Madame Johanna Gadski

              Figure


MADAME JOHANNA GADSKI




MADAME JOHANNA GADSKI



M
ADAME JOHANNA GADSKI, the great Wagnerian soprano, has been repeating in concert her notable successes on the grand opera stage.  In her first American transcontinental tour in concert and song recital, Madame Gadski has scored an unbroken series of triumphs from New York to San Francisco.  In the realm of opera she is no stranger to the American public, which has known her for the greater part of her musical career, but so many opera favorites have disappointed their auditors when it came to the simpler and more rarefied expression of the vocal art, that it is almost unprecedented for an artist who has hitherto sung almost exclusively in grand opera to be so warmly received as a recitalist.




Last Spring Madame Gadski severed her relation with the Metropolitan Opera Company, believing that Mr. Conried had broken his contract with her.  This was a matter of keen regret to many admirers of the prima donna, as it seemed for a time that she would not appear in this country at all this season.  This impression was strengthened when she refused a brilliant offer from Henry W. Savage to take the role of Kundry in his English production of 
Parsifal.
  It had, however, long been a cherished scheme of Madame Gadski's to devote at least one entire season to concert work, and she eagerly took advantage of this opportunity, with results which are now well known.




Born at Stettin, Mme. Gadski began to study singing when she was ten years of age, with Madame Schroeder-Chalupka, one of the most famous singers and teachers of the day.  In May, 1889, Mme. Gadski made her debut as Undine in Lortzing's opera of that name at Kroll's Theatre, Berlin.  She was then seventeen, and her success with the public was so remarkable that Engel, the director and proprietor of the theatre, engaged her for the following seasons inclusively till 1893.  During this period she sang leading parts in many of the standard operas of Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Marschner, Nicolai, Lortzing and others, and appeared with such artists as Lili Lehmann and Marcella Sembrich.




The seasons at Kroll's Theatre occupying the Summer months only, she filled Winter engagements at the theatres of Mayence, Stettin and Bremen.  In Mayence she met Mr. Hans Tauscher, at that time lieutenant in the Prussian army, and married him in 1892.  In 1894 Mme. Gadski made an extended concert trip through the principal cities of Germany and Holland, and appeared at the Royal Opera House in Berlin.  It was there that Mr. Walter Damrosch heard her sing and immediately offered her a most flattering engagement in the United States.




March 1, 1895, Mme. Gadski made her debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera House in the role of Elsa in 
Lohengrin,
 and during two more seasons with the Damrosch-Ellis Company, of which Mme. Melba was also a prominent member, she constantly increased her repertoire, progressing from merely lyric to heavier dramatic parts and thereby growing in public favor.




In 1898 Mme. Gadski became a member of the Grau Opera Company, at New York.  When Grau retired, in the Spring of 1903, Mme. Gadski received and accepted a flattering offer from Heinrich Conried, the successor to Mr. Grau at the Metropolitan Opera House.




Besides her American engagements Mme. Gadski found time to appear at Covent Garden, London, during the seasons 1899, 1900 and 1901.  She also sang Eva in the Meistersinger performances at Bayreuth in the Summer of 1899.




Last Summer the Munich Court Theatre secured her services for the Mozart Festival early in August, and she sang one of her brilliant roles, the Countess, in the 
Marriage of Figaro.
  Later the same month she sang Senta in 
The Flying Dutchman,
 at the Wagner Festival in Munich, with such success that she was at once re-engaged for this year at Munich, when she will repeat the roles she sang last year and sing Isolde in 
Tristan and Isolde.




It is in the great Wagnerian roles that the superb dramatic quality of Madame Gadski's voice and her richness of temperament are most forcibly expressed, but the versatility of her art is shown


 in the exquisite simplicity with which she sings melodious arias, quaint lieder and volks-songs and crooning lullabies.  Her middle and lower tones have a contralto-like richness, as well as a sympathetic quality that goes straight to the heart.  Add to this youth, beauty and great personal charm, and her hold upon the affection of the people is explained.



Madame Gadski's accompanist during her American concert work is H. Selmar Meyrowitz, a pupil of Reinecke in Leipzig and of Max Brunch in Berlin.  Herr Meyrowitz was last season assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera House, and after Madame Gadski's concert season is finished he is engaged to take charge of the opera house orchestra at Prague, Bohemia.  For three years he has conducted at Carlsruhe.  He is a pianist of note and plays with vivid sympathy and perfect understanding of the singer's requirements.  His solos have been a notable feature in the Gadski concerts, for he plays Wagner in a way that not only proves his own virtuosity, but suggests in a wonderful manner the score for the whole orchestra.




Through the enterprise of the Central Lyceum Bureau, this great artist is for the first time made available for lyceum business.  This is a distinct advance in the character of lyceum offerings, as Madame Gadski is the most noted artist who has ever been secured by any lyceum bureau





NEWSPAPER COMMENTS AS CONDENSED IN HEADLINES



GADSKI IS A SOVEREIGN IN THE WORLD OF OPERATIC ART.




Audience stampeded with joy at seeing and hearing this beautiful queen of song.


(
Examiner, Los Angeles, Cal.
)




GADSKI IN TRIUMPH AS A LYRIC SINGER.




Grand opera star appears in concert and delights audience with ability displayed in rendition of Lieder.


(
Hearst's Chicago American, Chicago, Ill.
)




GADSKI TO-DAY OUTGADSKIES GADSKI OF OTHER YEARS.




Great singer has added charm.


(
Examiner, San Francisco, Cal.
)




GADSKI CONCERT A BRILLIANT EVENT.




Great dramatic soprano captivates a society audience.


(
Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
)




GADSKI CHARMS A LARGE AUDIENCE.




Noted singer is heard in concert and captivates by her rendition of classic and simple music.


(
Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, Wash.
)




NOTABLE MUSICAL EVENT—TRIUMPH FOR MADAME GADSKI.




Great singer delights an immense audience.


(
Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, Neb.
)




MADAME GADSKI TRIUMPHANT.




Generous programme of ballads pleases audience.


(
Milwaukee Free Press, Milwaukee, Wis.
)




SONG RECITAL THE PERFECTION OF ART.




Mme. Johanna Gadski presents attractive program of modern songs and arias.


(
Inter-Ocean, Chicago, Ill.
)






EXCLUSIVE DIRECTION



Central Lyceum Bureau



FRED. PELHAM, Manager


415-420 Orchestra Bldg., 165-169 Michigan Ave. CHICAGO, ILL.



THE AMERICAN LYCEUM UNION


S B Hershey Press & Gent Ngr. ROCHESTER N. Y.



Redpath Lyceum Bureau



863 Manodnock Building


CHICAGO, ILL.