The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 10, 1907, Page 26

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY THE SIGNORINA ABABYRTO for us proved better as a ling: hat Fickle Adaberto! »'s trusty henchm ! r her sing in “La second princi o condp ity of whom either ca,” t mune | ten are [exchanged their previously-bought ] aults. | tickets for money or kept in their z s < pockets the money at they had Pity the Signor Lambardi |intended to swap for tickets, which : " Ehae ;| procedure conveyed much chagrin to Stnce, the arxival of the Lambaedi|fon Na o Sibpne 1 ctnband acd ' (he Italian Opera Company in San Fran-;,\]cc—‘fl— manager of the cisco several of its big singers have | the he Signorina \Ada- occasionally failed to appear in ac-|be tised to sing on Mon- - . |day e t on Monday morning ey —— schedulr.‘ and the in- |, Signor Lambardi received from varisble excuse for such nonappear-{the Signorina Adaberto a letter i ances hes been “Seeck,” accompanied | which she pleaded continued inability “by espasmodic clutching of the throat | t0 Warble. 5 ‘ jynlln oo tpwrend of the. cyebalis {1 IE detier wis piolurdSh O : PSP Siacs ence, but as I could neithe ans- setlbioaly white was visible. Holding 3, ¢ 50 for mysél- nor understand the the secord for absentecism is the |young man's translation of it we Signocina Ester Adaberto, the dra-|were all at sea when who should poatie soprano, who, of course, is the | Providentially drop in but the Signor fgrestest magnet of them all, and it | RUSS0 robust |served in an dnterpretative capacity 3 with intent to obtain from the |when I imcr\'u»\w‘?l the Sigl?oriui m"fi“fl Adaberto herself a diag- | Tromben, colorature soprano. He was m of her science-baffling complaint |engaged on the spot to supplant as our I wisited the theater last Mon- ifiey sfternoon. As she was billed to go-between the young man who could that evening in “La Forza del je mx‘ 1 expected to find her re-|par, inot speak English nearly as well as had evidently induced the Lam- di family to suppose he could Adabertor” ¥ abkced | Dok ok i ; - o aske: “It is the foolish contract,” said of the Laml : 1 : bardi executive | the Signor Russo when I asked him 3 3 _. |for an opinion as to the cause of the “Seeck” he-replied, clawing at his Signorina Adaberto’s repeated non- Adant's appie. 2 {appearances. “The Signor Lambardi?” | A he it g explain that the "Beeck,” he repeated, pressing both | Signorina Adaberto and the Signor. hands to his Jeft side. ! . |Lambardi entered into legal cofenant “Heart-sickened by the Slgnnnnalin Italy by which the male party is Adsberto’s absence?” 1 ventured. pledged to pay to the female party a “Seeck leewer,” was the reply. salary of $800 a month, said salary Liver was alleged by the Signorito be paid in semimonthly instali- Lembardi himself when I visited him |ments AND IN ADVANCE. On the at his dwelling-place, a2 Turk-street | first and fifteenth days of each month apartment house, but no medical|the Signor Lambardi has punctually was requisite to perceive | paid to the Signorina Adaberto a sum that nerves were mainly responsible of $400 ever since she came under his for his confmement. Although he|management—or at least agreed to be has spent many months in the|managed by him—and ever so many United States his acquaintance ‘with |times the Signorina Adaberto has said our national language is extremely [to the Signor Lambardi, “Seeck,” and limited, and the young man who was |failed to sing, although she has seldom ! It Is the Silly Contract tenor, who had ,ably| or never been scheduled to appear in more than three operas a week. “Cannot the Signor Lambardi cancel the contra I asked. - X if for five consecutive days the Signorina Adaberto fails to sing when | requested, then the Signor Lam- (bardi can legally refuse to pay her until she has given extra performances to compensate him for those which she missed, but as she is paid in 2 vance it would not be easy for the] | Signor Lambardi to enforce his right | lin that way. If he should at any| {time withhold her salary jn advance {or any portion of it she might decline |to sing again, and then what could| he do? She would not lose any | |money, and he would lose all that her | | failures to appear had cost him. Oh, but it is the very foolish contract! “Are the other Lambardi artists un- der similar agreement?” 