Garcia the Centenarian And His Times

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e. On another occasion he stated most distinctly that he left his parents in Mexico about the middle of their stay, set out for Paris, and, arriving the

that he arrived in the French capital either i

he episode in 'Antoinette Sterling and Other Celebrities,' from which I am enabled to quote

brother, and frequently came to visit them at their house. Moreover, he heard the young contralto sing many times at social functions, often indeed himself accompan

asso of that time, who was having a benefit at the Italian Opera House, called one day and told her that he would put

one of the Paris journal

d by this check, she did not attempt the difficult passage in the 'da capo,' but, dropping her voice, terminated the passage without effect, and made her exit, leaving the audience in doubt and dissatisfaction. The prodigious talent displayed by Pisaroni in the subsequent scenes gave occasion to comparisons by no means favourable to Mme. Malibran. On her reentrance she was coldly received; b

e was the idol of

t yield the palm to Pasta in point of acting, yet sh

r approached Pasta in her own peculiar walk of terrible grandeur, yet none has ever surpassed Maria Malibran in intelligence, originality, vivacity, feeling, and those 't

im in a tremendous state of excitement, and prepared to give Maria Malibran a four years' exclusive engagement, at the rate of more

ing that it would be unwise to abandon Italian and confine herself to French for so long a time. She did, however, appear for hi

ing such a thing as engaging her, and yet, after hearing her at the Opera House in music which she had sung before him on so many occasions, he should at

nite offer which would at all gauge her true value. Either I should be offering her less than she was worth, and by this be doing her an injustice, or I should be offering her more than she was worth, and so be doing myself an injustice. But

took up his residence there for some months. During this period he made the acquaintance of Lablache, whose voice was of the

A celebrated vocalist was suddenly indisposed just before the performance one night, and Lablache was induced to take his place

a, heard him sing in opera. After listening to the enormous voice and magnifice

the part of the frog that wanted to make itself as big as a bull. In trying to imitate this Gulliver of bassi he undoubte

parents had persuaded him to do, he did not come through the ordeal with much success. "Il

as unfitted. These articles he dispatched to his father with a letter in which he wrote: "You see from these notices that I can never hope to become an operatic artiste." ("Je ne puis être

there joined his parents, who had arriv

exico, political events occurred which were the v

up arms, and a bloody contest ensued, which terminated in the downfall of Pedraza's Government and in his flight from the country on

able financial success, was obliged to bring his Mexican season to a hasty conclusion. He accordingly

ecessary passports. At last, however, he succeeded, and set off for Vera Cr

Rio Frio, the convoy was attacked by brigands, and he himself obliged to lie flat on his face while his baggage was plundered of a thousand ounces of gold-the savings of two and a half years' w

is, without any financial result to show for all the time they had spent in America. The blow of losing ￡6000 in cash and all his pro

omed by his old admirers; but these quickly perceived that his travels and misfortune, if not the advance of age, had much impaired his powers. He himself realised the change, and almost

h can be looked on as little more than a fairy romance woven round a fascinating personality. Then there was Mme. Meric-Lalande, a brilliant stage soprano, who came to him as a

terwards became well known both as vocalist in the operas of

rote the part of Arnold in "William Tell," and Meyerbeer the parts of Roberto in "Robert le Diable" and of Ra

me lessons. Of these Mme. Pauline Viardot still has a strong recollection. She was then a child not yet ten years old, but, in spite of this fact, used to assist her father by playing for him when he gave h

act that she read off with Nourrit the first melodies of Schubert whi

s associated with him for the interpretation of the principal r?les; and this fancied slight so preyed on his spirits

no. Moreover, he used to write for the use of his little Pauline many excellent studies; for she had been gently using her voice under his guidance since she had been but four years old. One of these studies commenced wi

of rugged discipline, so that the musical training which he g

stranger passing near their house in Paris, and hearing sobs and objurgations proceeding from within. He at once inquired what was the meaning of these noises, and was a

ather and as a man. "How often," she says, "have I heard my sister Maria remark, 'Si mon père n'avait pas été si sévère avec moi, je n'aurais rien fait de bon;

On his arrival he was suddenly seized with an idea that he would prefer a seafaring life, and without thinking the matter over twice he resolved to become an officer in the French mercantile marine. With this object in view he began the study of astronomy and navigation, and pursued the work with so much diligence that he o

than the father of Henry Mürger! Manuel often used to catch up the boy Henry in his arms and kiss him as he ran about the passages. "Little Mürger was a most charming child," recalls Mme. Viardot, "full of fun and the pet of the house.

first and best novel, 'Scènes de la Vie de Bohème,' published in the year when Manuel Garcia was celebrating his fortieth birthday. During Mürger's later years his popu

parents, that the somewhat overbearing manner of his father was difficult t

e best to absent himself from Paris for a time, in the hopes tha

pute arose about the payment of seven million francs,-a debt incurred by France in the Egyptian expedition. Of th

no answer was vouchsafed; and the next time the French consul presented himself at court Hassein asked him why his master had not replied to his letter. The consul ha

was at once decided by the French Government that a squadron shou

Malibran, and through her influence with the Commander-in-chief he was enabled to obtai

mbardment of Algiers and its surrender to the French armament under Bourmont and Duperré, the deposition of the Dey, and the total overt

nd hostilities were commenced with the raising of barricades on the very next day. Repeated conflicts took place between the army and the police, the latter ultimately aided by the National Guard. On the la

ex-King to England. The closing scene of the drama took place in the December of the year, when Polignac and the oth

nging before devoting his life to the career of teaching. At the hospitals he took up medicine and some specialised studies which embraced the physiology of everything appertaining to the voice and the larynx, for he had

ockets the most extraordinary things from his a

have disgusted me. But it was not so. He would give me a pair of bellows, which I would insert in these windpipes, one after another, and blow hard. Heaven

t laughs, much in the spirit, one may suppose, of the delicate Span

elli, with a few lessons from Ansani; while harmony he has studied under Fétis. He has acquired practical knowledge as an actor and singer upon stage and concert platform: he has heard nearly all the greatest operatic artists in Italy, France, and England: he has alread

at wonder that when once he embarks on his career as a singing-master he never again looks back, but speed

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