Garcia the Centenarian And His Times Part 22

When Miss Sterling, as she then was, went to the maestro for lessons, he was so carried away with the voice of his new pupil that he could not bring himself to keep her to exercises, as was his custom in the case of others. Almost at once he began taking her through all the Italian operatic _roles_. One day she was struggling to execute a particularly difficult phrase, and at last burst out crying, "You ought not to give me these songs until I have mastered the exercises properly." "You're quite right," he answered, and took her back to the exercises once more.

Until Antoinette Sterling commenced her training under him she used the full extent of her voice, singing from the D below middle C to the top soprano C sharp--a range of three octaves. She sang all the contralto arias from opera and oratorio, and at the same time felt equally at home with the soprano _roles_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Photo by Elliott & Fry, Baker Street, London, W.

Handwritten: Antoniette Sterling MacKinlay]

The first thing her new master did on hearing her was to make the remark, "If you continue as you have been doing, do you know what will happen? Look at this piece of elastic. I take it firmly at the two ends and stretch it. What is the result? It becomes thin in the middle. If I were to continue to do this constantly, it would get weaker and weaker, until finally it would break. It is thus with the human voice.

Cultivate an extended range, and keep on singing big notes at both extremes, and the same thing will occur which we have seen with the elastic. Your voice will gradually weaken in the middle. If you persist in this course long enough, it will break, and the organ be rendered useless." For this reason he strongly advised her to abandon the higher notes, confining herself to genuine contralto music. Moreover, with the reduced range, he told her strictly to avoid practising on the extremes, to use them as little as possible, and build up her voice by exercising the middle portion of it. It is an invaluable hint for all singers. His pupil realised the wisdom of what he said, and from that time onwards ceased to use the top half octave of her voice.

After a return to America, during which she was engaged to sing at Dr Ward Beecher's church, she came over to England again to make her _debut_. Senor Garcia heard of the forthcoming appearance of his old pupil, and tried to find out her address. She in her turn had lost that of the maestro. In consequence of this they did not have an opportunity of meeting again till the eventful evening had pa.s.sed, and all London was ringing with the new contralto's praises. He had, of course, been present at Covent Garden, and at the end of her first song went round to the door of the artist's room to congratulate her. The attendant met him with the stereotyped reply, "We cannot let any one in." "But I insist--I _must_ see her. She is my pupil." The request, however, was met with stolid indifference, and he was obliged to return to his seat.

When, finally, they did meet again, she at once recommenced her lessons, and these were continued, as regularly as engagements would permit, until seven years after her _debut_.

On July 5, 1869, Manuel Garcia was elected a member of the Committee of Management at the Royal Academy of Music, with which he had now been connected for twenty years.

Twelve months later he was brought to a sudden realisation of the catastrophe that shook Europe, for July saw the commencement of the Franco-Prussian War, all the French being ordered to leave German territory. In consequence of this edict Mme. Viardot was obliged to move from Baden-Baden, where she had been teaching; and, like many others, she made her way to England. On her arrival there with her husband she settled down in London near her brother, till the march of events rendered it possible for her to return to the Continent.

Of this period Mme. Noufflard, daughter of Lady Halle, has given some recollections.

"While Mme. Viardot was taking refuge in London, her house was the rendezvous of every talent; and I well remember one evening, when serious music had given way to fun, Saint-Saens sitting at the pianoforte to improvise the 'rising of the sun in a mountainous country.' In the twinkling of an eye Manuel Garcia cut out a large halo from a newspaper, and was seen slowly emerging from behind a high-backed chair, his full face, with its paper decoration, disclosing itself at the top, as the last triumphant chord was struck.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHARLES HALLe AND MANUEL GARCIA PLAYING CHESS.

(REPRODUCED FROM AN ORIGINAL SKETCH BY RICHARD DOYLE.)]

"I recollect him also as the talented and patient teacher, always full of interest even in those whose efforts were feeble. To his musical talents was added the charm of courtly manner, never-failing wit, and love of fun. The last he gave a fresh proof of but two or three years ago, when in answer to the pleasure shown by some friend, who had not seen him for some little time, in meeting him again at a _soiree_, he replied with the characteristic foreign shrug of the shoulders, 'Que voulez-vous? Je suis trop occupe pour avoir le temps de mourir.'"

