The galleries were likewise crowded to their fullest capacity, standing room even being at a premium. Albani was welcomed with vociferous cheers, and her performance throughout received the warmest approbation.
Immediately after the conclusion of our grand two-night season in Canada our special train was put in motion towards Buffalo, where we performed the following evening, leaving again after the performance at 2 a.m. for Pittsburg, at which place Mdme. Patti had arrived the previous day.
At Pittsburg the season opened most auspiciously with La Traviata. The theatre itself was not only crowded to the ceiling, but we charged five dollars a head for standing room on the window sills.
The following night Mdme. Albani appeared as "Margherita" in Faust, supported by Ravelli, Scalchi, etc.
A matinée was given the next day of Il Trovatore, followed by a splendid performance the same evening of William Tell. On each occasion the house was crammed.
The Company had again to muster at 2 a.m. after the performance to start for Washington, at which place we arrived the following evening, Mdme. Albani opening the next day as "Margherita" in Faust.
The next evening I had to change the performance, la Diva having contracted a sore throat during the journey. I substituted William Tell, postponing Mdme. Patti's début until the following night, when she and Scalchi captivated the audience with Semiramide. In a letter to the papers the following morning a mathematician stated that by carefully counting the notes in the part of Semiramide, and dividing the result by the sum paid nightly to Patti for singing that part, he discovered that she received exactly 42 5/8 cents for each of the notes that issued from her throat. This was found to be just 7 1/10 cents per note more than Rossini got for writing the whole opera.
On the following Friday President Arthur gave a private concert at the White House. I here append the programme:—
| PART I. | |
|---|---|
| Duetto—"Sull'aria" (Nozze di Figaro) | Mozart. |
| Mdme. Fursch-Madi and Mdlle. Dotti. | |
| Romanza—"Angelo Casto" (Duca d'Alba) posthumous operaby Donizetti. | |
| Signor Frapolli. | |
| Cavatina—Tacca la notte (Trovatore) | Verdi. |
| Mdme. Fursch-Madi. | |
| Aria Buffa—Miei rampolli (Cenerentola) | Rossini. |
| Signor Corsini. | |
| Air—Voi che sapete (Nozze di Figaro) | Mozart. |
| Mdlle. Dotti. | |
| ——— | |
| An Interval of Half an Hour. | |
| ——— | |
| PART II. | |
| Trio—Qual Volutta (Lombardi) | Verdi. |
| Mdme. Fursch-Madi, Signor Frapolli, and Signor Galassi. | |
| Cavatina—"Nobil Signor" (Huguenots) | Meyerbeer. |
| Mdme. Scalchi. | |
| Romanza—O tu bel astro (Tannhäuser) | Wagner. |
| Signor Galassi. | |
| a{Air—"Pur dicesti" | Lotti. |
| b{Song—"Robin Adair" | —— |
| Madame Albani. | |
| The White House. | |
| February 28, 1883. | |
At the conclusion of the concert a splendid supper was served in the banqueting hall. As I had to attend upon no less than five ladies, the President observed at the close of the feast that I had had nothing to eat myself. He, therefore, gave orders that on the departure of the guests another supper should be served, at which he occupied the chair. The repast was really of the first order. It was interspersed with excellent Veuve Clicquot, and the President afterwards ordered in cigars and related to me some most interesting anecdotes of his earlier career. He also gave me an account of the alarm felt at New York when one Sunday the Merrimac was expected to come up the bay in order to levy contributions on the city; there being no powder in the forts and but few cannon balls, all of the wrong calibre. Fortunately she met the Monitor, who soon gave a good account of her.