r- r rI r I t 1 1 Y Lucky Chance That Took the Farm Farmers Farmer's rs r's I Daughter Out of o Her Heris s is Gingham Apron and Sun Sun- Sunbonnet SunY Sunbonnet Y bonnet and M Made de p v vT 0 JM T F Fv a ay y A v y y Her a Grand Opera r a Prima Donna n g 8 Ea fa t l 4 34 X t s x a f fY ft Y fir v 5 s t v vv a a's yf C r T s 's f i SL fi n z x h i ii w r rh h N M W k t i r t t K A r A 9 f q 4 a i f Fd s ro 0 ri yr J fYi y h 6 r i dw S F a x 6 a avy vy aF a St n fb z aw cal y 5 C Ca a 9 T n z za sr ty ff r r r A tf a n k ka ka n b l r a a V F y yr a c j i 5 i a al l x V j ti 0 Ati nia avs au u t B t A t aF f Way r yX n th t y k ka a j a La Sylvania 6 as she is now sr known in a v 40 f A Av yr r y Y y which x Y Yi pose that she w shows i How the has beauty as prima donna well as musical M used used to send end her rich contralto ring ring- ringing talent P 1 ing out over the Pennsylvania hills pia piat t when it came milking tim a t ts s s W v are ar the th chances by which STRANGE S II a girl girls girl's It genius is often revealed and she the is is suddenly lifted from rom ob- ob obscurity ob obscurity to fame but certainly none of 0 them is more remarkable than oat which has trans transformed ormed Ida Sylvania from rom a humble farmers farmer's daughter into a great opera singer who nho promises some somo day to tobe tobe t be hailed as one of the greatest prIma donnas pf t if t her time tim If 11 this charming and talented Penn Pennsylvania I i sylvania girl had never neTer used her rIch rIchI I contralto voice to call can home horn the cows ehe ahe would probably still be helping WIth the humdrum work of her fathers father's farm v or perhaps married to the son of a neigh neigh- neighboring neighboring boring farmer armer I It was tae through her habit of singing every night when hen she fh went to meet the tho cattle at th the pasture bar bars that Opportunity tunny knocked at Ida Sylvania's door and finally led her from rom her farm arm hornin home in the tho hills to an honored place in some 0 of Europe's Europe most famous amous opera houses and concert halls For ears the rich clear notes nores s she e sent ringing through the tho sunset air had been famIliar sounds in the farming country just outside Allentown The Th neighbors I could almost set their clocks by this nightly concert and whilo they never nearer appreciated the th beauty of it they felt elt I rather proud to to explain to enthusiastic strangers that it was a friend of theIrs Ida the th singing girl eirl a who ho ho sang so 80 charmingly I Music in this community was regarded as something reserved for the church choirs and the parlor organs on Sunday afternoons People thought it rather queer of Ida Sylvania to go co singing as she did through the th fields and woods but they were inclined to forg forgive e her this unconventionality not only because she sho ho was wa an exceptionally pretty girl but because she was such a good worker One evening the fate that had destined Ida Sylvania for to- fo something quite qUIte differ dIffer- different dIfferent different ent from the simple life of a farmer farmers farmer's daughter brought into this neighborhood two men prominent in New York musIcal circles They came cam motoring past tho Sylvania Syhania farm just as Ida was as sending out the first fir t of the tho notes that the cows orI had learned to regard legard as the th signal for or I them to cease their browsing and turn their heads toward the th big bie red b barns barns These The e men were ere both lovers and ex expert pert judges of music One Ono of them in particular had devoted tho the better part of a to learning how I to appraise WIth the tho greatest nicety tho the fine fino quah qualities qualities ties bes of the th human i v oice When they heard tho the sunset stillness broken by Idas Ida's Ida contralto tones they were ere at once impressed with their richness and power pO Stopping their car at the roadsIde they sat listening with wonder and admiration to the beautifully clear notes that were pouring from rom this girls girl throat So impressed were they that when P the unseen singer had ended her velvety trills they drove to the nearest farm hou farm farm- farmhouse house o made inquiries as to who the burger wa a was I and where hero she the Ined instead of taking a train tram for tor New York II k y Ac v vy YI Y AY r a r rih r a aas as a they had planned they remained over overnight overnight overnight night in m Allentown and tho the next morn morn- morning morning morning ing retraced their way to the tho Sylvania farm A test