Mme. Noufflard also tells how the maestro used to visit her parents at Greenhays in Manchester:--

"I was too young at the time to remember any details of those very interesting days; but my earliest recollections of Signor Garcia are those of the delight with which we children always greeted him, as he was ever ready to enter into our pursuits and to enjoy a romp. I remember, as quite a child, having undertaken to teach him German, and the solemnity with which he took his so-called lesson each day, although the teacher knew far less of the language than did the pupil. As we grew older he would often take us to his rooms near Manchester Square, and explain the invention and uses of his laryngoscope with as much care and precision as if we were the whole College of Surgeons listening to him."

What need to recapitulate the events which followed on the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War? In less than three months Paris was besieged, a calamity followed in October by the pitiful surrender of Metz.

With the January of 1871 came the capitulation of Paris, followed by the conclusion of peace in February, the revolt of the Commune, and the second siege of the capital in March.

Senor Garcia must have been glad indeed that he had come to England nearly a quarter of a century before, and was thus able quietly to pursue his work as a teacher, instead of remaining in Paris to be upset once more, as he had been with the Revolution of '48.

CHAPTER XVI.

TWENTY YEARS OF MUSIC.

(1853-1873.)

At this point it may be of interest to recall the princ.i.p.al musical events which took place during the earlier years of Manuel Garcia's residence in London.

The year of the invention of the laryngoscope is princ.i.p.ally of interest to musicians from the fact that Gye was able to secure for his opera company a valuable aid in that greatest ba.s.so of any time, Luigi Lablache, then sixty years of age.

The following year brought the London _premiere_ of "L'Etoile du Nord,"

and of Verdi's new opera, "Il Trovatore"; it is additionally memorable for the advent of Cerito, on whom the mantle of Taglioni and Vestris had fallen as a _premiere danseuse_.

1856 brought in its train a series of catastrophes to music-lovers.

During the twelve months there died not only the veteran tenor, Henry Braham, in his eightieth year, but, what was a far greater loss, the immortal Robert Schumann, after two years spent in a private asylum near Bonn; moreover, a further blow was dealt by the burning down of Covent Garden for the second time, the ruins being visited next day by her Majesty, Prince Albert, and the Princess Royal.

The Opera House was rebuilt and opened once more in 1858, the year in which Lablache died. The Covent Garden season commenced on May 15 with a notable body of artists, which included Grisi, Didiee, Parepa, Victoire, Mario, Formes, Rossi, Tamberlik, and Costa; while in the early autumn the Birmingham Festival was held, with Pauline Viardot and Sims Reeves as the stars.

In the last month of '58 we find the Pyne-Harrison Company giving a season of English opera, with W. Harrison, George Honey, Weiss, and Louisa Pyne as the leading attractions, and Alfred Mellon in the conductor's seat.

The next year (1859) brings the production in Italian of Meyerbeer's new opera, "Dinorah," at Covent Garden; while in the autumn the Pyne-Harrison Company give it in an English version provided by Chorley, with Charles Santley making his operatic _debut_ as Hael. This is followed at Christmas by Halle's production at Manchester of an English version of Gluck's "Iphigenie en Tauride," in which two of Garcia's pupils take part--Catherine Hayes and Charles Santley.

In the following February Wallace's "Lurline" was produced, and later in the year Flotow's "Stradella." March 29 is an interesting date, for it gives us a sight of the theatrical names which were prominently before the public at this time. On that day a monster benefit was organised, at which the following stars took part: Webster, Phelps, T. P. Cooke, Toole, Mrs Mellon, Miss Glyn, Louisa Pyne, Charles Mathews, Catherine Hayes, W. Harrison, and Buckstone.

A few weeks later, during the Italian opera season, came the first appearance in England of Faure, as Hael, a part which Meyerbeer had specially written for him in "Dinorah."

