The San Francisco call. [volume], January 19, 1902, Image 16

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
GIUXS XJSXr ALI/X" DO-
"Have you Moore's poems T" inquired
the sweet young thing.
"I, think so. mlsa. -I'll look m a min
ute." replied the clerk In the bookstore.
"By the way, here's a fine new story,
Just out. It's called 'Just One Kiss/
and—"
J,' 1 1 25$ Moora -'.* ¦&• interrupted'feaa**
tlly.—Philadelphia Press.
aged. There ta a story told of her which
shows her views on this point pretty
clearly.
During her visit to this country last sea
son she offered to give an hour each day
to a young kinswoman who had a prom
ising voice. The hour set for the lesson
was 11 o'clock, and at 11 each day many
warbles could be heard coming from the
diva's room, where her singles school of
one pupil was going on.
One day the pupil failed to appear.
Madame Nordica met her later in th«
day and anxiously Inquired why she had
not come for her lesson. "You were HIT"
she asked earnestly, with a voice full of
sympathy.
"Oh. no." replied the girl In an off-hand
manner. "But It was too hot to work."
"Hot!" exclaimed the diva. "My dear,
if you expect ever to rise to the top, you'll
find it hot all the way up."
self. On* of tli* things which has'attract
ed most attention is a lullaby.
"The Southern lullaby which I have been
singing Is not a 'coon' song." sh» said.
"The music is by Ethelbert Nevln and th«
words by frank L. Stanton. Any one hav
ing the least acquaintance with Kevin's
music would know that it could not be
ragtime. It Is a slmpl» melody, a sweet
little Southern lullaby, which. I hav» suns
aa an encore after a heavy protframme of
the most difficult music— Just a little fun
and relief for the moment, you know.
"I like to keep up a variety of music.
My programme contains every known
style of ballade-German lleder, French
chansons, Hungarian, Italian and English
ballads, besides selections from opera and
oratorio."
"I am determined that the feature' of
my concerts shall be range and variety of
what is best, and the programmes tax my
voice to the- fullest capacity. Soms sing
era rive *a whole" evening to on© styla of
composition, and for some of the audi
ence It may be delightful, but In a general
way it does not gtr- compile satisfac
tion." ' . ' \
The fact that she Is able to do this, that
¦he has developed her voice to such a
breadth of power, is the. result of hard
work, which she loves. She has little pa
tience with people who are easily discour-
** y ORDICA la on her way t* us one*
f\\ more, this time dissolved from
V V that are all her own.
She, with her manager, her ac
companist. E. Romayne Simmons, and
two slaters. Mrs. Baldwin of Boston and
Mrs. Walker of New York, make up the
party who are Journeying across the con
tinent in a private car for the son* re
cital tour, which is to extend through, the
East, West. North and South of the
United States and through Canada as
welL
The car Is named Brnnnhilde In honor
of v the role In which Mme. Nordica has
made some of her biggest triumphs. It
has been especially fitted for her use, so
that the diva may experience as few
discomforts as possible In her long Jour
ney that will cover four or five months
and many thousands of miles.
A genuine brass bed. daintily draped, is
In her own room on this car, taking the
place of the ordinary berth or couch. A
canopied dresser is also there and easy
chairs, all upholstered in as fragile ma
terials as in your b«st boudoir on terra
firma. A bath opens out from the room
and furnishes what Mme. Nordica calls
her "refuge"; she always says that the
one reason she is not a perfect traveler Is
that she likes too well to be clean.
In the car are several other sleeping
and dressing rooms and dining room and
kitchen. The rest of the car Is Bet aside
for the observation Bection, which takes
the place of living-room, music-roonj,
parlor and library.
In this are Nordica's favorite books.
There are some charming book shelves
that fit into odd corners, little curtained
nooks that remind Nordica of her own
home. She ha6 brought with her on her
trip as many of her treasures as she can
contrive to carry, so that the dreariness
of the road is entirely disguised.
A charming desk occupies one corner of
the room. Here the singer keeps up with
her correspondence and enlivens the trip
by chatting with her friends on paper.
In this room Is the piano. Therefore
it Is the room where the privileged few
love to gather, for here Mme. Nordica
entertains them from time to time with
the songs that they choose from her long
repertoire.
Nordica opened her tour In Pennsylva
nia about the middle of November. Since
then she has been working her way west
In the^ private car.
She is said to be carrying some swell
gowns. They are all Worth creations.
One. a cloth of gold, is .embellished with
lace that Is valued by experts at 60,000
francs; another, of grass green velvet. Is
unadorned, except for exquisite neck
garniture of rare old Irish point lace. Her
jewels, which Include a tiara and a col
lar, are gorgeous in their brilliancy.
Not the least Important personage in
the party now touring the country In the
car Brunnhilde Is a diminutive dachs
hund only a few months old, which is the
diva's latest and most highly prized pet.
The little animal was presented to her
by the Prince Regent of Bavaria on the
opening of the new "Wagner Theater In
Munich, when, by special Invitation, Mme.
Nordica sang Isolde and Elsa- in the
dedicatory ceremonies. It was conslderei
a most unusual honor, for she was tha
only foreign Einger to appear in the thea
ter to sing in German at the dedication of
the temple of the great German master.
Tuffy, the dachshund. Is blue In color
and truly blue Mooted, and is a. mest
dainty and mannerly little fellow who
never thinks of biting and seldom barks.
He wears a silver collar presented to
Mme. Xordiea by the Duch<vs of Meck
lenburg, who, as the daughter of the
reigning house, was at liberty to have
the collar made in the design of an an
cient bracelet kept in the "Green Cave"
of Dresden, the famous royal art treas
ury of Saxony. Jt is against the law to
copy any cf the treasures of the collec
tion, but, of course, royal permission In
Saxony has special prerogatives.
Nordica passed the summer in the Black
Forest and gained wonderfully in health.
Her energy is always great and, like
Bernhardt, slie takes a rest by changing
her occupation. Last summer, hid away
in the famous forest of Germany, she oc
cupied her leisure time in writing a book
—"Hints for Singers." As she sings every
opera from "Don Pasouale" to "Gotter
dammerung" she ought to be able to
give the young singer a few tips that are
worth while.
A little story of her during her sum
mer's sojourn in the forest has leaked
out. It seems that she and her husband,
Zolton Dome. w« re- .nay ins in a little vil
lage. For six creek* in the summer the
hotel is full, Lut the guests during this
loafing seaFoi; ecem to be too lazy to en
joy even luuslc.
O:.v fay some strolling musicians an
r.ounced a concert there, but when they
too:-; .their places in readiness an 'audl
u ¦ s of only two, besides Mme. Nordica
ai d Mr. Dome, put in an appearance.
1 'ifteen minutes passed in waiting, then
tnadame had' an inspiration. She confid
ed it to her husband and he disappeared.
In half an hour a procession was seen
coming up the street. Mr. Dome had
awakened ' the villagers and on the
strength of an Invitation to be his guests
they dressed themselves and came to the
concert, which, as a result, was begun by
the comforted musicians at about the
hour when it should have ended.
Nordica has in her repertoire, this eea
son a little of everything. She furnishes
the entire evening's entertainment her-
How the great singer trav
els, some anecdotes from her
summer trip of last year to the
Black Forest of Germany, and
what her repertoire will In
clude for t**« season.
THE SUNDAY CALL.
16