Henry Charles Lahee

“ Manuel Garcia, the tenor, had two daughters who both achieved the highest distinction on the operatic stage. The eldest, Maria Felicien, became Madame Malibran, and she is mentioned to-day as one of the most wonderful operatic singers that the world has produced. Daring originality stamped her life as a woman and her career as an artist, and the brightness with which her star shone through a brief and stormy history had something akin in it to the dazzling but capricious passage of a meteor. ”

“ Nature gave her a pure soprano voice of rare and delicate quality, united with incomparable sweetness. Essentially a singer and not a declamatory artist, the sentiment of grace was carried to such a height in her art that it became equivalent to the more robust passion and force which distinguished some of her great contemporaries.
She began singing minor parts at the theatre at the early age of eight, and her regular début in opera took place when she was only fifteen. "She appeared to sing," we are told, "with the volubility of a bird, and to experience the pleasure she imparted." ”

“ In the wild rhythms of the gypsy dance, in the fierce splendour of the patriotic hymn, the player and audience alike are fired with excitement. The passion rises, the tumult waxes furious; a tremendous sweep of the bow brings the music to an end; and then we can say that we have heard Remenyi."
The gypsy dance and the patriotic hymn! And yet he was weighed in the balance with Wilhelmj, who played the grandest and best music in the most refined, musicianly manner, and whose tour in America marked an epoch in the musical life of the country. ”

“ The infallible correctness of the player contributes greatly to the enjoyment. The moment the bow touches the Stradivarius a stream of beautiful sound flows toward the hearer. A pure tone seems to me the prime quality of violin playing—unfortunately, also, it is a rare quality. Sarasate's virtuosity shines and pleases and surprises the audience continually. He is distinguished, not because he plays great difficulties, but because he plays with them. ”

“ In Boston an Academy of Music was established by Lowell Mason in 1833. It had a large number of pupils, and there was an orchestra in connection with it, which gave several concerts. But the Harvard Musical Association, which was founded in 1837, seems to have been the chief propelling power to orchestral music in Boston, until the formation of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In New York the Philharmonic Society was reorganized and was, as it has been ever since, the most prominent orchestral organization of that city. ”

“ Notwithstanding the success which Madame Albani made in England, France, Russia, and other countries, she had her trials and disappointments. At one time, when she was singing at La Scala, in Milan, she was suffering from a slight hoarseness. Most audiences would have been indulgent, but not so the Milanese, who are particularly cruel to singers who have made their reputation in other places. The Milanese hissed and groaned. Huskiness in a singer was, to them, a crime. The tenor, seeing how matters stood, was taken with a sudden indisposition, and left Albani to carry on the performance alone. ”

“ The people grew up in a country where there was little musical cultivation, where there were small communities, and where the struggle for existence had been the first consideration. They responded warmly to the efforts of the country singing teacher, the choral society promoter, and later to the producer of opera, and if history shows many failures, it may be pointed out that these failures could not have taken place if no effort had been made. ”

“ Her list of jewels was given in the journals of that day,—"a miniature violin and bow ablaze with diamonds, given by the Prince and Princess of Wales; a double star with a solitaire pearl in the centre, and each point tipped with pearls, from Queen Margherita of Italy." Besides these, there were diamonds from the Queen of Spain and from the Empress of Russia and sundry grand duchesses. No lady violinist ever appeared before an American audience more gorgeously arrayed. ”

“ Scalchi was the possessor of a voice of delicious quality and unusual range, every note in its compass of two and a half octaves being of a wonderfully soft yet penetrating tone, and of great power. Her popularity was such that Patti and other prima donnas feared her as a rival, and regarded with jealousy the applause which attended her performances. Scalchi was imbued with the prima donna temperament, and had the regulation parrots and other pets during her travels. ”

“ The eulogies of London and Paris dwelt more upon her acting than upon her singing, more upon her infusion of her own individuality into Marguerite, Lucia, and Ophelia than upon any merely vocal achievement. She was considered a dramatic artist of the finest intuitions, the most magnetic presence, and the rarest expressive powers. There was, too, a refinement, a completeness, and an imaginative quality in her acting, which was altogether unique.{163}
From 1870 to the spring of 1872 Miss Nilsson was in America, where she met with a perfect ovation. ”

“ He is a master of technique, and surmounts all difficulties with ease; his tone is pure, and, though not large, is satisfying, and in his interpretation of the great works he never attempts to enforce his personality upon the hearer,—in short, he is a true artist. As a conductor he has marked ability, and as a quartet player he has made a reputation which will live in the history of music in America, if not in the whole world. ”

“ Joachim's early training and education developed his character both as a musician and as a man. The influence of Mendelssohn, whose friendship ended only with his death, of David, Schumann, Liszt, Berlioz, and Brahms, who was largely indebted to Joachim for the introduction of many of his works to the public, brought out the thorough uprightness, firmness of character and earnestness of purpose, and that intense dislike of all that is artificial or untrue in art, which have made him a great moral power in the musical world. ”

“ Mario's singing and acting were never to be forgotten by those that witnessed them. Intense passion and highly finished vocal delicacy combined to make these pictures of melodious suffering indelible. As a singer of romances he has never been equalled; in those songs where music tells the story of passion, in broad, intelligible,{72} ardent phrases, and presents itself primarily as the vehicle of violent emotion, Mario stood ahead of all others of his age. For a quarter of a century he remained before the public of Paris, London, and St. Petersburg, but he did not finally retire until 1867. ”

“ Unsurpassed as a master of the instrument, he uses his powers of execution in the services of art, and represents the perfection of a pure style and legitimate school, with breadth and fidelity of interpretation. His performances undoubtedly derive their charm and merit from the strength of his talent and of his artistic character, and are stamped with a striking originality of conception; at the same time fidelity to the text, and careful endeavour to enter into the spirit and feeling of the composer, are the principles of executive art which Joachim has invariably practised. ”

“ Of Madame Mara's contemporary male singers Luigi Marchesi is entitled to mention, for he had, within three years of his début, the reputation of being the best singer in Italy. He visited all Europe, even penetrating to St. Petersburg, in company with Sarti and Todi. Besides his wonderful vocal powers, which enabled him to execute the most marvellous embellishments, he was noted for great beauty of person, and for the grace and propriety of his gestures. ”

“ So great has been his success that he is said to have received the highest honorarium for a single concert ever obtained by a violinist in Europe.{298}
He is described as a man of commonplace appearance, with dull, expressionless eyes, sluggish movements, and slow, affected manner of speech. His technique is not astonishing, but he has a full, penetrating, sympathetic tone. There is no charlatanism or trickery in his playing, nor any virtuoso effects, but the charm of it rests in his glowing temperament, ideal conception, and wonderful power of expression. ”