One may perhaps be allowed to note in pa.s.sing that 1859 brought with it the first appearance of Henry Irving on the London stage. In the winter season of 1860 Her Majesty's was running English opera with a fine cast, which included Lemmens-Sherrington, Mdlle. Parepa, Reeves, Santley, George Honey, J. G. Patey, and Chas. Halle as conductor.

With 1861 we come to the English _debut_ of the greatest star of the last half of the nineteenth century, for on May 14 Adelina Patti made her first appearance at Covent Garden, as Amina in "La Somnambula," amid such enthusiasm as to ensure her the premier place among the operatic artists of her day. And indeed after this memorable date the _diva_ continued to appear for no less than twenty-five consecutive seasons at Covent Garden, her name proving an infallible draw, no matter in what opera she chose to appear.

During the same season Grisi gave a series of eight farewell performances, creating an enormous _furore_; moreover, Delle Sedie came over for Mapleson's season at the Lyceum, being afterwards engaged for Covent Garden. At the latter house the autumn season opened with "Ruy Blas," followed later by "Robin Hood," with a cast including Mme.

Guerrabella (Genevieve Ward), Haigh, Honey, and Santley, and this in turn gave way to the production of Balfe's new opera, "The Puritan's Daughter," which had a run of no less than fifty-seven performances.

The following February, 1862, saw the production of another of Balfe's operas, the "Lily of Killarney," the plot being that of the "Colleen Bawn," which had just had a huge success at the Adelphi Theatre.

The artists engaged for the Covent Garden season of Italian opera included such names as Patti, Tamberlik, Mario, Faure, Formes, and Gordoni; while in the autumn of the year Mapleson gave a season of opera with Tietjens, Alboni, Giuglini, and Santley.

For 1863 may be writ large the five letters FAUST. Mapleson tells the story of its production in his memoirs. Thomas Chappell had bought the English rights for 40, after seeing it at the Theatre Lyrique. The music of an opera is worth nothing until the opera itself has become known, and Messrs Chappell opened negotiations with Mr Frederick Gye for its production during the Royal Italian Opera season.

The work had not, however, made much impression at the Lyrique, and Gye, on his return from Paris, a.s.sured his stage-manager, Augustus Harris, that there was nothing in it but the "Soldier's Chorus," and refused to have anything to do with it. Mapleson on hearing it felt convinced it would be an immense success; and Chappells were ready to pay 200 towards the cost of its production, and to give 200 more after four representations. He therefore engaged his company, and put it into rehearsal at Her Majesty's.

A few days before the date fixed for the production, he found that only 30 worth of seats had been taken. Then came a Napoleonic scheme. He announced at once four successive performances, and gave the astounding instructions at the office that for the first three out of these four not one place was to be sold beyond those already taken. The rest of the tickets he took home in a carpet-bag and distributed far and wide over a gigantic free list. At the same time he advertised in 'The Times' that, in consequence of a death in the family, two stalls for the first representation of "Faust"--the opera which was exciting so much interest that all places for the first three representations had been bought up--could be had at 25s. each.

Meanwhile demands had been made at the box-office for places, and the would-be purchasers were told that everything had gone up to the fourth night: this they repeated to their friends, and the opera began to be seriously talked of. The first performance was received with applause, the second still more warmly, and the third gained additional favour. No further device was necessary for stimulating curiosity: the paying public flocked, and it was given for ten nights in succession, after which it was constantly repeated until the termination of the season.

The following was the cast of the _premiere_ at Her Majesty's:--

_Marguerite_ Tietjens.

_Siebel_ Trebelli.

_Faust_ Giuglini.

_Mephistopheles_ Ga.s.sier.

_Valentine_ Santley.

Not to be outdone, Gye at once produced his own version at Covent Garden, with Carvallo as _Marguerite_, her old part in the original Paris production, Didier as _Siebel_, Faure as _Mephistopheles_, Graziani as _Valentine_, and Tamberlik as _Faust_.

The year is also noteworthy for the fact that Pauline Lucca made her _debut_ as Valentine in the "Huguenots," while Mdlle. Artot, the pupil of Mme. Viardot, also made her first appearance here.