of Idas Ida's voice oice confirmed all their first opinions of its extraordinary quah- quah qualities ties They also were delighted to find that she had the health and physique the good looks and the personality that are so necessary if a n singer ip if is to make maka a great success eIther cither in concert or on the operatic stage They painted such i a glowing and convincing con con- con picture of the the golden possibilities ties bes which lay IdY in m Idas Ida's throat that her parents finally promised to raise the money to ghe gise her a music musical education l-education ThIs was no easy task for or tl the e S aero ero not wealthy and thero there were five other children to be provided for or But lifter after months of scrimping and saving they managed to accumulate enough to start the girl on tho road to fame tamo whIch had been so strangely shown to her One evening not many years ago ngo the and their neIghbors heard Ida calling home the cows cow for or tho the last time The next neat morning mornine she started for New NewYork NewYork NewYork York to begin her musical education When the best o of Americas America's teachers had done all they could to develop her wonderful talent she th went to Italy to complete her studies and make male her debut in opera And now from there comes the news nes that sho IS ll scoring some somo omo brilliant triumphs triumphs La Sylvania as ns she the Is i professionally known appeared the other night at the Theater in m Venice singing In La Traviata Tho The audIence receIved her with wild enthusiasm almost from rom her first notes and the tho next day the tho critics acclaimed her one of the greatest singers Italy has ha ever heard She has also niso been signally honored with ft n private hearing by Serafin the former ormer director of the Opera at Verona and this distinguished authority has ex expressed ex- ex expressed pressed himself as enchanted with her voice She Sho sang sane for or Serafin The Th Rage Rac of ther the tho r j r n Y f B t z X z A g j g l I r 1 a his 9 A a f fC C 9 r a t tp Mt y P 4 V y a A s y viz rH R r r W s ss s y g 4 P S w g iDL t tr r S aE Queen of the thea 4 F thea a a f r Fsr sr Night from The Thee e e n YS t f X r atS i ix x r N This is the son W t t f r c 6 ry a wrote es g i for his sister sister-in 4 law and which ho a a r i ielse else would ever M be able to sing i matter J Aw wat w that few V f have had singers voices Miss Mis Ida Sylvania the Tanners Tanner's daughter who as a direct result of her musical way of calling home big enough to fi the cows is now scoring brilliant triumphs in some of Italy's most famous opera houses houses carry the high I not n notes o t e s of the The sisters had noticed some queens queen's rage race wIth a good cello notes in her voice sufficIent volume but did not real real- realto realize to give the im impression ize how really o 0 fury ury wonderful it itT as asOn Mozart wanted w anted to One day when create But Ida Ernestine later Sylvania S Ivania sv wit i t h Madame r the same tamo voice Miss Sylvania in one of her grand Brand mann Heink was that used to echo opera roles singing wIth the so charmingly through the Pennsylvania hills managed the difficult piece of music in hi a II way that could hardly have havo failed ailed to satisfy and delight Mozart himself The Tho great Sera Serafin fin was ns delighted could delighted could as he expressed It hardly believe his ears cars If La Sylvania goes on to the dIzzy heights winch which Inch her teachers and Europe's crItics predict what that hat good reason she sho have to bless the lucky chance that brought the two New York Yolk musicians into her vicinity just as she was as lifting her voice in m her nightly call to the th cows cow I rut Put for tor or that she ha would probably still bo tearing her sunbonnet and gingham apron and helping with the milking I dud other work w ork orl about the farm arm A study of the biographies of great singers shows that musical genius is quite l discovered by the tha merest of chances Just a II slightly dIfferent turning of the wheel of ot fortune fortun Could have robbed the tho world orld of tho the enjoyment of the talents of many of o its favorite Songsters both women and men The Tho great Madame Schumann who ho was the daughter of a common iol sol sel- sel deer in the barracks of Prague sang is In Inthe inthe the choir loft of the Ursulino Ursuline Convent i other pupils a re retired re- re retired retired tired prima donna chanced to attend ves- ves vespers vespers ves vespers pers at the convent Her quick musIcal