RECOLLECTIONS OF AN IMPRESARIO.*
"THERE is something mysterious about opera. In other branches of music men may make their way fairly, and a good work is often willingly accepted, even when there are real • The Mapleson Memoirs: 18484888. 2 yob. London : Remington and Co. difficulties in the way of its performance. But a touch of the opera seems to drive men out of their senses. The question of a performance too frequently becomes an occasion for intrigue,. cabal, bribery, slander, and every mean device which can be covered by the name of diplomacy." So writes one of our ablest critics on the struggle to get Mozart's first opera per- formed in Vienna ; and although his remarks relate primarily to the difficulties of the composer, they exemplify with sufficient force the subject-matter of the volumes before us,— the trials of a manager, and the eccentricities, to use no
stronger term, of the team which he has undertaken to drive. A touch of the opera seems, as Dr. Parry puts it, to drive men out of their senses ; and it may be added as a rider, that it not infrequently sends women stark, staring mad. But the- temptation to dabble in it would appear to be irresistible. The gallant author of these Memoirs began as a student at the Royal Academy of Music, where he made such progress as a- violinist as to secure his admission to the ranks of the first- violins at Her Majesty's Theatre, in the palmy days of Jenny Lind. He composed, though he adds that his compositions. are limited to two pianoforte pieces and a song ; he became the musical critic of the Atlas ; he discovered that he was the possessor of a tenor voice, studied diligently for three years. inItaly, and achieved such a success on his data at Lodi,.
that he was offered four pounds a month to sing at Verona. On his return to England, however, his throat became- seriously affected, and a radical operation deprived him_ alike of tonsils, uvula, and voice. [After a lapse of thirty-- four years, it is true, Colonel Mapleson reappeared as a. vocalist, to replace a recalcitrant tenor when on tour with his company in Wales, and was "recalled twice, and on taking an encore was again twice recalled." (Vol. IL, p. 280.) But he disclaims all intention of again appearing in this capacity.] "My path," he adds, "had now been marked out for me. For the future I might be a musical agent, a concert director, or an impresario ; but not a vocalist." All the steps in the musical ladder had thus been trodden by him. Beginning as a composer and instrumentalist, he had been in succession_ critic, vocalist, and manager. The qualities required for the last-named post are, it is well known, of the highest order.. An impresario must not only be a fine linguist, with a vivid,- pictorial style suitable for the compilation of his prospectuses,.
but he must combine an imperious will with the most exquisite- diplomatic suavity of manner. He must be a Lord Dufferin and a Great Elchi in one. Add an iron constitution, in-- exhaustible patience, great personal courage—for the infuriated tenor is on occasion very "handy with his heels," as the Irish- man said of his horse, and " kicks up in the French style in all directions" (II., p. 277)—and, above all, extraordinary readiness. of resource, and some notion will be obtained of the require- ments of the position. To illustrate Colonel Mapleson's faculty of dispensing with the indispensable, we cannot do better than quote the following anecdote of an episode which occurred at Cork last year, premising that a centenary performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni was in prospect :—
" I had arranged at the close of the ftrst act to place a bust of Mozart on the stage, executing at the same time the grand chorus- of The Magic Flute while the High Sheriff of the county crowned the immortal composer. Alas 1 there was no bust of Mozart to be obtained. But the property-man reported that he had one of Parnell, which, by the removal of the beard and some other manipulation, could be made to resemble Mozart. The High Sheriff having declined to perform the ceremony in connection with the bust of Parnell, the Mayor of Cork immediately volun- teered to replace him. The public soon got wind of what was going- on ; and, fearing a popular commotion—as this very day the city had been proclaimed in consequence of the Land League meetings —I had to content myself with performing the opera as Mozart originally intended."
The strategic operations, sank movements, headlong charges,. retreats, alarums, and excursions which are to be met with at.
every turn in the narrative, suggest an obvious analogy between the career of an impresario and that of a great General. This parallel is still further enhanced by the author's aptitude for and proficiency in the profession of
soldiering. Numerous regimental certificates attest his ability to handle a regiment in the field. But his connection with warfare has been confined to the parade-ground, his triumphs and reverses have been experienced on the operatic arena, his CannEe was on the Thames Embankment, and his retreat from 'Frisco forms a fit pendant to Napoleon's from Moscow. Good generalship in opera not only implies.the-pewer to grasp a situation as a whole, but it also requires a complete mastery of detaiL The control of applause, for example, is a question requiring the greatest delicacy of manipulation. On the occasion of the data of Madame Nilsson, Colonel M.apleson saw-
" that great judgment was necessary, while convinced in my own mind that I possessed a jewel of the first water. I, therefore, gave the very simplest instructions as to the amount of encourage- ment necessary for my fair Swede in order to ensure the rapture of London : knowing that when once serious attention had been drawn to her she would do the rest herself on her own merits. Being very fond of rowing in my spare time on the River Thames, I made an arrangement with the head boatman at Essex Stairs, near where resided, to supply me with some twenty-five horny- handed watermen, who were merely told that they should receive one shilling apiece, provided they did not applaud Mademoiselle Nilsson—the lady who would appear on the stage at the beginning of the opera, wearing a pink dress. They were, moreover, informed that when the first act was over and the curtain down, they would be paid a shilling apiece for each time they could get it up again ; and I believe they succeeded some five or six times in their repeated attempts. That was all that was ever done for Mademoiselle Nilsson."
