"It was with very mixed feelings that I went on that night for my first performance. The audience, of course, was composed of all sorts, and the performers were often interrupted by shouting, not always of applause.
"The house was full—it was packed. Sonnenthal knew how to advertise a thing.
"I gave them 'A Mountain Maid' to start with, a touching little thing, and I put enough feeling into it to move a stone, but not a hand was raised to applaud. Then I tried 'Solveig's Song' from Peer Gynt—that too was received with chilling silence.
"When I came off after the first two, I could see the others smiling maliciously: there's plenty of jealousy in that line of business. But it set my blood boiling, and I felt that irresistible impulse to go in and do something desperate, as I always do when anything gets in my way.
"I rushed on again, and gave the word to the orchestra for 'The Hungarian Gipsy,' a thing all trills and yodelling and such-like trick work—a show piece.
"I put all I knew into it this time, and yodelled away till the audience left their beer-glasses untouched on the tables—and that's saying a good deal with a crowd like that.
"When I finished, the hall rang with a thunder of applause—everyone shouting and cheering. I had to come before the curtain again and again. But I wouldn't give them an encore that time. I thought it best to have something in reserve, and not make myself cheap like the others.
"As I came off the last time, I couldn't help saying half aloud what I thought of my respected audience—clowns!
"But I'd found out how to handle them now, and I gave them the stuff they wanted, and plenty of it. I knew the sort of thing well enough. For years they'd sat listening to the same type of short-skirted, rouged and powdered womenfolk, with the same more or less risky songs, the same antiquated kick-ups and the same cheap favour in their eyes. I took care myself always to appear as a lady, chose first-rate songs, and, as my salary increased—for I drew Sonnenthal gradually up the scale as I wished—I was able to dress in a style that astonished them.
"Do you remember when I sang 'The Carnival of Venice'?"