LINA CAVALIERI, THE FAMOUS BEAUTY OF THE OPERATIC STAGE

BY WILLIAM ARMSTRONG

AUTHOR OF "TIIEKLA," "AN AMERICAN NOBLEMAN," ETC.

VERY beautiful woman is called is the family name. Her first summer upon only to know her profile, her days were spent in playing in the shadow A full face, and her figure; as long of a massive doorway, under which sol­ as these last she has small reason to dier ancestors of hers—cavalieri—may study anything else. To be a very have ridden into the stone-paved court beautiful woman, and yet to have the beyond in the times of the Ciesars. Her ambition, talent, and determination to be delicate, aristocratic type of beauty, her something more in the world, is to create instinctive and graceful doing of the an unusual situation—a situation such as right thing at the right moment, are Natalina Cavalieri presents to us. birthrights of the girls of the old Roman From the beginning, Mme. Cavalieri's families. One sees in her the late-bloom­ purpose has been as firmly mapped out as ing flower of a long line of cavaliers, a great general, or a plain woman, would whose fortunes, like their hearts, have plan a campaign to conquer distinction. long ago crumbled ; but they left to her At five, she had decided to be either a the one unfailing quality of courage, and great dancer or a prima donna. I'^arly on it she has built up her life. opportunities were not given her ; all that she had were of her own making. For A LIIILU SIXOKU or I'lII'; KOMAX S'IRKKIS years she sang in (-(?/V.f chaiitants. where At five, on a jest a. her mother took her her beauty, and, incidentally, her gay lit­ to the theater to see a comedy; the art tle Neapolitan melodies, conquered every distractions of the Roman begin early. audience that heard her. This was a situa­ Then there fully awakened in her a con­ tion with wdiich most cair chantaut per­ sciousness always present, but suddenly formers would have been idly content ; first realized. That dav, and for long Mme. Cavalieri was not. A\'hen she was afterward, her mind was divided between able to afford it, she began serious mu­ two desires—to be a great dancer and to sical study. For three years she toiled at be a great singer. it, meanwhile doing her cajc singing in Succeeding days went by for her much the evenings; then she made her debut in as they do for other Roman children. grand opera at the San Carlo in Naples, With the rest of the bambini and hamhine as Mimi in " I.a Boheme." with l^onci in of the family she loitered in the Piazza the cast. di Spagna, or climbed up the lengtli of Since then she has sung in opera in the Scala, out of the sunshine into the many countries, but in no case with such breeze and shadow of the Pincio. And unique contrast as last spring in Paris, there, in later years, came her awakening where, once a singer at the Folies-Bergere to the knowledge that she was a woman. music-hall, she returned as prima donna She could no longer sing and dance to at the Opera in Massenet's "Thais." merely a circle of children: for people Engaged for three trial performances, of the great world, and of the little one her success caused her retention there for of Rome, commented in frank, continen­ nine. tal fashion on her grace, on her eyes, on She is a native of Rome, and Cavalieri the line of her profile. She suddenly

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED LIN A CAVALIER! 75 ceased lier dance, and, goinj^' OV^T to the the narrow streets, with the children, and wall in front of the fountain, she rested under the shadow of tlie gateway of home, her head on her arm- slie hurried to tell lier mother of what

NATALINA CAVALIERI, WHO FOR THE PAST TWO SEASONS HAS BEEN THE LEADING ITALIAN SOPRANO AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA-HOUSE IN NEW YORK FTOIII a coh't'^t^hted thotograth by Duponi, New York

For a long time she looked out over had been said to her, and of the thoughts Rome witliout seeing it ; when she came that disturbed her. That evening her out of her reverie, tlie dome of St. childhood was ended. The father had Peter's was swimming in the mist of a long been ill; the other children were too rose-colored twilight. Down through young to earn; the mother was helpless.

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Tliis talent of Natalina'> might mean of the nest, she was the mainstay and salvation. su|)|ioi't of tlie liome. A little later siie made her debut at a cafe chantant. it was the beginning of IIi;k I'IRSr .SLOTESS 1\ P,\R1S a new life—not the one she liad dreamed Her early public career in liome was for herself, but she ai'cepted it; for tlie a pleasing success of the usual kind. It otlier one slie was willing to wait. From was not until later, after singing in vari­ tliat dav on. until her brothers and sisters ous other cities, tliat she first went to gri'w old enough to trv their wings out Paris. There the adorable cliarm of her

MME. CAVALIKRI AS ELENA IN BOITO S 'MEFISTOFELE From a rOpyrlgiitcJ fJioto!:,'riiph hy Ihipout. .Wrc York