ear caught the tho rich voice of the th gIrl girland and when hen service was ended she put the nuns and their charges into a II flutter by trailing her laces and grand air up the choll stairs into their midst Which is the one ono with the tho beautiful voice she tho asked of tho the bes bewildered be nuns Which o of the girls is it that carried the tho deep notes That remarkably beautiful beautiful beautiful ful vice Olce I mean And when Ernestine brought forward orward she offered to give e her singing lessons free tree You have hav a wonderful voice Olce my dear said the singer and one day you will be bo a great star of the opera On that day Schumann career aas as opened to her although it was as not until she had passed through many years cars of hardship and disappointment that Its momentous promise was fulfilled The musical romance lomance of Rosa Pone Pon Pon ache of tho the Metropolitan commenced in inno inno iano no rosy setting nor one of any promise whatsoever Long before the real quality of Pon Pone Pen aches selles voice was discovered she had been singing in the tho hubbub and smoke clouds i of a cabaret in moving and in vaudeville She earned her living hying in this way from rom the tha time she sho was as thIrteen New Yorkers had been accustomed for some time to seeing the Ponselle sIsters billed in second rate vaudeville houses and they thought of these sisters only as two slim dark girls with fairly good voices and an air of childish innocence The Ponselle sisters had begun theIr careers when hen very ery young oung singing to- to together to together gether in the childrens children's choir at a church chUlch churchin m in Meriden Conn Their highest ambi ambition tion was to make a success in vaudeville together Neither they nor their au- au audiences audiences au audiences suspected that Rosa RoslI would one day make mako her debut with Caruso at the Metropolitan in Torza del Destine In the th struggle and sacrifice which ac- ac accompany ac accompany company the making of great opera stars it t was Rosas Rosa's sister Carmela Carniela Ponselle who ho bore bor the brunt of things Carmela ever faithful gave up for four years ears all thought of her own success that she might devote devot every energy to her sister There Thera is something rather pathetic about Ponselle's first attempt to obtain an engagement as a singer She Sh went ent to n a moving picture theater with noth noth- nothIng noth- noth nothing nothing ing to sing to its manager in a 11 try try out out but hymns He H told her brusque brusquely ly Iy to go home and learn songs wIth more pep pcp in them and then engaged her at lit 15 a week When this contract ended she began to ting sing in a cabaret In New Haven where here her sister uster joined her In the smoKe haze and clatter of dishes the sis sis- sisters SIS lis listers created their dream of the tho future 1 4 success success in vaU After Miss Bliss Ponselle reached the heights of grand opera her singing ca- ca career ca career reer went ahead smoothly as in the case of many of these wonderful singers picked up liP from no nowhere here as it lt were She continued steadily in the first roles m In the great opera house and to her lot It fell to sing with Carusa oftener than any other young oun prima donna On hIs very ery ery last appearance at the Metro Metropolitan politan she sustained her accustomed companion role to his in III La JUlve The story of a country boy who ho be- be became became be became came a great creat singer is that of John Mc Me-Cormack Me Cormack whose hose young oung voice be- be between be between tween Latin and history classes c in ill the Monastery of County Athlone Ireland was luckily ered discovered by a monk who ho knew mu music ic when he heard it I At this monastery young John learned the old Gregorian music and Irish folk olk songs as well ell as Ing a thorough technical education in music And aU all thIs because he had the good fortune to meet with Brother Hugh the musician Geraldine Farrar Farar daughter of Sid the baseball player grew up In Ina ina ina a quiet little New England town her famIly packing up and taking her abroad at a 8 great sacrifice when hen they realized her precious gift of song The great Campanini kept time to the clinking of his hammer on the black anvil with Ith the same powerful po voice that afterward after brought tho the world to his feet He lIe would hive hwe probably remained at an anvil all his life had nota not nota nota a famous amous musical critic chanced to hear him lum smiting singing at kis Ils bis work f I 4 1