er to appear,
handicapped as she was by inexperience and stage ignorance, in _roles_
not only marked by great musical difficulty, but full of dramatic
energy, indicates what a high estimate was placed on her powers.

Mr. Lumley, the English _impressario_, was at this time scouring Italy
for fresh voices, and, hearing Mlle. Cru veil i, secured her for his
company, which when completed consisted of Mmes. Persiani and Viardot,
Miles. Alboni and Cruvelli, Signori Cuzzani, Belletti, Gardoni, and
Polonini. Mlle. Cruvelli was now eighteen, and in spite of the Lind
mania, which was raging at white heat, the young German cantatrice made
a strong impression on the London public. Her first appearance was in
"Ernani," on February 19, 1848. The performance was full of enthusiasm
and fire, though disfigured by certain crudities and the violence of
unrestrained passion. Her voice, in compass from F to F, was a clear,
silvery soprano, and possessed in its low notes something of the
delicious quality of the contralto, that bell-like freshness and
sonority which is one of the most delightful characteristics of the
human voice. Her appearance was highly attractive, for she possessed a
finely molded figure of middle height, and a face expressive, winning,
and strongly marked. She further appeared as _Odabella_ in "Attila," and
as _Lucrezia_ in "I Due Foscari," both of which performances were very
warmly received. During the season she also sang in "Nino," "Lucrezia
Borgia," "Il Barbiere," and "Nozze di Figaro." Her _Rosina_ in Rossini's
great comic opera was a piquant and attractive performance.

II.

The prevalence of the Lind fever, which seemed to know no abatement,
however, made a London engagement at this period not highly flattering
to other singers, and Mlle. Cruvelli beat a retreat to Germany, where
she made a musical tour. She was compelled to leave Berlin by the
breaking out of the Revolution, and she made, an engagement for the
Carnival season at Trieste, during which time she gave performances in
"Attila," "Norma," "Don Pasquale," and "Macbeth," and other operas
of minor importance, covering a wide field of characters, serious and
comic. In 1850 we hear of Mlle. Cruvelli creating a very great sensation
at Milan at La Scala. Genoa was no less enthusiastic in its welcome of
the young singer, who had left Italy only two years before, and returned
a great artist. No stall could be obtained without an order at least a
week in a