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED UNA CAVATJERI 77 youth, the insinuating swing of her Italian melodies, the naive sim­ plicity of her songs, and the classic heauty of the singer, swept the town. From then on. Mine. Cavalieri knew what such a triumpli could bring. Its material meaning, to her, was that now at last she could leave be­ hind her the career in which she had won her success, and study to reach a higher level of art. I'\)r three years, wherever she went to fulfil lier cafe chant ant engagements, she took with her the teacher she had chosen—Mme. Mariani-Masi., for whom Amilcare Pon- chielli wrote " F-a Gio- conda," and to whom he dedicated his mas­ terpiece. It takes much strength of cliaracter and no small amount of self- reliance to give up a successful career to em­ bark on an untried one. In those days of study, and since, Mme. Cav­ alieri has learned the prima donna parts in " 'I'raviata," " Faust," " Romeo et Juliette," " Carmen," " jNIefisto- fele," " Pagliacci," " Cavalleria Rusti- CAV.-\HERI AS VIOLETTA IN THE FIRST ACT cana," " La Boheme," OF " LA TRAVIATA ' " Tosca," the " Manon From a tkoio^o-ath by Reutlhiger, Paris Lescaut" of Puccini, and the "Manon" of Massenet; "Thais," acci." hi the jireseiit season, u[) to the " Fedora," and " I.es Contes d'Hoffman," time of writing, the only addition to her in which last she has sung both Olxmpia list has been the name-part of Cilea's and Antonia. " Adriana Lecouvreur." She made her New York debut in the title-role of Giordano's " Fedora" on HOW SHE WORKS OUT HER ROLES December 5, 1906. During that winter The dramatic side of her art Mme. she also appeared as Manon Lescaut (Cavalieri has never studied, in the tradi­ in the Puccini opera, Tosca. Mimi in tional sense of the word. Her somewhat " La Boheme," and Nedda in " Pagli- daring theory is that one should act natu-

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rally, and that study of the accepted changeable sensations. The short six sort only results in acting unnaturally. w-eeks of rest in summer—rest mainly in Her plan is to read the book of the opera, the sense of being away from the theater and whatever literature may exist on the —are weeks of desire to get back to an subject; after that she thinks over what absorbing interest for which there is no she has read, and goes on for rehearsal. substitute. She forms her conceptions not so much Another phase of Mme. Cavalieri's by reason as by instinct—the instinct of nature is contradictory of the established a woman's sympathy and psvchological traditions of the operatic prima donna. power. .She finds in lier own nature the W'lien tilings go wrong, tliere follows no l)est key to the problems of an operatic \-iolent assertion tliat slie will go liome lieroine's personality; and when a sensi­ and refuse to sing. There is perhaps a tive woman can discover witliin herself brief exclamation, then all is ([uiet, and an element that yields response to the ])resently her temper slips into its normal nature slie is jjortraying, who may sav groove again. that her way of portraving it is not tlie right one? •I'lIK POWKR OF FF.MIMXK CH.ARM Such a metliod might well be dis­ 'l"he one cliarm that is, if jjossible, more astrous to one not naturally endowed with essential to a beautiful woman than to Mine. Cavalieri's remarkal)le gift as a any other, is the art of jtleasing. With­ temperamental actress. The extent of out it. she can never captivate a class most that gift was most strikingly shown, per- important to her enduring success—her liaps, when she a])peared as Tosra at the own sex; and she can never hold the op­ Metro])olitan, a little mijre than a year posite one, for man looks on a beautiful ago. It was said that she had never sung woman without charm of manner as he the_ role before, but the ri'elation slie does on an inanimate work of art. He gave of its dramatic possibilities wa-; admires, then walks away, alwavs con­ ])Ositively thrilling to tliose who wit­ fident that when he mav chance to feel in nessed lier ]ierformance. devotional mood again, lie can return at Mme. Cavalieri has lived, she has his pleasure, to find the beautiful object struggled, she has suffered; and these, secure on its pedestal. after all, make u]) the basic fund to draw 'I'lie ])ower to charm means the power upon in comprehending any character. to hold. It matters little whether it is Situations mav change, but the human an inborn gift, whether it comes from heart is unalterable. As any musician real goodness of heart, or is the outcome knows, some keys are for tenderness, some of a complete understanding of man's for strength, and others for passionate weakness : that such charm exists is in it­ emotion. In its expression, one charac­ self sufficiently delightful. From one or ter differs from another in the degree of other of tliese causes. Mme. Cavalieri pos­ its intensity, like so many dilferent keys sesses it—jjerhaps from all three, for in music, varying in strength, but each feminine wisdom is often so instinctive as witli the same number of tones to play to defv analvsis. Besides, wisdom in its upon. literal sense anv man dislikes to impute Mme. Cavalieri tries to get at the key to a woman. Applied to liimself, the in which a character is written. For word seems a just tribute to his intelli­ Carmen she goes to Merimee's book ; for gence ; applied to the other sex, it takes Thais to the novel of Anatole France; on a diiferent and less agreeable shade of and from these ground tones she builds meaning. up the scale of the character. Then her 'I'he charm of Mme, Cavalieri's man­ research is ended, and for the rest she ner is as difficult to define as is feminine follows her own emotions as the music of wisdom to analyze. Some phases of it the opera, and the sequence of its epi­ recall Mme. Patti—for instance, the sodes, may guide her. Undoubtedly she swift little movement that brings her to works, and works hard, though she may an attitude of smiling attention, so com­ fail to proclaim the fact as loudly as some plete that for an instant you feel that you other ])rima donnas. Indeed, to her, work are the only thing she is interested in—a and life mav almost be called inter­ fact for which vou return thanks. Again,

