CHAPTER XX.

GALASSI DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF--POLITENESS OF PRIME DONNE--ENGLISH WELCOME IN CANADA--CONCERT AT THE WHITE HOUSE--VALUE OF PATTI'S NOTES--PHANTOM SHIP WRECKED--NILSSON'S CONTRACT--PATTI'S CONTRACT--RETURN TO ENGLAND.

THE Company now left for Detroit. Our season opened with Albani as "Lucia;" and for the following night _Semiramide_ was announced, with Adelina Patti and Scalchi. Unfortunately Mdme. Patti had taken cold, and was unable to sing. It appeared that on arriving at the station she had had to walk through piles of snow for some distance in order to reach her carriage.

At one time the public threatened to demolish the building, so disappointed were they; especially as Mdme. Patti had also failed to appear in that same city the previous year.

It was at once put down (as these things generally are) to caprice on the part of the prima donna, or a trick on that of the operatic manager. I, therefore, at once sought Dr. Brodie, an eminent physician of Detroit, and he furnished a certificate as to the _Diva'_ illness.

Despite the change of the bill, a good-sized audience remained for Verdi's tragic opera of _Il Trovatore_.

On the closing night we performed _Guillaume Tell_, in which Signor Galassi particularly distinguished himself. According to one of the journals, which appeared the following morning, so dexterously did he shoot the apple off his son's head that he might always be sure of a warm welcome whenever he returned to that city.

Rival prime donne--those, at least, who have the habits of polite society--are very particular in calling on one another, though these visits are sometimes of a highly formal kind. During my American season of 1883 I was associated with Mr. Gye; and it so happened that Nicolini and Patti, Ernest Gye and Albani (Mrs. Ernest Gye) were staying at Detroit in the same hotel where I also had put up. Patti and Nicolini having just gone for a drive, Madame Albani, seeing them pass beneath her window, called out to her husband--

"Ernest, they have gone out. We had better leave cards on them at once."

On returning home Madame Patti duly received the cards; and an hour or two afterwards, when Albani and Mr. Gye had just gone to the theatre, where there was to be a rehearsal, said to Nicolini--

"Ernest" (his name, also, was Ernest), "they have gone to the theatre. Now is the time for returning their visit."

As Madame Patti was still suffering from a very severe cold, I thought it prudent to leave her behind at Detroit, for the purpose not only of re-establishing herself, but of assuring the public that she was really ill. She remained there some four or five days after we had left.

The whole Company, except Madame Patti, had to muster at the station about 2 a.m. to start for Canada. By some mismanagement on the part of the railway company, there being two competing lines, with but one set of rails running into the joint station, the artists were kept waiting at this station for over a couple of hours, the wind bitterly cold, and the thermometer some fifty degrees below freezing point. At length, to the joy of all, our special was drawn up alongside the platform, and we were enabled to make a start, arriving at Toronto the following afternoon.

The next morning the musicians all came to me in great despair, the Canadian Custom House authorities having seized the whole of their instruments as liable to duty. The same difficulty occurred with the wardrobes and properties; and it was not until very late in the day, by going through a course of red-tape, which reminded one of the old country, that they could be released, I giving an undertaking that the troupe should leave Canada within two days.

A right royal English welcome did our Company receive there. Prior to the performance I requested Arditi to play the National Anthem. The whole of the audience stood up, and, on its conclusion, gave three hearty cheers. Nearly all the private box, dress circle, and stall ticket-holders arrived in open sleighs, the snow being very thick.

The opening performance was _Il Trovatore_, in which Mierzwinski, Galassi, Scalchi, and Fursch-Madi appeared, giving great satisfaction. The excellence of the representation was quite a revelation to the public, as it were.

On the following night Madame Albani appeared as "Lucia," when the _parquette_, balconies, and boxes were crowded with the _élite_ of the city, the Lieutenant-Governor occupying the gubernatorial box.

The galleries were likewise crowded to their fullest capacity, standing room even being at a premium. Albani was welcomed with vociferous cheers, and her performance throughout received the warmest approbation.

Immediately after the conclusion of our grand two-night season in Canada our special train was put in motion towards Buffalo, where we performed the following evening, leaving again after the performance at 2 a.m. for Pittsburg, at which place Mdme. Patti had arrived the previous day.

At Pittsburg the season opened most auspiciously with _La Traviata_. The theatre itself was not only crowded to the ceiling, but we charged five dollars a head for standing room on the window sills.

The following night Mdme. Albani appeared as "Margherita" in _Faust_, supported by Ravelli, Scalchi, etc.

A matinée was given the next day of _Il Trovatore_, followed by a splendid performance the same evening of _William Tell_. On each occasion the house was crammed.

The Company had again to muster at 2 a.m. after the performance to start for Washington, at which place we arrived the following evening, Mdme. Albani opening the next day as "Margherita" in _Faust_.

The next evening I had to change the performance, _la Diva_ having contracted a sore throat during the journey. I substituted _William Tell_, postponing Mdme. Patti's _début_ until the following night, when she and Scalchi captivated the audience with _Semiramide_. In a letter to the papers the following morning a mathematician stated that by carefully counting the notes in the part of _Semiramide_, and dividing the result by the sum paid nightly to Patti for singing that part, he discovered that she received exactly 42 5/8 cents for each of the notes that issued from her throat. This was found to be just 7 1/10 cents per note more than Rossini got for writing the whole opera.

On the following Friday President Arthur gave a private concert at the White House. I here append the programme:--