Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-02-13


vocal stunts"
II is this simplicity Of manner in which
she has set the gem of her marvellous
voice which more than anything else has
placed her beside that great coloratura to
be remembered first in the minds Of
Americans Jenny Lind.
II has been recalled that this golden
throatcd SpngStcr was brought from Eu-
rope by j. i. Barnum. No freak in his
museum wag more atrociously advertised
that Lind But even the showman's
uisdireCted sense Of what the public
wanted did not offset the furor that the
Swedish girl created when without the
slightest aifcctation, without the flaunt-
ing OF single trick, Jenny Lind opened
her mouth and sang
In much the same way Amelita CALL
Curci came into her own. When the an
nouncemcnt vas made that her first APP
pearanCe IN Nov York would be made in
Donizetti's "DiLorah," New York howled.
The opera vas defunct, II was said. But
those who said it neglected to add that
il was GciunCi chiefly because no artist
lived who was capable of meeting the
demands it made on the human voice.
And then Ga'li-Curci as the appealing
and demcutcd Little goat-girl-she IL
consun1mate frtress--came and sang to
rolIud their way to the farthest corners
of the gallery; her high + left the audi
eace treathlces. but she herself retained
command of the situation. After the
FRS. act .hc had to answer fifteen cur
tain calls.
"She has a voice like the heart of a
pansy," Geraldine Farrar cried.
The ovation after the SHADOW Song
lasted twenty minutes
at was bottled moonshine,' one critic
wrote
Here was a woman who could sing as
Melba sang twenty years ago but VINO
could act as Mclba has never acted; VINO
had a warmth and quality to her voice
that many of the great coloraturas have
lacked.
Born In Milan twenty-eight yclrs ago,
Galli.Curci was brought up in cultured
home circle. the marks of which are one
of the contributing factors of her great
success Not content with just being the
personificaton of voice, she Is woman
Of learning and of intellect An au-
thority on Italian literature, she speaks
five languages fluently and sings all of
her roles in the languages in which they
were written
BRAIN DIRECTS VOICE
One cannot Sl1lb OUly WIN lilc lHlodN'
you know" she said, smiling that elfish
smile that reminds you instantly of
Pavlowa. "You must sing also with
this" Her hands left the knitting nee
dies and went up to her head. And to
put opera in the head one must have
something more than just a musical
education.
But one must know music Young
singers, / believe, would profit much.
very much, If they knew about the
piano or the violin. Most singers are
in too great hurry to appear. They
practice for long, long hours at
time IN order to be ready sooner. Thus
they make their mistake. The voice IS
like a willful child, full of caprice, 1t
must not be hurried"
Those who love to play with tho dol
lar mark are intrigued over the fabulous
amounts that Galll-Curcl is said to be
now culling from the Chicago Grand
Opera company. Others are poiing thu
finger of dcrision at Gatti-Casazza, Of
the Metropolitan, who has been accused
of turning her down when her hus-
band wrote from South America, where
she was being enthusiastically received
asking for a hearing
With rare tact the songbird merely
'Hl'i'H anu says HOlIllE Wnen tneSo
two subjects are mentioned.
PHoNoGRAPH HER SPONSOR
The rumOr is, however that Caruso
sang with her In Buenos Aires and re-
ported only 80 So; that Gatti was
overstocked and therefore let her slip
through his fingers. With canny presci-
ence, however, the talking machine pso-
pie grabbed at her and signed with her
for lengthy term. Her first intro
ductlon to the East was through the
phonograph. But Cleofonte Campanini,
director of the lucky Chicago Company,
had heard Of her.
1t is not written that he "jumrei" at
her. Instead, according TO the report.
he promised TO 'let her appear" In two
operas in Chicago at $500 "A perform
ance. 1t was the chance she looked
for. Chicago and the surrounding ter
ritory fell at her feet--and stayed there
for two seasons Her price arose until
now the question is. "Who makes the
most. Galli-Curci or Caruso?"
In Chicago alone, II Is said, 15O, 900
OF her records were sold last year, as
against the 1000 in New York sold be-
fore her appearance. Now they cannot
be put out fast enough
II Is thus that fame is measured. But
even the conservative critics, even her
rival singers. say that Galli-Curci Is