by striking a gong, an assembly which is to pass judgment on the guilt of a prisoner.
Mdlle. Titiens, in giving this gong a lusty blow, drew back the stick with such force that it came into violent contact with the unfortunate nose of "Pollio," who was behind her, and the result was that Signor Guiglini shed his life blood so freely on that occasion that he took an unconquerable hatred to the opera in question. But he was finally brought to time and made to sing his part. This little incident simply gives a hint at the whims and oddities an impresario has to overcome in his singers before the public can enjoy their favorite operas.
228.—GREAT MUSICAL MEMORIES.
No matter what other talents a musician may have, if he has not a very strong and retentive memory his musical genius will probably remain obscure. It is fortunate, however, that a strong inventive power or talent for composition will generally be accompanied by an adequately developed memory. For this reason, when one begins to write of the retentive memories of the great composers, there seems to be no stopping place short of the end of the list.
It goes without saying that an opera singer must be able at all times to place perfect reliance on his memory. It is hard to appreciate the task that falls to a singer taking a prominent rôle in some of the grand operas, Wagner's, for instance. The mere notes form only a minor part of the work. There are the words, the nuance, and the action; and a slip in any one of these means a failure, more or less pronounced.
Many have been the fine voices that are lost to the stage because of a lack of that vital necessity, a reliable memory. But there is this redeeming feature—memory, like all other faculties, grows with use, and especially is this true of music, where the association of words and music is a great aid for the retention of either.
