Garcia the Centenarian And His Times

7-18

e in his career took place four years later. These intervening years were, however, brightened by much reflected glory, for as the period between 1830 and 183

t seeing that she was only eleven years old when he died, it may be certainly

first appearance on the platform, for she had already shown herself to be an admirable pianist. Her earliest lessons in pianoforte had been re

a great change in his circumstances, and made it necessary for him to keep himself by teaching. His services were at once in demand among the best families

de Bériot in Belgium and Germany. Composition, too, she learned under Reicha, and it was to him that she owed that

went on a concert tour with de Bériot, and sang at a concert in Paris in 1838 at the Théatre de

t Her Majesty's Theatre, as Desdemona in "Otello." Her success was instantaneous: without hesitation the public favour which had been bestowe

comedy, besides being a perfect musician. And yet, as Se?or Garcia would remark, there was not in her case a "phenomenal voice," as there had been in that of the la

with what do you mix your paints to get these wonderful effects?" "Madame," was the reply, "

ation to rise above all obstacles, as Demosthenes had possessed it centuries before, when he made up his mind to become a leading advocate, and, in order to attain greater clearness of enunciation, spent hour after hour by the sea

inguished writer and critic, and founder of the 'Revue Indépendante.' Here she shared in the triumphs of Grisi, Persiani, Rubini, Tamburini, and Lablache;

rd her. Liszt, under whom she had studie

d a name worthy to be mentioned with that of Maria Malibran's sister. In her, virtuosity se

pale, still,-one might at the first glance say lustreless,-countenance, the suave and unconstrained movements, the astonishing free

red de Musset, the poet of Romanticism and warm

oi qu'on dise,

immortelle

divin fit jailli

n prose his feelings on hearing her si

... Elle chante comme elle respire.... Sa physionomie, pleine d'expression, change avec une rapidité prodigieuse, avec une

ding the r?les of this work was encountered in Germany, which militated much against its production. "Madame Viardot," he writes, "expressed to me one day her astonishment that in Germany people always spoke of this difficulty of reading the music of

but in London in 1839 was fol

worthy in the life of Garcia by anot

rofession, a great number of amateur pupils, among whom were to be found not only some of the most distinguished names in Paris, but many members of the royal family itself. Throughout this period he had been

Sciences de France under the title, "Mémoire sur la voix humaine," to which was added the rather odd-sounding subtitle, "Des

ts to which he drew atte

where the chest voice ends, and a certain numb

cation of the vocal organs, and the exhaustion of the air contained in the chest is mor

unds in two different timbres-the cle

"The thanks of the Academy are due to Professor Garcia for the skilful use which he has made of his opportunities as a teacher of singing to arrive at a satisfactory physical theory of the

eaching Singing,' in which Garcia cleared up the confusion

other series of sounds equally homogeneous produced by another mechanism, whatever modifications of "timbre" and of strength they may offer. "Eac

amination of the vocal cords which resulted from it, he altered the original division from two to three-chest, medium, and

eur Viardot, by whom she had been engaged for her first season at the Paris Opera House. Almost immediately after the weddin

e orchestra. Here, too, she astonished all by volunteering at a moment's notice to sing the part of Isabelle in "Robert le

ial ceremony, but still a private one. The first public appearance in the c

e quickly roused the sympathetic curiosity of her audience to enthusiasm. The entire press praised her virtuosity, artistic feeling, and nobility of countenanc

"Cenerentola," and an unpublished air of Ch. de Bériot, earned for her at this first concert as much applause as the great air from Handel's "Rinaldo" and the lighter French, Spanish, and German songs which she sang in t

concert, was dumfounded, and never forgot the occasion. Another musician who appeared that evening was a young v

e year 1845 her repertoire comprised, in addition to those already mentioned, "Somnambula" and "Norma," "I Capuletti" (in which she played Romeo), "L'Elisire d'Amore," "Lucia di Lammermoor," and "

le which she subsequently sustained on over two hundred occasions in all the chief opera houses in Europe,

e added to her laurels "Le Mariage Secret." Then came the evenings at the Théatre Lyrique in 1859, with "Orp

n grounds she had a private theatre built, a small square building, capable of holding about a hundred people, in addition to a diminutive orchestra, stage, and anteroom. In this hall she was wont to give concerts, to which were invi

scene from an opera, and several others from among the greatest German artists took part in the programme. Th

peretta. Her hair was let down for the occasion, while she wore a costume in the Grecian style, surmounted by a red vel

nd Antoinette Sterling has left a description of an episode in

d came himself to conduct the rehearsals, all of which took place in my rooms. At five o'clock on the birthday morning, we walked with Herr Brahms through the grassy fields up to her house, and there, under her window, sang the morn

o the list the name of Robert Schumann, for he dedicated to her his beautiful Liederkreis, op. 24. Nor was Se

ade their way at once to London, where Manuel Garcia was residing, and of the months which they spent there I shall have something to say later, since Mme. Noufflard, the daughter of Lady H

; living in a handsome house in the Boulevard St Germain; strong, tall, and of dignified bearing, her hazel eyes still retaining their true Spanish brilliance; her voice clear and well-sustained; herself full of vivacity, and

ue G

ted, after they had journeyed from all directions, from the New World as well as the Old, to place themselves in her hands. One longs to paint her amid her home surroundings, in

y a quotation from a letter, in which one may appreciate the

plus en plus vite et vous entra?ne d'une course vertigineuse vers le Grand Inconnu! sans arrêt, sans repos, sans pitié. Il y aura peut-être d

sentiments, which she expresses so b

W. & D.