Adelina Patti.
Theoretically the uses of poverty are many, tending to the development of varied virtues. As a matter of fact, poverty is the mother of much meanness and many crimes. The struggle for mere existence among the poor is so keen that it absorbs their mental and physical vitality. So it is that he or she who passes from the twilight of penury into the sunlight of prosperity must be rarely gifted. Such an individual is Adelina Patti, whose fame as a great singer is not only yet undimmed, but bids fair to last as long as music itself. Patti was born in Madrid, Spain, February 19, 1843, her mother being a prima donna at the Grand theater. In 1844 the family came to this country, the father being appointed one of the managers of the then Italian opera house on Chambers street, New York. Little Adelina received her preliminary musical training from her half-brother, Ettore Barilli. Owing to the financial stresses in which her parents then were, she, although only seven years of age, was allowed to make her début in concert at Tripler’s hall, New York, on which occasion her undeveloped but phenomenal voice attracted general attention. In 1859 she made her début in grand opera at the Academy of Music, New York, when she appeared in Lucia di Lammermoor. Her audience gave her a most cordial welcome. But, as it turned out, her struggles were only beginning. As far as the mere cultivation of her voice was concerned, her natural gifts were of such a nature that she had no difficulty in overcoming the technical obstacles of her art, but the spirit of jealousy and suspicion which success usually arouses in the breasts of the unknown, prevented her talents from being duly recognized, or, to put it in another way, she was so belittled by her rivals that she had to individually satisfy every great city in America that she had not been overrated. Patti was deeply wounded by these unlooked-for conditions, but nevertheless she bravely faced the sneers and unkind criticisms and overcame them, and for many years has occupied a place in the estimation of the public, which probably no other prima donna in the history of civilization has attained. Twice during her career she has been threatened with the total loss of her voice, but happily the “nightingale in her throat” is as yet unsilenced. To the end of her days she will reap the reward of the self-denial and persistent attention to duty and art which she gave them during the years of her childhood. She has been as successful abroad as she has in this country. In grand opera she has assumed nearly all existing prominent rôles. For some years past she made her home abroad. In 1881, Patti revisited the United States, when she received $5,000 per night, which is said to be the largest amount ever paid to a singer or actor for one performance. Married three times, her last husband was Baron Rolf Cedarstrom. She is the owner of a castle at Craig-y-Nos, Wales. During her last and most recent visit to this country, the American public gave her ample proof that she still occupies a warm place in its affection.