as which make the smallest demands upon the dramatic powers
of the singer. Adelina Patti could not sing in Wagnerian opera, and was
too wise to make the attempt. Melba, advised by her friends, once
appeared as Brunhilde and was not a success, and she must rest content
with being considered the greatest _vocalist_ of the day.

Madame Melba has visited America several times, and during the seasons
of 1895-96 and 1896-97 was under the management of Abbey and Grau. After
the collapse of that company she became the star of a small opera
company travelling as far as the Pacific coast. She makes her home in
Paris, where she spends a portion of each year with her son. She is
simple and frank in manner, generous by nature, and not given to malice
or jealousy.

California added a star to the operatic firmament in Sybil Sanderson,
who made her debut in 1888, under an assumed name, at The Hague, in
"Manon." She was successful, and in a few months came out at the Opera
Comique in Paris, creating the role of Esclarmonde, which Massenet had
written for her, and in which she had the advantage of the composer's
instruction.

Probably no opera singer has ever had greater advantages in the
preparation for the stage than those which Miss Sanderson enjoyed. She
is the daughter of a lawyer of high repute, who became judge of the
Supreme Bench, and later chief counsellor of the Union Pacific Railroad.
She was taken by her mother, at an early age, to Paris, where she and
her sisters received the best education possible. She desired to become
a prima donna, and had every assistance that the wealth of her parents
could provide.

Her voice is of the kind for which American prima donnas have become
celebrated, light, pure, and flexible. Its surpassing excellence lies in
the upper register, her G in alt being in itself a phenomenal
production. Miss Sanderson is a finished actress, having received the
most careful training at the hands of Massenet, who wrote also "Thais"
for her. Saint-Saens entrusted to her the creation of the title role of
"Phryne," and, in token of his delight at her performance, presented her
with a valuable necklace.

Miss Sanderson became very popular in Paris and in St. Petersburg, but
met with less favor in London and New York. Once when she sang in
London, Van Dyck was the tenor. At the rehearsal he sang _sotto voce_ in
order to save himself, and he supposed that she was doing likewise. In
the evening, at the performa