The "fair Swede" figures again in what is one of the best stories in a book that is literally crammed with good things. During the visit of the Shah of Persia in 1873, a special per- formance had been arranged which he had promised to attend. Nilsson and Titiens were both to appear, the latter in the third act of La Favorite, the former in the first act of La Traviata, and later on in the first act of Mignon. There was some difficulty in arranging the order of the performance, but Nilsson having had private information to the effect that the Shah could only be present from half-past 8 till half-past 9, consented to appear first :— " Madame Nilsson had ordered, at considerable expense, one of the most sumptuous dresses I have ever seen, from Worth, in Paris, in order to portray Violetta in the most appropriate style. On the evening of the performance, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales arrived punctually at half-past 8 to assist in receiving the Shah, who did not put in an appearance : and it was ten minutes to 9 when Sir Michael Costa led off the opera. I shall never forget the look the fair Swede cast upon the empty Royal box, and it was not until half-past 9, when the act of La Favorite had commenced, that his Majesty arrived. He was particularly pleased with the ballet I had introduced in the Favorite. The Prince of Wales, with his usual consideration and foresight, suggested to me that it might smooth over the difficulty in which he saw clearly I should be placed on the morrow in connection with Madame Nilsson, if she were presented to the Shah prior to his departure. I therefore crossed the stage and went to Madame Nilsson's room, informing her of this. She at once objected, having already removed her magnificent Treviata toilette and altered herself for the character of Mignon, which consists of a torn old dress almost in rags, with hair hanging dishevelled down her back, and naked feet. After explaining that it was a command with which she must comply, I persuaded her to put a bold face on the matter and follow me. I accom- panied her to the ante-room of the Royal box, and before I could notify her arrival to his Royal Highness, to the astonish- ment of all she had walked straight to the farther end of the room, where his Majesty was then busily employed eating peaches out of the palms of his hands. The look of astonishment on every Eastern face was worthy of the now well-known picture on the Nabob pickles. Without a moment's delay, Madame Nilsson made straight for his Majesty, saying Vous etes un tras mauvais Shah,' gesticulating with her right hand. 'Tout a l'heure retais tres riche, avec des costumes superbes, expres pour votre Majeste : a present je me trouve tras pauvre et sans souliers,' at the same time raising her right foot within half-an-inch of his Majesty's nose, who, with his spectacles, was looking to see what she was pointing to. He was so struck with the originality of the fair prima donna, that he at once notified his attendants that he would not go to the Goldsmiths' Ball for the present, but would remain to see this extraordinary woman. His Majesty did not consequently reach the Goldsmiths' Hall until past midnight. The Lord Mayor, the Prime Warden, the authorities, and the guards of honour had all been waiting since half-past 9."
One result of the study of these Reminiscences is to establish us in the view that there must be some connection in a direct ratio between the sanity of a singer and the register of the voice. The higher one goes, the greater the eccentricity. Basses and baritones show presence of mind—witness the anecdotes of Santley and Galassi—contraltos listen to reason, and though liable to hysterics on the death of a favourite parrot, comport themselves in general with due decorum. But the extravagances of prime ckmne and first tenors—of Patti and Gerster, of Giuglini, Idasini, and Ravelli—pass all bounds. One is almost tempted to wish for the extinction of the human voice as a vehicle for musical expression, in sheer disgust at the unrestrained caprice which seems to attend its successful cultivation. Of Giuglini we give the following ludicrous anecdote:— " He informed me that he had written a better cantata than Verdi's, and that unless I performed it I could no longer rely upon his services ; if, however, his work were given, he would remain faithful to me for the future. The work was duly delivered, in which I remember there was a lugubrious character destined for Mademoiselle Titiens, called Una madre Italiana! Giuglini further required one hundred and twenty windows on the stage, from each of which, at a given signal, the Italian flag was to appear ; and no smaller number than one hundred and twenty would satisfy him. We were at our wits' end. But the difficulty was met by arranging the scene in perspective : grown-up people being at the windows nearest the public, then children at those farther removed, until in the far distance little dolls were used. At a given signal, when the orchestra struck up the Garibaldi hymn, these were all to appear. I need scarcely say that the cantata was given but for one night."
With the exception of his allusions to Mr. Gye, and in a. lesser degree to his other competitors in opera management, Colonel Mapleson is not a malicious raconteur. He relates with pardonable satisfaction how in an interview with an American reporter he described Mr. Abbey as a guastornestiere, a word which produced upon the rival impresario much the same effect as the geometrical terms launched by O'Connell at the Dublin fishwife. There are the stock sneers at Wagner's music, and a most uncalled-for attack on the Royal College of Music. But public opinion will not be influenced on these points by Colonel Mapleson's views. Whether his anecdotes, in which the value of the book resides, are to be taken with a.
grain of salt or not, is an unimportant question. At worst they are unconscious embellishments of fact, and in no way calculated to mislead one as to the temperament of the men and women who have figured on the operatic stage for the last thirty years.
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