THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 9, 1920.
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AGREAT painter must hare "color
i feeling": a successful preacher must
ihave "spirituality," and a grand
.opera prima donna must have "artistic
temperament." i
Nobody doubts the truth of this what,
somebody DOES doubt It? 1
Yes, Mr. Walter Damrosch, tho dis
tinguished leader of the famous Symphony
Orchestra, of New York," says that! "tem
perament" and prima donna airs are not
necessary in a great singer.
And Madame Luisa Tetrazzini, -the
treat sopramo, "was shocked to find that
the great orchestral conductor was an
noyed when she kept him and his musi
cians waiting one whoTe hour fop her to
come' to rehearsal the other day. j
Tetrazzini was notified to come to re
hearse her selections. !
The hour was 11 in the morning the
great orchestra was there 100 men. i
Mr.i Damrosch stood about the leader's
etand, aton in hand. . i
Tlio time passed. Mr. Damrosch looked
et his watch. In another ten minutes the I
i 1
conductor began to he restless. Then he
climbed Into the leader's chair and rested
his head on his arm.
Twenty minutes passed ?the musicians
relaxed and laid their Instruments beside
them on the floor. -
Half an hour. Mr. Damrosch had lost
his patience, almost. j
"Where Is Mme. Tetrazzini?" he asked
as he caught sight of the doorkeeper who
guarded the entrance to the auditorium 'of
the Seventy-first Armory at Park avenue
and Thirty-fourth street In New York.
The doorkeeper lifted his cap. "1 have
not seen her, sir," he answered. 1
The famous conductor of the famous
Symphony Orchestra espied the stage
doorkeeper. That functionary loves music
and lingers near the great stage while
rehearsals are in progress. t
Mr.i Damrosch lifted his voice a bit.
The hundred men who compose the or
chestra looked their surprise. " i j
"Don't leave the door,'' he commanded.!
"She my be waiting to be shown the way
to the stage." i j
The man In uniform moved back to hla
post accelerando. . , ;
Five minutes passed. The huge audi-i
torium was silent." There was pain In that
silence - It throbbed, as it were, with appre
hension. ' The hundred men fidgeted in.
their (chairs. They had recourse to theirj
cigarettes. They turned eyes anxious!
. upon the great Damrosch.-
He forsook the leader's stand and strode
-up one aisle. He, paced back again
down; another aisle. He looked toward the
stage door. Nothing but . the dusk of the
big stage by day. He glanced over his
shoulder at the front door. No sound.
No form save the distant one of the door
keeper. !::;.',. ij
Mr. Damrosch folded his arms. A frowik
gathered upon his brow. The men of. the
orchestra puffed swift sympathetic spurts
of smoke from their cigarettes- It was a
rare sight, their great leader vexed. 1 1
He strode up the aisle. He appeared at
the door of the b6x office. "Telephone
the manager of the. Symphony Orchestra
offices that we hate waited a half hour
and "Mme. Tetrazzini Is not here." u
. i Excited yoices staccatoed over the
wires, "Tell Mr. Damrosch we will make
instant Inquiries."; . n
The conductor went back to his stand.
Another quarter hour passed. Walter
Damrosch rose. He was about to address
the orchestra. His lips were shaping
themselves to the words, "You are dis
missed. The first violin raised arresting
ef ebrows and stared up the aisle. Mr.
Dam roach's . speech was suspended. His
gaae followed that of the first violinist. , I "
Down the aisle came hurrying a. small
man j with thick gray hair. Beneath his
right arm he carried several sheets of
music. On his face was a look of extreme
anxiety. : 1 1
He bowed to the towering conductor and
lifted his face. "Mme. Tetrazzini cannot
come to the rehearsal," he said. f
"Is Mme. Tetrazzini ill?" Conductor
Damrosch's face and tone were solicitous.!
"No, signor, she is quite well. But she
cannot come to the rehearsal." j j
"But we must rehearse." . I i
"She cannot come. She is not dressed.
"Tell her to put on a wrapper and fur
coat and come to rehearsal. 1!
"She asked me to show you her music.
Bee the tempi marked!" n
The little man offered the sheets bf
music. Mr. Damrosch looked down at hlm.i
Then he looked at his watch. 1 1
"Tell Mme. Tetrazzini that I will give
her until 12 to come to this rehearsal." ; I
The little man bowed and hurried away.
Mr. Damrosch stood at the leader's stand
and folded his arms. . 1 1
Again there was silence, a silence that
seemed to throb with anticipation. The
(musicians puffed little spasmodic spurts of
smoke from their cigarettes.
