What was to be done? Their season was advertised to commence in a few days, and without music it was utterly impossible. The artists were in despair, and completely lost their heads. The elder Garcia alone remained calm in the midst of turmoil. They could not perform without music; very well, he must write out fresh copies of the scores as best he could. What was advertised for the first night? "Don Giovanni"? Bien; then he would make a start on that. Without losing a moment he set to work, and actually reproduced the whole of the full orchestral score from memory! As each number was finished it was given out to copyists, who prepared the separate parts for the various instruments.
This task being ended, the marvellous man set to work on "Otello" and "Il Barbiere," which with the first named had always been the most important in his repertoire. How successfully he carried out his self-imposed task may be judged from the fact that when "Don Giovanni" was given, no one present could tell that it was not the original score. As if this had not been enough work, he promptly proceeded to compose eight operas for his company to perform; nor was this all, for finding that the words of the Italian operas were not understood, and that the people had not the northern affectation of liking them better on that account, he translated into his native Spanish every work which was performed. And here a few words may be said upon the memorising of new operas.
It was customary in those days for managers to allow their artists nine days to learn a two-act opera. For three acts the time would be increased to twelve days, and for four acts sixteen. That the elder Garcia did not always allow so much is borne out by the statement which Maria Malibran used to make that, on one occasion, her parent bade her learn a rôle in two days and sing it at the opera.
"I cannot do it, father."
"You will do it, my daughter; and if you fail in any way, I shall really strike you with my dagger when I am supposed to kill you on the stage."
"And he would have done it, too," she would add, "so I played the part."
Manuel himself was ever a phenomenally quick "study" in the memorising of any fresh rôle. Short though the periods would be which were allowed in the ordinary way for learning a work, they were for him a great deal too long. He was able to commit to memory the whole of his part in two or three days, while at the end of ten he had picked up the parts of all the other singers as well, so that if necessary he was perfectly able to prompt them during the final rehearsals.
His father used to take advantage of this extraordinary memory, and, when feeling indisposed, would say, "You must go on, and take my part to-night." The son would proceed to do so, and get through the performance successfully, singing the tenor rôle, in which he would alter the high passages to suit his own voice.
All this hard work, however, was not accomplished without leaving its mark, and in a few months he began to feel the effects of the strain involved in this perpetual rehearsing and singing not only of his own baritone parts but on occasions of the tenor music. His father was a hard task-master, and the son, though he had a fine voice, found the work involved by an operatic career too hard for his physical resources. At last things reached a point at which, as he once told me, he went through every successive performance in a state of fear lest his voice should leave him suddenly when he was on the stage.
His father and mother laughed at this feeling as absurd, and told him that he must study for a time in Italy, and then make his début there, as they had set their hearts on it. Partly, therefore, to please them, partly, it may be, to comfort and assist Maria, of whose intention to set out for Paris in the September he must have been well aware, Manuel Garcia left his parents to continue their season in Mexico, and in the early autumn of 1827 set out for Europe alone.