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BRA orphan entirely dependent upon his own resources, at a moment when the most valuable of those resources had, for a time at least, failed him. Fortune, however, soon raised him up patrons in the powerful and wealthy family of the Goldsmids, under whose protection and auspices he acquired considerable practice as a teacher of the pianoforte. But although the pianoforte became for an interval his immediate profession, the cultivation of the returning powers of his voice formed the great object of his hopes and his ambition. It was already settling into a tenor, remarkable alike for tone, flexibility, and compass; and he omitted no opportunity of polishing it by study, or strengthening it by practice. In one of the many musical societies which he frequented, Braham became acquainted with Ashe, the celebrated flute-player, who, struck with the beauty of his voice, proposed to him an engagement for the following season at Bath, which was immediately and gladly accepted; and in 1794 he made his first appearance as a tenor singer at the concerts in that city. In the conductor of these concerts, Signor Ranzzini, the debutant found all that was wanting to give high finish to a voice which nature had formed in one of her most prodigal moulds; an instructor to whom all the rules of art were familiar, and in whom all the delicacies of the highest refinement of that art were personified. In Braham, Signor Ranzzini recognized a pupil on whom it was a pleasure to lavish all the resources of which time and study, learning and taste, had rendered him master. To the last hour of his life he boasted of his famous pupil, and Braham never failed to acknowledge his obligations to his talented instructor. The fame of the new singer soon extended to London, where it was first carried by J. P. Salomon, who, from the moment he heard Braham at Bath, pronounced him to be the finest tenor singer in Europe. In the spring of 1796, an engagement for a limited number of nights was offered to him by the managers of Drury Lane, and the genius of Storace expended its last efforts in the composition of the songs which were to exhibit the extent and variety of his powers. The early and lamented death of the composer delayed, for a short time, the production of his last opera, but the difficulties were at length overcome; the parts left unfinished were completed by Kelly, and on the 30th of April, 1796, "Mahmoud" was performed for the benefit of his widow and family; and Braham, then only twenty-two years old, at once took the rank in which, for upwards of a quarter of a century, he had no competitor. Before the year of his debut had closed, Braham achieved another professional triumph of the highest class, in being engaged as a principal tenor at the Italian opera; and here again it is impossible to repress a feeling of wonder at the talent and industry which qualified so young a man to burst forth at once as leader in styles so different, and perform not only in his native, but in a foreign language. His first appearance on the opera stage was on the 26th November, 1796, in the character of Azor, in Gretry's opera, "Zemira e Azore." He was highly applauded, and one of his airs encored; afterwards he performed with Banti in Sacchini's serious opera, "Evelina," and continued to sing until the end of the season. In the same year he was engaged at the oratorios, and established his reputation as a singer of sacred music by his delivery of some of Handel's chef-d'œuvres. Braham now determined to increase his knowledge of the mechanical resources of his art, by studying the best models which Italy afforded. He accordingly embarked for the continent in the autumn of 1797, and proceeded in the first instance to Paris, not contemplating a stay of more than a week in that city; but some concerts which he gave (at the first of which Bonaparte and Josephine were present) turned out so successful, and so lucrative, that he remained there eight months. A plan was organized for the performance of Italian operas, and a permanent engagement offered to Braham. Italy, however, was his object, and declining all overtures for remaining in Paris, he continued his journey southward, and in the autumn of 1798, appeared as primo tenore at the Teatro Pergola in Florence, as Ulysses, in an opera of that name composed by Basili; and as Orestes in "Le Furie d'Oreste" of Moneta. He was next engaged for the succeeding carnival—an unheard of honour for an Englishman—and appeared at the Scala (Milan), with his gifted countryman, Billington. The opera in which they performed was composed by Nasolini, and entitled "Il Trionfo di Clelia." Rome and Naples now contended for the English tenor; but Braham's success at Milan led to a renewed engagement there for the following year; and