e frequently is obliged to stand mute while the
prima donna warbles and trills and receives the applause of the house,
and yet the musical demands upon the contralto are equal to those made
upon the soprano.

A contralto who was deservedly popular for many years during the middle
of this century was Adelaide Phillips. She was born in Stratford-on-Avon
in 1833, and in 1840 went with her family to Canada, afterwards settling
in Boston, where, in 1843, she appeared as an infant prodigy at the
Boston Museum. In 1850, her voice having attracted attention, she was
introduced to Jenny Lind, who advised her to study music. A subscription
soon raised the necessary funds, and she was sent to Manuel Garcia in
London, after which another fund was raised to enable her to go to
Italy, where she made her debut in 1854 at Milan. She sang with success
in many cities of both hemispheres, and her repertoire consisted of all
the contralto parts in the operas that held their places on the Italian
stage during the twenty-five years that she was known as an opera
singer. In 1879, when the Boston Ideal Opera Company was formed,
Adelaide Phillips was the chief contralto. She made her last appearance,
in Cincinnati, in December, 1881.

In 1882 the state of her health was such that she was obliged to go to
Carlsbad, and she died there on October 3d of the same year.

In private life Miss Phillips was highly esteemed, for she was not only
an artist of sterling abilities, but a woman of grand character and a
most devoted friend. She was buried at Marshfield, Mass., where the
family had lived for some years on an estate which her success had
enabled her to buy. Her life was one of hard and unceasing labor, but
she had the satisfaction of being able to care for the necessities of
her family, who were thrown upon her in early life.

A mezzo-soprano who took the public by storm in the early sixties was
Zelia Trebelli, or, as she was more widely known, after her marriage,
Madame Trebelli-Bettini. No member of Merelli's Italian troupe was
gifted with so brilliant a voice and so much executive power. Her
appearances in the opera houses in Germany were a series of triumphs,
public and critics alike being carried away by her voice, with its
brilliancy and flexibility, and her control over it.

Her early triumph was the result of long preparation, for her musical
education began when she was six years old, and her vocal training ten
years later. It was