Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-09-28
ADELNA PATTI,
FAMOUS PRIMA
DONNA, IS DEAD
operate Star Succumbs to Long
Illness at Welsh
Home.

the prima donna, died this morning
at 'Craig-y-Nos castle, Penycae,
South Wales.
Adelina Patti, who sang to per-
lection before she could speak ar
ticulately, was on the operate and
concert stage for more than half a
century. No singer, perhaps, ever
attained higher degree of success
than she. When in her prime she
was known the world over as the
divine Patti" whose soul-moving
voice, could, when she sang "Kath-
leen Mavourneen" or other popular
air, stir up an audience to such a
pitch of feeling as to cause men and
women to stand up, wildly wave
their handkerchiefs, and, although
perfect strangers to one another,
embrace one another in sort of in
sane hypnosis.
Born In B43.
Patti was born of Italian parents
at Madrid, on February l9, l843.
Her father, Salvatore Patti, a ma
tive Of Catania, in Sicily, was of no
Bile extraction, and musician OF
considerable eminence; her mother
was the daughter of celebrated
Roman teacher of singing-Signor
Chiesa-and early in life took high
position on the operate stage under
the professional name of Barili. OF
the children of the Patti-Barili mar
rage, all of whom were remarkable
unsteady, Adelina was the youngest.
When she was still an infant in
arms her parents migrated from
Europe to America, and it was in
New York that Adelina's musical
talent developed itself precociously.
Before completing her fifth year
she revealed remarkable aptitude
for overcoming the technical diff
culties with which the prevailing
school of florid vocalization was
oyerladen. At the age of 7 (l85O)
she sang for the first time in public.
When Adelina's childish triunphs
had reached their apogee, she was
prudently withdrawn from the con-
cert room, in order to go through a
course of voice training which lasted
for a little over eight years. Her
first singing master was Ettore
Bari1i, her mother -half-brother,
who was succeeded by Maurice
Strakcsch.
Entered Opera at IS.
AT the age Of Is and half, AIDE
lima Patti made her public reappear-
ance III New York, this time on the
operate stage, in the role OF Lucia
November "a, 1889, and achieved
a tremendous success. During the
ensuing IS months she sang the
heroines of the more popular operas
of Bellini and Donizetti, and carried
all before her in the American
metropolis. It was not until the
spring Of 1861 that a fairly remun-
erativc engagement, offered to her
by Frederick eye, then lessee of
the Royal Italian opera in Lon
don, tempted her to cross the At
lantic, and to bid for the favor of a
public at that time VIGOROUSLY the
most difficult to please in Europe.
When, on May IA, 1861. she made
her first appearance, as Amina, in
"Somnambula," on the huge Covent
Garden stage-a slender, sallow,
dark-eyed girl, displaying a slight
childish stiffness of gait and for
mality Of inanner-only a favored
few, personal friends of Gye, to
whom he had confided his own inn
pressions of 'the little American
girls" vocal capacities, had the faint
est idea Of the revelation that await
ed them. The mellow, velvety
tones of Amina's opening recitative
thrilled the house with pleasurable
sensation, and a few minutes later
Adelira's inimitable delivery Of
Come per me Sereno,"F elected
prolonged outburst of applause that
was strangely out of keeping with
the traditional reserve of fashions
able audience in London. From
that moment Adelina PATHS repu-
tation was, firmly established in
England.
At Covent Garden 20 Years.
For over 20 years Nine. Patti
sang at Covent Garden, and. filled it
to OVERLOOKING whenever She ap-
peared. Her annual earnings be-
tween 1861 and 1881 averaged from
$4,000 to $l75,000, and rose still
higher during each of the years in
which she made professional tours
in North and South America. Her
share of the profits resulting from
hertvisit to Argentina in 1888, fer
instance, amounted to $250,0OO.
After her retirement from the
stage Nine. Patti made her home at
Craig-y-Nos, in Wales. The IA
famous singer was three times mar
ried. Her first husband was the
MARQUIS de Caux and her second
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