There was an ominous whirring of some
distant, deliberate clock. , One hundred
.pairs of eyes were turned toward the main
entrance. Mr. Damrosch's gray gaze was
bent upon the music on his rack. But he
did not read the notes before him.
One, two, three, four. The door opened
at the front, but It was only the door
keeper making his way to the box office.
Five, six, seven. Between Mr. Damrosch'a
eyes appeared a deep furrow.
Nine, ten, eleven. His tall figure
straightened. The flare of his nostrils ;
widened. Twelve. His voice rang out
with decision.
"You are dismissed until the usual .time '
for the afternoon concert. Qood morning,
gentlemen."
i He telephoned the manager of the office
of the Symphony Society of New York:
l"Mmj. Tetrazzini would not come to re
hearsals. Cancel her engagement. We
must Becure another prima donna for to-
morrow afternoon. Mme. Schumann Helnk?
Very well."
That Is the reason why Mme. Schumann
Helnk was the soloist at the concert of the
Music Festival and why, facing her from a .
seat near the middle of the house, sat
Mme. Tetrazzini.
Mme. Tetrazzini did not obey the musi
cal director's call to come to the rehearsal.
Mme. Tetrazzlnl's engagement was there-'
fore cancelled. And so It was that Mme.
Tetrazzini did not sing that Sunday after
noon and incidentally Mme. Tetrazzini
lost the $4,000 sh
would have been
paid for singing.
Explaining i t
all, Mr. Damrosch
said:
"It Is a relic of
a prima donna
age i that has
passed. Fifty, no,
seventy-five years
ago It was per
mitted a singer
to waive a re
hearsal. But that
time has forever
gone. Now the
greater the artist
the more anxious
is he. or she for
rehearsals, Mme.
Frieda Hempel, of
the ! (Metropolitan
Opera. Company,
Is called lor re
hearaal at 10
o'clock in the
morning and is
there at the 'clock
stroke. . Reinald
Werrenrath ant.
Mabel Garrison
' are eager for re
hearsals. Caruso
la most articular
about his rehearsals
. For One Long:
Hour Mr.
Damrosch, the
Conductor,
Waited, and Hi
Hundred
Musicians Sat
About Their ?
Instruments in
Drowsy Silence,
but the Great
' Prima Donna,
Mme. Tetrazzini,
Did Not
Appear. She
Was Resting
at Hme on Her
r Couch, '
and That
Morning's Rest
Cost Her $4,000.
The Photograph
on the Right
Shows the Diva's
, Couch and
Pet Do
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Walter Damrosch Leading His Great Symphony Orchestra.
Some of the artists
have had not one rehearsal but three for a
concert. They have Deen more wau
Ing. They--have been anxious to rehearse.
Prima donna whims are a thing of the past.
"Mme. Tetrazzini showed herself quite
Indifferent to or insensible of the dignity
of the Oratorio , Society's Music Festival.
It may be all right when one is barn-storming
to shun rehearsals. But the best
music is a series of fine adjustments of
voices and Instruments and conditions. .1
had not heard Mme. Tetrazzini sing for
fifteen years. That was when she was
with Oscar Hammersteln at the Manhattan
Opera House. It was necessary that she
and the orchestra become acquainted. I
wished only twenty minutes from. her. A
matching of the voice with some . of the
instruments, a running of a few cadenzas
with the oboe accompaniment what every
prima donna does.
. "I had- called a rehearsal of Mme. Tet
razzini for Wednesday. She let me know
that she could not attend because she had
a concert engagement. That was all right.
Although I had two concerts that day tl
changed the call to Saturday morning. On
Saturday morning I had every right to
expect her to be at the armory. I knew
that her manager, Mr. Jules Daiber, had
, notified her. to be there'at ten. Since she
'was not we proceeded with the rehearsals
of other artists. The others finished but
there was no sight nor sound of her. Had
she sent a telegram or a note or tele
phoned giving a reason for her absence
I wouldhave given the message due con
sideration. But she did nothing of the
kind. When she had kept us waiting a
half hour, three-quarters of an hour, a
little frightened man, who said he was
her representative, came to me with her
score marked. He said: "This Is the way
Madame sings these selections.
"I asked him If she was ill. He said
she was not, but that she was not dressed.