1 inquired. Yes; but only the Signorina Ada- ]‘h_cr(n gives the much trouble. The| | Signorina Tromben has been sick the | very seldom, the Signorina Giorgi and | | the Signorina Campofiore hardly the | ever at all. No, the male principals do |not miss the many performances. | True, the Signor Patti, tenor, had sent | the news one day that he would be |unable to sing that night, and the Signor Russo was engaged to take his | place in the cast, and then the Signor Patti found he was able to and did | sing. | “These disappointments are bad for the public,” 1 opined. Ah, yes, and bad for the artists, !too. The Signorina Adaberto has the much money and does not care, but {when she disappoints the public the money does not come to the -impre- sario, and if the money does not come to the impresario the other artists may | | not get the salary. Ah, it is the silly| contract for the impresario. | Wise Was the Signor Leahy | “When the Itafian artists were at | the Tivoli there was very little public | disappointment caused by sickness (among them,” I remarked. Ah, the Impresario Leahy did not (have the silly contract.. When the artist say, ‘I'm seeck,’ the Impresario Leahy he- send his own doctor to see the artist, and if the doctor say the artist is not too sick to Si‘&e had e ! presario Leahy he PRESI®ING , AT DINNER | | You sing tonight ‘or you never sing| |Lambardi does not believe she sick g b | in the Tivoli again, and your own fare back'to Italy you pay, It was the Wise contract the Impresario Leahy had. Even the great Signorina Te- trazzini had to sing or lose the much | money when the Impresario Leahy say she must sing. i “Impossible!” T exclaimed. Not the impossible. © When the Signorina Tetrazzini say she sick and ¢annot sing that night the Impresario Leahy has sold $3000 worth of tickets for that night, and he send his doctor to see the Signorina Tetrazzini. His octor say the Signorina Tetrazzini not too sick to sing that night, and then the Impresario Leahy ge feize all the Signorina Tetrazzini's | cos- tumes, worth more than twice ?000, and send word to her that if she does not sing that night he shall sell them for $3000 and keep all the money. She sing that night. Ah, the contract of the Impresario Leahy was not foolish. 5 “Why does not the Impresario Lambardi send his doctor to see the Signorina Adaberto?” I asked. Ah, what’s the use, with the silly contract? The Siguorina Adaberto say she sick, "and if the Impresario what can he do when she has the salary in advance? %} ‘sallow youth who sat aloof. to pay the salary in advance. The good artists do not be sick when they are not sick. The Giorgi and the Campofiore and the Tromben always ready to sing, even when their throats are not well. They help the Impre- sario Lambardi ‘get the money_that pays the salarics{, The Signor Russo himself sang in “Cavalleria” when he had diphtheria. He sang not well, but | he did not want to disappoint the| public and make the Impresario Lam- bardi feel not good. A the Home of the Diva I found the Signorina Adaberto aciously presiding at dinner in her at on Fell street. Seated at her abundant board were the Slgnori d’Ottavi, tenor, and the Signor An- tola, baritone, both apparently relish- ing the savory and stringy mess which | she forked from a large earthenware | basin and distributed with unstinted and impartial liberality. Two ladies of the opera, one of whom caressed a diminutive black-and-tan dog as she ate, completed the party. “Ask the Signorina Adaberto when she will again sing,” I requested a He complied, and the Signorina Adaberto dramatically waved her fork with one hand, graspeéd her throat with the other, and gurgled a reply. ‘Are salaries paid in advance in| “She seeng next Thursday,” was the Italy?” ek interpretation. % No; and in Ttaly the artist is not the | That meant a tran ssion of the e Im-|often sick. To_get the artists to come | five days’ limit in the foolish contrac - artist, | to America flx&wu;m mlifl the lady a |her fork gail ambardi as avi's plate| she loaded th with a generc grasping and gurglin 3 The Signor Antola wagge sympathet Signor d'O ed his expres- sion of sympathy to head-wagging So did the lady with the dog. “She ver-ray seeck,” was the inter- preted answer to my qu Before departing I convey Signorina Adaberto a hope that | malady would soon desert, and in preciation she smiled radiantly, wa ved and said something withéut gurglin Ah, that foolish contract! * * * Last Week of Grand Opera With this week the Lambardis con- | clude their San Francisco