when he left the capital of northern Italy he proceeded to Genoa, where he devoted much time to the study of composition, under the able instructions of the mæstro Isola, and had an opportunity of singing with the celebrated musico, Marchesi. From Genoa he returned to Milan, and went thence, in 1799, to Venice. Here he assisted at the funeral obsequies of Cimarosa, and performed in the serious opera of "Artemisia." His next engagement was at Trieste, where he performed in Martin's opera, "La Cosa Kara," a work from which Storace took a great part of the music of his "Siege of Belgrade," and which Braham, five or six years afterwards, introduced with such success at the opera-house in London. Whilst remaining at Trieste, our great tenor received invitations from Lisbon, Naples, Milan, Vienna, and England. That from Vienna he accepted, reserving to himself the liberty of singing one year in England, previous to making his debut in the Austrian capital. Following this plan, he proceeded across Germany, via Hamburg, to his native country, where the unanimous and enthusiastic applause he met with, made him forget or forego his German engagements. On the 9th of December, 1801, Braham made his reappearance before an English audience at Covent Garden theatre, in an opera called "Chains of the Heart"—the joint composition of Mazzinghi and Reeve. The music, however, was so feeble in the serious, and so commonplace and vulgar in the comic parts, that, notwithstanding it was supported by such talents as Braham's and Madame Storace's, it lived only a short time, and was succeeded in February following by "the Cabinet." In this opera Braham was the composer of all the music of his own part, a custom to which he continued for several years pretty closely to adhere, and seldom has any music been more universally popular. Among those operas we name "Family Quarrels," 1802; "the English Fleet," 1802; "Thirty Thousand," 1804; "Out of Place," 1805; "False Alarms," 1807; "Kais, or Love in a Desert," 1808; and the "Devil's Bridge," 1812. To follow Braham through all his engagements would exceed the limits of this notice; it is sufficient to say, that in the theatre, the concertroom, or the church, he had scarcely a rival. Non ce in Italia tenore come Braham, was the frequent exclamation of foreigners who heard him. During the seasons of 1804-6, he was engaged as principal tenor at the Italian opera, singing with Mrs. Billington in "Il Trionfo dell' amor fraterno;" "Gl'Orazi e Curiazi;" and La Clemenza di Tito." In 1816 he again appeared at the opera, as Guglielmo, in the "Cosi fan Tutte" of Mozart; and in 1826 acquired fresh laurels in the arduous part of Sir Huon, in Weber's wondrous opera of "Oberon, or the Elf King's Oath." Down to the present time everything which Braham undertook prospered; but in 1831 the tide of fortune changed. In this year he purchased, jointly with Yates, the building known as the Colosseum, in the Regent's Park, for which the large sum of £40,000 was paid. Five years afterwards he opened the St. James' theatre, which he had erected at a cost of £26,000. The large fortune which his genius and energy had once gained him was lost by these unfortunate speculations; but his declining years were passed in the most cheerful comfort, secured to him by the affectionate care of his daughter. He died in February 17, 1856, at the advanced age of eighty-two. In energy and pathos of style, Braham stood unrivalled as a public singer, and his powers in this respect were especially conspicuous in accompanied recitative, which generally expresses strong passion; thus "Deeper and deeper still," of Handel, was the chef-d'œuvre of his declamatory and pathetic manner, describing, as it does, Jephthah in the agony of his rash vow. As a composer, Braham completely attained the object he aimed at, in his numerous songs, duets, &c., many of which attained the highest degree of popularity. As a national song, his "Death of Nelson" has pleased, and continues to please, a vast majority of the inhabitants of the British isles; it has therefore accomplished its purpose. Braham's private character was marked by kindness and urbanity, and he was never known to treat the public, in a single instance, with levity or caprice. In matters of business he was remarkably honourable; and it was the common remark of those who knew him long and well, that he was never known to speak disrespectfully of any public singer—declining to censure where he could not in justice applaud, but cheerfully bestowing praise whenever truth permitted. The only spot upon Braham's character was his liaison with Signora Storace, but this, we believe, has been much misrepresented. He left five sons and one daughter. The eldest son (by Signora Storace) is now a clergyman of the church of England. The other members of