I told him to ask her to put on a wrapper
1
fx--
J
.
and '-iur coat. He hurried 4B.way. Bujt
there -was no further word from her. We
reached Mme. Schumann Heink through
her manager. She obligingly consented to
ting. ' : i.
"Did Mme. Schumann Heink rehearse?
Assuredly she did. No excuses. No airs."
Benjamin Franklin . Spejlman, attorney
for Mme. Tetrazzini, gave this as the fa
mous soprano's owji version of the affair.
Mme. Tetrazzini disavows any airs or
capricious prima donna whims and puts
all the blame on Mr. Damrosch:
"I had arrived in New York after a
long and fatiguing ' journey from Grand.
Rapids, Mich. Our accommodations from
Cincinnati were very bad. I was worn
out with the Journey, il arrived In? New
York at midnight on Friday. I was not
sufficiently rested to attend rehearsals
Saturday morning. - I sent my accompan
ist, Count Pletro Ciamara, an excellent mu
sician, who, with his wife, travels with me,
to show Mr. Damrosch, my tempi for the
passages. Mr. Damrosch was quite rude
' (C) 1920. International Featore Servlcw i&
I
to him. 'He said to him: 'Tell Madame .
Tetrazzini to be here at twelve.' It was
then six minutes of twelve. I dress and '
get from the Hotel Knickerbocker to Park
avenue- and Thirty-fourth street in six
minutes. It Is humorous.
, ! "I love my public! My dear public I
would never disappoint! So what" do I do
when the management of the Oratorio So
ciety telephone to me and say, 'You neeft "
not sing. Your engagement Is cancelled'?
Do I stay still i in my 'bed? Or do I take
the train to the dear -Cincinnati, where I
am next to sing on Wednesday, and where I
I am to be entertained the day before?
No. t say I will stay and go to the concert.'
If Mr. Danrosch gets over his whim I will
rise in a box and sing without rehearsal.
I go. I send someone to buy the tickets.
I go to the concert. I take with me my
accompanist, my countryman. Count Pietro .
Ciamara, and his wife, the Countess.
I "I take also my lawyer, Mr. Spellman,
who. won for me my case against Oscar
Hammersteln for breach of contract. I
Great Britain Eights Beserved.
take, too, his wife and his charm
. Ing young daughter. . I enjoy it. I
meet In the lobby many persons I
know. I shake hands with 'them. I am
happy. ! I enjoy the concert. It Is very
good. I take my friends home to' dinner. '
I have a pleasant afternoon. And I sue
the Oratorio Society for four thousand dol
lars ' because I have not been allowed to
sing at the concert. ,
Jules Diaber, concert manager for Luisa
Tetrazzini and Rosa Raisl, maintained a '
judicial attitude. He said:
"I am very sorry that Mme. Tetrazzini
did not attend the rehearsals. While it is
not stipulated in the contract that she must
attend rehearsals, it is understood that if,
requests are made for attendance at re?
hearsals. they must be met . f communi
cated with Mme. Tetrazzini while she was
on tour, asking her to be at rehearsals
with the Symphony Orchestra of New York?
at 10 on Saturday. .When. I was notified
that she was not present I was- confident
that she was merely detained and would
be present. I was amazed when I learned,
of her defiance. i
Madame
Luisa Tetrazzini,
Who Says That a
Great Singer' Does
Not Need to Waste
Her Time
Rehearsing, and
and That a Com
petent Conductor
With Propertly Trained
Musicians Ought to Be Able
to Accompany a Real Artist
I Without a Rehearsal.
"On the other hand I wish Mr. Dam
rosch had borne with her with patience.
It is admissible for an artiste of renown
to send to the conductor music with
tempi 'marked In lieu of a rehearsal. But
Mr. Damrosch refused to entertain this
substitute. i.fn my opinion they were both
wrong." -. ' . ' ' ' ; - -
Benjamin Franklin Spellman said: "I
shall bring suit at once against the Oratorio
Society .under-: whose auspices the muslo
festival was given, for breacn of contract.
I shall ask it for $4,000, which is Madame
",TetrazzInts figure L for a concert appear-
fence If she gives the concert she gets
$8,000 of the receipts. This is a fight for
principle. I take the cases of music artists
against managers because I am for ; the
freedom of the artist. JL am opposed to the
Czar-Uke domination of the director ho
roars 'Come here or 'Go, at his will."
i AS little,: awed, rotund man connected
with the management of the New Yorlr
"Symphony Society of New York said In a
hushed tone; "Nobody has ever done this
tov Mr. Damroscn before and no one em
will again.'- m ,