“I sang an aria from ‘Lucia’; and when I was through, he said dryly: ‘You want to sing in grand opera?’
“‘Yes.’
“‘Well, why don’t you?’
“‘I need training.’
“‘Nonsense!’ he answered. ‘We will attend to that. You need a few months to practice Italian methods—that is all.’
“So I spent three months with him. After much preparation, I made my début as Violetta in Verdi’s opera, ‘La Traviata,’ at the Teatro Grande, in Brescia.”
The details of Madame Nordica’s Italian appearance are very interesting. Her success was instantaneous. Her fame went up and down the land, and across the water—to her home. She next sang in Gounod’s “Faust,” at Geneva, and soon afterwards appeared at Navarro, singing Alice in Meyerbeer’s “Roberto,” the enthusiastic and delighted subscribers presenting her with a handsome set of rubies and pearls. After that she was engaged to sing at the Russian capital, and accordingly went to St. Petersburg, where, in October, 1881, she made her début as La Filma in “Mignon.”
There, also, her success was great. She was the favorite of the society of the court, and received pleasant attentions from every quarter. Presents were made her, and inducements for her continued presence until two winters had passed. Then she decided to revisit France and Paris.
THIS WAS HER CROWNING TRIUMPH.
“I wanted to sing in grand opera at Paris,” she said to me. “I wanted to know that I could appear successfully in that grand place. I counted my achievements nothing until I could do that.”