Page:Anecdotes of Great Musicians.djvu/29

Rh Is this all your own?'

"Upon being satisfied on this point the visitor continued:—

Allow me, Madame Melba, since I have no wreath of flowers to offer you, to twine you one with your own beautiful tresses.'

"This she did, trilling a bar or two of music meanwhile, for the visitor was none other than Christine Nilsson."

It seemed to me that the above incident had about it the flavor of antiquity, and turning to an English work published several years ago, I find the following: "On the occasion of her second visit to Naples in 1835, an incident occurred which afforded Madame Persiani deep gratification. During the representation of 'Lucia' she was one evening changing her costume between the acts, when a lady entered her dressing-room, and after a few general compliments on her singing, took in her hands the long, fair tresses which floated in wild profusion over the shoulders of the cantatrice, asking if they were really her own.

"Madame Persiani laughingly invited her to satisfy herself on this point, when the visitor said with a smile, 'Allow me, Signora, since I have no wreath of flowers to offer you, to twine you one with your own beautiful tresses,' and she did so.

"Madame Persiani's heart beat with pride and joy, for it was Malibran, 'the greatest singer of the day,' who spoke."  

The receipt from London of a musical work edited many years ago by Dr. William Crotch calls to mind the fact that nowhere do we find record of a more remarkable exhibition of musical genius in a mere baby than in the case of this same person in his early years. He was born in 1775, and when but two years of age showed