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED UNA CAVALIERT 79 slie has a way of letting you read her and gracefuil motion of a bird on a bough, thoughts in lier eyes, just so far and no Slie lias the ]")ose and air of a woman farther, for tlie next moment tlie ])upil who, mentally and bodily, for all her

MME. CAVAI.IERI IN A COSTUME WHICH SHE HAS WORN AS MANON LESCAUT BOTH IN PUCCINI'S OPERA OF THAT NAME AND IN MASSENET'S " MANON " Fyoiii a thnta^rath by Reutlln^t'r, Va^'h has darkened, sliutting you out from your slight, aristocratic physique, knows the answer inscrutably, discomfitiugly. There practical side of things, and realizes the is about her, too, an unconventional, un- meaning of personal independence. trammeled alertness that recalls the (|uick Italv, France, Russia, and the I'nited

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States are the countries in which Mine, loii-iii-- of the Soutlieni pahii for the Cavahen has appeared in opera. She Nortliem pine, Mmc. C'avalieri hjves has retused offers from SoiUli America in Russia ardently; the cold, the ;,ditter of order to return, after the close of the snow-covered earth, the rush behind swift present New \ ork series, to St. Peiers- horses through biting frost, respond to

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MME. CAV.\I,IERI AS VIOLETTA IN THE LAST ACT OF '' LA TKAVTATA " From u p/wlo^riil'h hy Rcutlin^cy, l\tris burg, wdiere she has sung for h\-e seasons, her spirit of restless energy. But there is Later she is to add two other I'.uropean notliing heroic about her; she is "en- capitals to her list, making her entree in uinely a woman, genuinely womanly in London at Covent Carden. and in Vienna her appeal. She loves pretty frocks,'she at the Imperial Opera likes riding, and she is passionately fond Perhaps because of the aspect of con- of dancing, that other profession which trast, which Heine symbolized in the once divided her choice.

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MME. CAVALIEKl—A PORTRAIT SHOWING HER IN AN AFTERNOON GOWN l-'roin II tlioiot.'ratli bv Rcjitliii^ef. Piir/'s

" How does it feel to lie a beautiful •' 1 am much more pleased if people speak woman?" I asked lier. well of me as an artist." " That does not interest me in the And tlie sincerity of Mme. Cavalieri's least," was lier {|uick, decisive answer, assertion is proven in her career.

THE PRESl^NCE 1 low wliile that place forevennore Where Lo\ e lias lived one little space! Thrice glorified that heart wherein Love makes his long ahiding-place! Charles Hanson Townc

PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED From a phototiriith by Und> THE GRAVE OF SHAKESPEARE

ON APRIL 21!, THE DAY OF THE DRAMATIST'S BIRTH AND DEATH, IT IS HEAPED WITH FLOWERS

^VT EARLY everything in tlie town of Stratford-on-Avon is associated in some way J^^ witli the memory of Shakespeare: yet to tlic visitor the most satisfying and hiteresting ohject is the poet's l)urial-place. One reason for this is its" alisolute autlientieity. It is probalile that Shakespeare was l)orn in the house wdiich is styled his birthplace, yet the truth of this assertion cannot 1)e proved beyond a doubt. No one, however, has dreamed of questioning- that his remains lie tmder the slab on the north side of the chancel of Holy Trinity Church. The stone which covers th.e pcicl's grave bears upon it the following inscription: Good fiend, for Jes\is' sake forlieare To dig^f the dust eiirdoaseti heare; Bleste 1)0 the man ttiat spares these stones, And curst be he that nioves my bones. It is the peculiar wording of this stanza which has prevented the removal of Shake­ speare's dust from Stratford to the Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. Shakespeare, of all Englishmen, has the best right to a resting-place in that pantheon: for no other Englishman has shed such glory on the English name. Yet the curse which he himself presumably composed has fixed his resting-place forever; and the great Abbey contains onh' a statue to recall his preeminence in English letters. The parish register at Stratford shows the record of Shakespeare's baptism, which took place on April 26, i,=i64. At that time it was the custom to christen infants on the third day after their birth, so it is assumed that he was horn on April 23. Curiousl}' enough, he died on the same day of the same month in 1616. As the probable day of both the beginning and the ending of the great dramatist's life, April 23 is celebrated at Strat­ ford by the heaping of masses of flowers about his grave. As a matter of fact, the Gregorian calendar being now in use. the true anniversary ought to be given as May 3. But, after all, there is a certain continuity of feeling which makes men loath to alter a date which has long been a sacred one to those who reverence a transcendent genius. 82

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