Evening star., 1921-08-21

Ot 1iuiIo Idlll-SASd ZZd sdS ulTeClOf
of La Scala apd also the first sea-
son in which Arturo Toscanini. con-
Quoted in that opera house.. We were
producing Die e%AIeistersinger." a Ger
| man opera, but we sang 1t in Italian.
"caruso was yet long way from
being world famous He had made
his debut in 1894 in LAmico Fran
CISCO in the Nuovo Theater. Naples.
but without scoring any outstanding
triumph. He was little more than
| boy. only about twenty-five years
old. Then he had toured Sicily and
| other places with only Indifferent sue
cess. Ete has told me since that in
those days his compensation in
Italian lire wss about the equivalent
of $40 night.
must have been late in the year lS9S.
l should say. that he sang Marcello
in La Boheme' in the Teatro Linicio.
, Milan. 1t was part he had at first
refused because he thought it lily
fitted for him. but he awoke the next
followed for CarusO four seasons at
! La Scala
Our warm friendship had dated al
most0rom the moment of our meeting.
1t was boyhood alliance of love
| that ever matured and strengthened
with the passing of the years toward
maturity. During that period in
Milan l learned to appraise Enrico's
voice and his character both at some-
| thing like their true. pure gold value.
From Milan 1 had gone to Covent
| Garden. under the direction of Henry
| Higgins. That impressario was look
| ing for tenor who. as he expressed
! it. would be adapted to London's
| tastes. From the first moment he
! broached the subject to me l began
singing the praises of my friend
1 Caruso
"'Ah. my dear Higgins I would say.
| you do not yet know this Caruso. but
i he is going to be the greatest tenor
! the world has ever heard! Is he
ad: pied to London? Truly. yes he is
adapted to every place where one
: knows-what is divine music"
! In my second year at Covent Gar
| den I still was begging Higgins to
/ bring Caruso to England. Enrico
drawing $500 lire-about $500 night.
which was very considerable salary
! for those days.
! Higgins said he feared Caruso
! would exact too high price for an
initial engagement, but 1 told him we
could get Caruso to come to London on
! reasonable terms. So finally the i'm
pressario asked me to go to Milan as
his ambassador to bring Caruso to
England.
And so, with joy in my heart. go
and to persuade him to come back
| with me to London. SO that again we
| may be close to one another. Well,
we embrace each other, and Enrico
says: But. Toto. don't want to go to
to London: London may not like me.
went after him hard. My God.
man! said I, don't you know this is
the opportunity of your lifetime?
Don't be fool and toss it over. Lon
1 \
the fly. and after England, then Amer
| lea"
! We'll. I don't remember all I said.
but used all my diplomatic arts. and
! into the scale also I threw the make
weight Of our affection. And what
do you think? Finally I was so sue
cessful that he came to Higgins at
1900 lire a night. which was about
$500. or 800 performance less than
he already was receiving at La Scala.
! Nobody needs to be- told, of course.
! how Enrico made a tremendous hit
in London right from the start. Hig-
| gins made good. After that Caruso
just about named his own terms. Dur
| ing that London period in Covent
! Garden we sang together in 'Tosca.'
I'm Ballo in Maschera' and other op-
| eras.''
Scotti preceded Caruso in New York,
as he had preceded the tenor in Lon
don. Telling Of Caruso's debut in
! America. the baritone recalled that
Maurice Grau. who had heard the
great tenor in Milan and in London.
| had made overtures to bring him to
the Metropolitan Opera House. but at
| first nothing came of 1t. Then Grau's
health failed and the dictatorship Of
| the Metropolitan fell upon Heinrich
Conreid.
"CoNR1ED." said scotti. simply did
| not know Caruso. He had to get
| his information at second hand So.
\ whenever he began talking of tenors
with me. as he often did. I praised
| Enrico. just as had done to Higgins
at Covent Garden.
Heavens, Mr.. Conried.' used to
i tell him. you have never heard any
tenor like this one! He is wonder
| full, the greatest in the world. Bring
him to New York and you will have
all America at his feet in a fort
night
"Conried was not keen for 1t for
some time, but eventually he engaged
him and. as you know, -CaruSo made
his first appearanc@in Rigoletto'-
: