Adelina Patti's Concert

Adelina Patti's Concert was the last for me and my group. It was one of those magical moments when I could sing together with the people who came to me to improve their voices and enjoy singing for several years. Together the pianist Jeanette Mazzocchi, to whom I'm so grateful, we sang a variety of songs and arias. It was not a merely showcase but a real performance where all of us enjoyed and felt to be part of an important event, together.

And then "THE" Covid-19 arrived. We all know how it changed our lives,  all of us have been somehow affected by the constraints and limitations that the pandemic caused us, to the point we could say there is a time before and after Covid-19. Personally, my teaching routine was completely overturned, and the stress and suffering I experienced, witnessed and shared those days needed time to be addressed and overcome afterwards.

READINGS in the Concert

INTRO: Why to honour Adelina   

Why an event to honour the famous opera star Adelina Patti?
I have to say, I found that many aspects of her life made me feel somehow connected to her:

• Cosmopolitan singer, she was born from Italian parents in Madrid and grew up in USA;
  I felt a strong connection, as we both moved to Wales to live with our loved ones, both opera singers.

• The conductor and composer Luigi Arditi, who conducted the concert for the inauguration of the theatre at Craig y Nos, came from my town's province, Crescentino.
• Adelina Patti was a Belcanto singer, which is my repertoire as well; although I have a different type of voice, many of the arias she recorded are part of my repertoire.

Both parts of the concert have opera arias and readings of anecdotes regarding her life, to show some unusual and funny aspects of the life of an opera star.

Last question: Why in Merthyr? Because I live here, but above all because I have been very impressed by the contrast between Merthyr Tydfil and the Tawe Valley in the last tens of the XIX Century, the loveliness of Merthyr and the Taff river being sacrificed to the altar of the industrial revolution. So, we'll honour her, from one of the towns that made rich this Country to a lady rich of talent and beauty.

 2) About Adelina auditioning 

Luigi Arditi, the composer of the following song, "Il Bacio", described Adelina as: "a little dark-eyed, roguish maiden with red, pursed-up lips and quick, rippling laughter, and determined little airs and manners".

She was brought in Arditi's room where himself and M. tro Bottesini were ready to listen to her, and they were amused to see her airs of importance with which the tiny singer first selected a comfortable sit for her doll, in such proximity that she was able to see her while singing, and then, having said (in French): "There, my little one, wait for mammy to sing you something lovely", she demurely placed her music on the piano, and asked me to accompany her in the Rondo of " Sonnambula"

3) About Adelina in her childhood

Adelina Patti was born at Madrid in 1843

She sang since was a child and received singing and piano lessons; at 7 years of age she was already singing placed on a table for everyone to see her singing arias like "Casta Diva" and she toured years with her family. When almost 12 she returned from a long tour, her mother noticed that her voice was tired and decided she needed a rest.

Adelina didn't sing publically for few years, resuming her career which was one success after success, at 16.

I wanted to highlight this aspect of the life of Patti, and praise the intelligence and sensitivity of her parents, because -and I will never repeat it enough-, it is so important for a child singer to avoid forcing the voice, especially in the period of the change, as the health and longevity of a voice depends on that.

4) About comedy songs at Craig y Nos  

"We've reached the coffee stage of dinner and the cigars were being passed….
One of the young ladies carolled a stanza from a popular ditty. At first I thought audacious that anyone should sing in the presence of La Diva. It seemed a sacrilege.
But in another instant, we were all at it, piping the chorus, and Patti leading off. The fun of the thing was infectious. We ventured another song, and Patti joined us in the refrains of music-hall airs, beginning with London latest mania "Daisy Bell, or a bicycle built for two". [..]
After few songs, Patti turned with an arch look: "You will think our behaviour is abominable". "No, I don't, I think it's jolly" I said.
Her answer was a peal of laughter, and then she sat there singing, […] lifting a clear, sweet note, which thrilled us through and through and stirred us with exciting applause". (From "London Days" by Arthur Warren, 1920)

I am sure Patti would have been thrilled to hear the following comedy song, ILL WIND

5) About a poem written for Adelina 

Adah Isaacs Menken, an actress, painter and poet, who died only 33 years old when Adelina was 25, and who was incredibly modern for her times, dedicated this poem to Adelina:

"Thou Pleiad of the lyric world
Where Pasta, Garcia shone,
Come back with your sweet voice again,
And gem the starry zone.

Though faded, still the vision sees
The loveliest child of night,
The fairest of the Pleiades,
Its glory and its light.

How fell with music from thy tongue
The picture which it drew
Of Lucia, radiant, warm, and young-
Amina, fond and true.

Or the young Marie's grace and art,
So free from earthly strife,
Beating upon the sounding heart,
The gay tattoo of life!

Fair Florence! Home of glorious Art,
And mistress of its sphere,
Clasp fast thy beauties to thy heart-
Behold thy rival here!"

6) About Adelina's scandal  

Adelina stayed in Atkins Road, Clapham Park, at 'Villa Rosina' during her summer seasons at the Royal Opera House.

In his memory, the impresario Mapleson remembered that one night, after Patti sang "Martha", "complete with ovations and a torchlight parade up to the avenue to Patti's hotel, her carriage was dragged by a team of delirious fans….The critic Krehbiel proposed then a gala banquet at the hotel Brunswick. But this too was a disappointment, for some of the women who were to grace the table, politely refused to sit with Patti, who had scandalized the society when she left the Marquis de Caux".

When her marriage collapsed, it was granted a legal separation in 1877 which costed her half her fortune. The year after she bought Craig y Nos and she moved to live there with Nicolini.

7) About an eyebrow (from Opera Anecdotes) 

Patti helps a colleague Prepare Her Toilet.

In Patti days, the more glamorous Diva affected false eyebrows, shaving off the natural ones and donning creations more suitable to greatness.

Patti thought it rubbish; as Rossini said, Opera was voice, voice and more voice- not costume.

One time, a rival prima donna was enjoying her false eyebrows, her claque's ovation, and herself far too much for Patti's comfort. Patti started to stare at the upstart's face in a kind of fascinated horror.

"What's the matter?" the rival whispered. "Your right eyebrow has fallen off!".
In dismay, the rival turned her back to the public and deftly removed her left eyebrow.

In fact, there had been nothing wrong with the right one- and the rival played the rest of the act with part of her face missing.

To which we may append the moral: Never try to out-diva the diva.