AS OF THE SIXTIES.

At the middle of the century critics began to cry out about the
decadence of the vocal art, much as they have done at intervals during
the past two centuries, and with as little real cause. The great singers
of recent years had departed, and apparently none had arisen to take
their place, and yet the latter half of the century has been adorned by
stars who, as far as we are able to judge, are not inferior to those who
have gone before. It is probable that other stars also will arise who
will delight as large audiences and create as great excitement as Grisi,
Lind, and Malibran.

While it is undoubtedly true that declamation holds a more important
place in modern opera than it did in the operas of bygone days, and some
declare that the art of vocalization is extinct, yet singers who can
charm by pure vocalization are still as welcome as ever, though more is
expected of them in the dramatic branch of their art.

It is doubtful whether a greater trio of singers has been before the
public at any time than Patti, Lucca, and Nilsson, and yet they appeared
at a time when it was claimed that vocal art was dead.

During the first half of the century we have seen that some of the great
singers visited the United States. Garcia brought his daughter to
America, where she created a great sensation and found her first
husband. Sontag crossed the ocean, Grisi, Alboni, and Jenny Lind had
found appreciative audiences in America. Among the men, Incledon was the
first singer of importance to cross the water.

We now arrive at a period when not only many great singers, and some of
less repute, crossed the wild Atlantic for American dollars, but America
began to supply singers to the European market. When Colonel Mapleson
was interviewed in San Francisco during Patti's tour, he declared that
there were more than 2,000 American vocal students in Europe, and he
mentioned fifteen who had appeared under his management up to 1883. This
number included Patti, who could hardly be claimed as American, for she
was born in Madrid, of Italian parents. But between 1860 and 1870, Clara
Louise Kellogg, Minnie Hauk, and Annie Louise Gary were genuine
Americans, as was also Adelaide Phillips, who made her debut in 1854. In
later years the number increased till, at the present day, at least two
of the greatest artists among the prima donnas are of American origin,
while a large number have reached a high position and may be destine