Patti, Adelina (1843-1919)

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Adelina Patti (b. in Madrid, Spain on February 19, 1843; d. in Craig-y-Nos Castle near Brecon, Wales, on September 27, 1919) was a brilliant soprano and a great actress suited to her many operatic roles. (8) In the early 1880s, she returned to the United States and made William's acquaintance. She performed at Steinway Hall in a series of concerts in 1881. Over subsequent years, William attended many of her New York performances and socialized with her often.

Adelina came from a musical family and was a great success in Europe, South America and the United States.(8) She lived in the United States with her family for many years from the time she was a young child and made her stage debut on November 24, 1859, at the New York Academy of Music.(1) She soon departed for Europe and made her European debut at Covent Garden in 1861. She pursued an extremely successful musical career throughout Europe. On July 29, 1868, she married the Marquis de Caux, but that marriage ended in divorce when a relationship between herself and the tenor Ernest Nicolini, who had traveled with her, was revealed. She subsequently married Nicolini and continued to travel with him, including to New York. In November 1868 she sang at Rossini's funeral in Paris.(8)

After an absence of over 20 years she returned to New York where she met William Steinway and performed in Steinway Hall in 1881. (Diary 1881-11-09) Her initial concert on November 9 was troubled by mismanagement in that a price of $10 for some of the tickets resulted in a small crowd. Odell quotes the New York Herald as strongly praising the concert, referring to her voice as having "indescribable beauty" and her saying that she "electrified the house."(9) In contrast, The New York Times was very critical.(2) Subsequent concerts in the series were more favorably reviewed in the Times, in part as a result of lower ticket prices, and she was described as having achieved "great popular success."(5)(6)(13)

In the years 1881, 1882, 1883 and 1884 she sang in many operas in New York, and she sang splendidly. William and his family attended many of her performances and they also became friends.(Diary 1882-12-26, 1890-12-19) Audiences loved her, and her concert tour fees skyrocketed to one thousand pounds a performance, which she demanded in gold and before the start of the concert. It was estimated that she earned more than $5,000,000 in her lifetime.(1) She took great care of her voice and sang many farewell concerts in her 60s. An ad in The New York Times for two performances on January 7 and 12 of 1892 specifically mentioned that a Steinway piano would be used.(4) Beginning in 1892 the reviews of her concerts were mixed, with some quite scathing. The complaint was of "vocal decay", and "her voice a thing of the past." She was faulted as well for her limited choice of repertoire. She included ballads in her concerts, and it was her habit to include "Home, Sweet, Home" as an encore.(3)(7)(10)(11)(12) Nevertheless, she nearly filled the Metropolitan Opera House for a concert on January 13, 1892 and drew "loud applause."(14)

When Patti was in New York, she visited William and dined with him. She married a third time late in life to Baron Cederstrom of Sweden. She died at the age of 76 years of heart illness.(1)

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Sources:

  1. "Adelina Patti Dies at Wales Castle," The New York Times, September 28, 1919, p. 22.
  2. "Amusements: Mme. Adelina Patti," The New York Times, November 10, 1881, p. 5.
  3. "Fie upon you, Mistress Patty", Musical Courier, January 20, 1892, p. 6
  4. Metropolitan Opera House, The New York Times, January 4, 1892, p. 7
  5. "Mme. Adelina Patti," The New York Times, November 13, 1881, p. 8.
  6. "Mme. Adelina Patti," The New York Times, November 24, 1881, p. 5.
  7. Musical Courier, February 21, 1894, p. 35.
  8. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, 2001, Vol. 19, pp. 238-239.
  9. Odell, George C. D., Annals of the New York Stage, Vol. XI (1879-1882), New York: Ams Press, 1939, pp. 587-590.
  10. "Patti in Boston," Musical Courier, January 20, 1892, p. 6.
  11. "Patti Sings," Musical Courier, January 20, 1892, p. 6.
  12. "Peerless, Pretty, Perking Patti," Musical Courier, January 6, 1892, p. 6.
  13. "Record of Amusements," The New York Times, November 17, 1881, p. 5.
  14. Theater and Music, New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, January 13, 1892, p. 2.