engagement, | and if all promises are kept they will | depart in the proverbial blaze of glory. | Public interest chiefly attaches to lhe‘ presentation on Thursday and Satur- | day evenings of Mascagni's Jupanese! lyric drama, “Iris,” because it will be | the first complete production work in America, dnd the scenery, cos- | tumes and properties are new. The | plot is distinctively Japanese and many | of the ancient customs and manners | of the Mikado's empire are symbolized | in the action and music. Velia Giprgl will sing the title part and in the cast will be Salvaneschi, Lambardi, Pacini and Millon: An augmented chorus will Include dancing girls, mousemes, slaves, merchants, junkmen, samurai and other types of Japanese character and _Hte. | “Fra Diavolo” will be the offéring tomorrow evening and at the Sunday | matinee, with Salvaneschi as the brigand and Bergami, Lambardi, Pacini, Tromben and Campofiore among the principals. “Il1 Trovatore,” with Adaberto as Leonora, Campofiore as Azucena, D'Ottavi as Manrico and Antola as the Conte di Luna and Ugo Cannetti as Ferrando, evening. Thomas’ melodious work, “Mignon,” with Campofiore, Tromben, Millon, Sal- vaneschi, Bergami, Lambardi and harp solos by Mme. Cimini, will be presented on Wednesday night and at the Sat- urday matinee. On Friday evening “Aida” will be sung and on Sunday even- ing a special bili will mark the com- pletion of the season. . . will be given on Tuesday Cowboy Drama Is in Vogue “The Virginian,” as dramatized from Owen Wister's story of the West, will return to ‘San Francisco for a two weeks’ engagement at the Novelty Theater, commencipg tomorrow even- ing, with Dustin Farnum continuin® in the name part, supported by a care- fully chosen company. It has been called 2 man's play, principally because it is a genuine illumination of the un- trammeled man and the chief actors are men, but it is more than a man's play and therefore worthy of the at- tention of all who are interested In the affairs of humanity. It gives to its auditors a fa..nful picture of what has passed from the life of the West. The stirring episodes of the story have been transferred to the stage with fidelity, so that from the laughter of the christening to the final scene, ‘where justide is meted out to Trampas by the Virginian, the interest is con- tinually maintained. . The cast is practically the same as of the | | aistinetively imp “The Ha pany this week = ing role in the full strength be utilized in the p Comic Opera and Vaudeville “The Princess Chic heavily at the Am has scored so n Theater that week is assured he title part is and the come- dians, headed by Teddy Webb, have a world of fun-making material to util- ize. The staging, too. is all that could e desired, and the augmented cho: of pretty girls is tunefully and physi- cally attractive. - New acts to open at the Orpheum this afternocon are the Basky-Rolfe quintet, composed of four cellos and a string bass, played by capable young men and women who were selected and rehearsed by Vietor Herbert, the fam- ous composer of light opera; Nellis Beaumont and company in a comedi- etta entitled “My Busy Day,” which has scored successfully on the Eastern vaudeville circuits; Eleanor Falke, a dainty comedienne, and a troupe of eight acrobatic Arabs Wh(} are billed as “The Whirlwinds of th Sahara." This is the last week of Patrice and her company, Happy Jack Gardner, Hickey and Neison and “Little Hip,” the educated elephant. . . . At the Chutes Theater tomorrow evening Abrams and Johns will make their first appearance in a playlet called “Realization,” and other new people are Arthur Barret, a Hebrew impersonator, and Le Barge, a musical artist. There will be a complete change of motion pictures and the Gaiety Girls will conclude the bill with their burlesque, “A Merry Mixture.” . - . ““She Stoops o Conquer” Lovers of legitimate English drama will have an execeptional opportunity to hear -a celebrated classic com- edy next Tuesday afternoon, when the Goldsmith masterpiece, “She Stoops to Conquer,” will be played in the Greek Theater of the University of California. Up to the present, with the exception of the “Phedre” & Racine, only Greek Shakespearean plays have been in the Greek Theater, and this per: ance will afford a new test of the ability of the vast auditorium. company is headed by Willk i Crane and Ellis Jeffreys and includes George Giddens, Margaret Dale, Fanny Addison Pitt, Fred Thorne, Her h!—d-h&hl