tinguished conductor and pianist, Sir Charles Hallé, to take part in a series of his choral and orchestral concerts in Free Trade Hall, Manchester, where twenty-five years later, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, was to speak upon his much discussed plan for the League of Nations. In Hallé's concert presentation of Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman" I assumed the part of Daland to the Vanderdecken of Andrew Black, the Scotch barytone, who rightfully assumed for a period of years the mantle which was falling rapidly from the shoulders of Charles Santley.

Plunkett Greene also began to sail up breezily over the horizon, and immediately made an enviable name for himself; as a song singer he will always be remembered by those who heard them. His interpretation of Irish ditties was quite beyond compare, and men as well as women were at the feet of this typical Irish gentleman.

Edward Lloyd had become the legitimate successor of Sims Reeves, and was in the midst of a most successful and distinguished career. No other tenor upon the concert stage was his equal; all acknowledged his superiority; while among the contraltos the name of one who was to outrank all others was rapidly rising into prominence, that of Clara Butt, whose majestic figure was equaled by the glory of a voice which is now well known throughout the world.

I am proud to have been requested to go with Madame Melba upon a short concert tour in England and Ireland, about the time when Verdi's last opera, "Falstaff," that youthful emanation from the brain of an old man, was produced at La Scala Theatre, in Milan. Bearing in mind the advice of Planchette, I secured the first obtainable copy issued from the press of Ricordi, and had it with me studying the part of Falstaff as I traveled. Melba expressed curiosity about the music I was so intently poring over in the train one day and I told her of my strange experience with prophecies come true. This interested her so much that she strongly advised me to go to Milan as soon as our concerts were over and hear the performance of the title rôle by Maurel. This I did, and further studied the part with an accompanist there and with my old master Lamperti.

Returning to London by the end of February to appear in the concerts which had been arranged for me, I was surprised to receive a letter from Mackenzie saying that he intended to give three lectures upon Verdi and his latest opera, "Falstaff," at the Royal Institution, and inviting me to assume the title rôle in it! During the following year, 1894, I played this part more than twenty times upon the stage, surrounded by most of the company I had seen supporting Maurel in Milan.

CHAPTER XV

WITH MANY TONGUES

They have been at a great feast of languages. - Shakespeare.

ITALIAN, during my second season of opera at Covent Garden, despite the change that was obviously coming, was still the common denominator in languages. When I was given the promised opportunity at last to play the part of Beckmesser in "Die Meistersinger," it was with Madame Albani as Eva, Lassalle as Hans Sachs, and Jean de Reszke as Walther. Here were artists of four nationalities, and the opera, sung in Italian, was made still further interesting by the presence in the cast of Wiegand, a German, Guetary, a Spaniard, Hedmondt, an American, and several other Italian, German, and English-speaking men and women. Italian was the one ground upon which we could all meet with satisfaction, to ourselves, to the management, and to the audiences; these last, of course, not understanding a word that any of us sang.

I have ever held that if "Madame Butterfly" were secretly rehearsed and rendered in Japanese, no one would know the difference - except such of the Mikado's subjects as might chance to be present!

In 1893 I made my début as Alberich in "Siegfried," as well as in Mascagni's second opera, " I Rantzau," under the baton of the composer, and performed also the part of Hunding in "The Valkyrie," with Alvary.

The grand opera season of 1893 was not yet finished when I was engaged to go on tour with the company from Covent Garden, to which had been added most of the members of the "Falstaff" cast from Milan. During this tour of the British provinces, I was given my chance of performing new rôles on which I had been assiduously working, in addition to my other duties. Among them were Falstaff, Nevers in "Les Huguenots," Alfio in "Cavalleria Rusticana," and the Toreador in "Carmen." I gained a deal of experience on this tour, the bright particular spot in which was the superb performance of Gluck's "Orfeo" by Julia Ravogli. On its conclusion I filled another engagement at Crystal Palace at the Saturday orchestral concert under August Manns, when Miss Emma Juch made her first appearance after her brilliant operatic successes in Europe a few seasons before.

In concerts I was a new quantity to the purveyors of music, who declared that I almost invariably sang over the heads of my audiences, selecting pieces which in their opinion were "caviar to the general." My concert repertory certainly included what I enjoyed singing: airs by Handel, selections from Purcell, ballads by Loewe, pieces by Schubert and Schumann, and advanced works by contemporary Englishmen. My reply, when somewhat taken to task for the severity of my selections, was, "I prefer breaking new ground to competition with every other barytone in London in a repertory which is common property." I believed then as now, that the artist with courage to climb high upon the ladder gets into a different atmosphere, and finds that people lift up their heads and look after him, follow him as far as they can, admire his progress, and attempt to breathe the rarer atmosphere in which he lives.