Milton" (they
mean by Worth); or, at was like a
cloud of golden mist that clung to
herr" or ut was the gown that might
have robed Dante's Beatrice" Other
writers who display laudable attempt
to be true to themselves speak in this
wise: 1T had ribbons at the shoulders
and some soft stuff at the elbows"
In dilemma of this sort / can only
say that Madame Morichinis gowns
have the appearance of being very
simple and very expensive at the same
time.
When I called upon Madame MORT
Chin l was delighted to learn that she
spoke English My past experiments
in interviewing foreign celebrities has
been unfortunate. So when | was in
formed that she spoke English almost
as well as Spanish or French l was
delighted. I will never forget an at
tempted conversation I once had with
a bAotllS uiSlltQ LIGllCIlLldD. Inc ONLY
English my adversary knew were the
names of articles of food and certain
epithets one seldom uses except in
case of extreme provOcation. All of
this he used on the waiter who served
us. With the aid of an Interpreter
who knew neither language l proceed
ed with list Of questions 1 had pre-
pared in youthful enthusiasm. When
we finally broke away with muttered
curses at each others stupidity and
l turned my astonished gaze on the
list Of ques tions and The answers writ
ten beneath them as received from the
interpreter ] found obvious contradict
tions and nothing at all Of any value.
1t was, therefore, with inexpressible
relief that [ listened to Madame Mort
chinTs clear English as she told me
that she was born on the island OF
Mauritius--whence her given name
that her father is French and her
mother Spanish that she went to Paris
when still quite young to study music
and made her first success there. She
was married only three months ago.
One day last spring Oscar Flachs.
who was private secretary for Oscar
Hammerstein, was chatting IN the lob