The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1936-01-21

And 1 was a good cabinet
maker, too, but when 1 was 20
entered the army. a. all Italian
boys do. I wasn't a very enthu.
siaStic soldier-I preferred to prac.
tice singing. One day my com.
manding officer heard me, and
instead of the scolding I expected,
he urged me to go on and helped
me to escape many of the annoy.
ances of military discipline. l was
made part of four-piece band at
tached to my unit and was kept
so busy blowing the clarinet that
I escaped much rifle practice and
squad drill.
One day my regiment was or,
dered to march into a far noun
famous country for m i | tary
maneuVers there. I was very un-
enthusiastic about leaving the
army camp, but no one was al
lowed to stay behind except those
on sick list. Then my colonel had
an inspiration. Though I'd never
so much as fried an egg in my
life before, to make the world safe
for Martinelli he had me APP
pointed cook for the invalids who
were left behind. 10 this day
marvel that the sick men all sur.
vived my cooking efforts.
When made my first ap-
pearance in opera in 1910 it
seemed that a good time was be-
ing had by everybody Blu my
self. It was "Ernani," an opera
1 had seen and studied until l
knew every note of the second
piccOlo part. But in the middle
of the great love duo the words
suddenly left me, and had to
ad liz for about two minutes. No
one, not even the audience was
more surprised than / when
they heard completely unfamil.
lar words being sung to the well.
known aria. In spite of the APP
plauSe that followed / vowed l
would never sing again. l was
convinced l was an utter fail
ure as a singer, and visualized
the cabinetmakerS bench again
E. but only overnight. The next
mornings excellent no ices
made me think tn =. perhaps 1
was not such a bad singer after
all.
At that time Puccini, the com.
poser of "Tosca" and "Boheme, I"
was the dictator of al things mus
ical in Italy. Everyone knew when
he came for a performance to La
Scala, and the lowlieSt stage hand
worked harder, knowing Maestro
Puccini was in the opera house.
One night after a performance
Puccini came into my dressing
room. He told me that he had just
written an opera on an American
theme, The Girl of the Golden
West" which a producer named
Belasco had just done as a play
in New York. The opera was to be
produced in Rome. Would I care
to sing the first performance of
the opera, which was to be in
Rome, the next season? Would 4!
What an opportunity that was for
young singer!
went with him to Rome. and
thereafter my fortunes doomed.
At the opera in Rome I met the
impressario there, a young man
named Gatti CaSazza, who had
formerly been a naval engineer,
and very good one, too. But
providentially he had decided to
change his career one night dur
ing performance of "Othello,"
in which there is a boat scene
with SwiShing waves. When the
boat collapsed Gatti decided that
both boat and waves we're all wet,
and that this production needed
the services of a good naval engi-
neer. He offered some suggestions
to the stage manager, was induced
to help in the next presentation,
and started a career which was
to make him the greatest opera
impressario of the century.
Although I had known Gatti
in Rome, 1 never worked with
him until he called me 20 the
Metropolitan in 1913, just three
years after he first took the
reinS here. For FL years, how.
ever, have been proud to sing
under his direction. My first
voyage to America before my
debut was unfOrgettable. Six
long days and six nights spent
in agony in our cabin, wonder
ing whether even a Me.rOpOli-
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