Evening star., 1919-09-27
Reigned for Forty Years.


Reigned for Forty Years.
Ade1ina Patti reigned for forty years
as queen of singers. The elder Dumas,
the French dramatist. once said to
her: Being man and Christian.
love. to listen to your singing. but il
I were bird would die Of envy"
..Ehe had tones 20 beautiful" said
ono eminent musical critic, that they
seemed to gush spontaneously from
the very fountain spring Of vocal
youth
Mime. Patti inherited her talent.
IT am child Of the stage," she said,
being born. during an operate season
at Madrid. Spain. in 1S43. My father,
Salvatore Patti. 4 sicilian, was a good
tenor singer. My mother. q Roman.
became a famous artist as Signora
BariliIthe name of her first husband -
Dwind1ing finances sent the Patti
family to New York when Adelina.
whose birth name was Adeia Juana
Maria Patti. was baby. When she
was seven years old. her parents sud-
denly became destitute.
Juvenile Prodigy in 1850.
TN the emergency" the singer said,
my mother considered that 1 had ex-
traordinary vocal talent, and hit upon
the idea of bringing me out in concert,
And so sang and soon won bread for
the family"
The child made her debut at Trip
LEI Hall, in New York, singing arias
from the Barber" in 1850. She was
the, juvenile prodigy of the day. and
nearly ruined her voice by overwork.
sne appeared again at the age Of thir-
teen. After a tour through the West
Indies she withdrew to prepare for
a greater career
AT the age of sixteen she appeared in
the academy of Music. New York. in
her hrst opera role. Lucia di Lam
mermoor;" Her wonderful soprano
rouseo the audience to the widest
country. At this time she was earn
ing 500 week.
She repeated her conquest as Amina
IN La Sonnambula" in Convent Gar
den, London. in 1861. Her salary had
increased to $3.50 a month.
First Welded at Twenty-Five.
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
tneaters. Men In all stations of life
wooed her. but she brushed them aside
with laugh and trill. She finally
capitulated at the age of twenty-five to
Henri Marquis de Caux, eQuerry to Ma
poleon III. They separated after a
few years, Nine. Patti finally secur-
Ing divorce in 1885 to marry Signor
Ernesto Nicolini. an Italian tenor
singer.
Her first American tour began in
1S8l-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 tri-
umph Of twenty years before She was
at the height of her career. and became
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 night-and 1t was paid. for
Nine. Patti invariably refused to ap-
pear until the money was in her pos
session.
Held Record as Box Office Star.
Nine Patti held the record as a box
ofiice star in operatic circles. When
she appeared at matinee concert in
Mechanics Hall in Boston in 1888
Sne IdCeQ al auQlenC0 WnlCn mad
paid $4,000 to hear her. During
single tour through South America
she received in salary and bonuses
more than 100000. It has been es-
timated that she earned more than
$5, ,000, 900 during her singing career.
pearance at the age of sixty-five in
London. Her last days were spent in
Wales at her beautiful castle, Craig
y-Nos. with her third husband.
Baron Of Cederstrom. whom she mar
ried in 1899. q year after the death
Of Nicolini.
Mime. Patti is reputed to have left
an estate valued at more than
$4,000. 900.
She was the first operatic singer in
the world to be made a Chevalier of
the Legion Of Honor: She was dec
GRATED by the Csar of Russia with
the Order Of Merit, and was appointed
by him as FIRST singer Of the court"