The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-09-27
'ADELINA PATTI,
FAMOUS PRIMA
DONNA, IS DEAD
Passed Away at Penycal in
South Wales at Age of 76
WAS QUEEN OF SINGERS
First Operate Singer in the World to
be Made a chevaler Of the
the Legion of Honor

London, Sept. 27.-Adelina Patti
prima donna, died today at Penycae
South Wales.
Nine. Adelina Patti reigned for A
years as queen of singers.
Her marvellous voice thrilled the
greatest contemporaries of her days
The elder Dumas, the French drama
tist once said to her:
Being a man and a Christian.
love to listen to your singing; but il
were a bird would die of envy"
she had tones so beautiful" said
one eminent musical critic, that they
seemed to gush spontaneously from
the very fountain-spring of vocal
youth"
Nine Patti inherited her talent
81 am child of the stage" he
had said, being born during an oper.
attic season at Madrid, Spain, in 1913
My father Salvatore Patti, Siccilian
was a good tenor singer. My mother
a Roman. became a famous artist as
Signora Barlli-the name Of her first
husband"
Dwndling finances sent the Patti
family to New York when Adelina,
whose birth name was Adela Juana
Maria Patti was a baby. When she
was seven years old, her parents sud.
denly became destitute,
In the emergency" the singer said
my mother considered that | had ex.
traordinary vocal talent, and hit up
on the idea of bringing me out in con.
cert. And so | sang and soon won
bread for the family
The child made her debut a. Tripler
Hall, in New York singing arias from
the Barber" in 1850 She was the
juvenile prodigy OF the day and near
ly ruined her voice by overwork. She
appeared again at the age of l3. After
a tour through the West Indies. she
Withdrew to prepare for greater
career
Al the age OF t6 she appeared in the
Academy of Music, New York, in her
first opera role, Lucia di Hammer.
moor Her wonderful soprano
reused the audience to the widest
enthusiasm and her fame swept the
country At this time she was earn.
ing 500 week
She repeated her conquest as
Amina in La Sonnambula" in Covent
Garden, London, in 1861. Her salary
had increased to $3.50 month.
1t was the beginning of a dazzling
conquest of all Europe Royalty en-.
tertained her and courted her favors
The populace besieged her hotels and
theatres. Men in all stations Of life
wooed her, but she brushed them
aside with a laugh and thrill. She
finally capitulated at the age of 25 to
Henri, Marquis de Caux, equerry to
Napoleon H. They separated after
a few years, Nine Patti finally secur-
ing a divorce in 1885 to marry Signor
Ernesto Nicolini, an Italian tenor
singer
Her first American tour began in
lSS1-her last in 1903 She was
greeted by magnificent ovation
when she made her first appearance
in opera in the New York Academy
OF Music, the scene of her girlish
triumph of 20 years before. She was
at the height of her career and be.
came the musical sensation OF the
winter. The following year she sang
at the newly opened Metropolitan
Opera House. Her guaranteed salary
was $4,000 a highland it was paid.
for Nine Patti invariably refused to
appear until the money was in her
possession.
Nine. Patti held the record as a
boy-otice star in operate circles.
When she appeared at a matinee con.
cert in Mechanics Hall in Boston in
1888, she faced an audience which had
paid S1S,900 to hear her. During a
single tour through South America
she received in salary and bonuses
more than 100000. 1t has been esti.
mated that she earned more than
$4,000 GOO during her singing career.
She made her final professional ap-
pearance at the age of 60 in London.
Her last days were passed in Wales
at her beautiful castle, "Craig-y-Nos,"
with her third husband, Baron of
CederstOm, whom she married in
1899, year after the death of
Nicolini
Nine. Patti is reputed to have left
an estate valued at more than $4,000
OOC.
She was the first operate singer in
the world to be made a Cheyalier of
the Legion of Honor She was decor
ated by the Car of Russia with the
Order of Merit, and was appointed by
him as First Singer of the Court. ;"
European potentates We'd with each
other in showering her with jewels,
decorations and social distinctions.