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Show v i M " H TWIN SINGERS WITH H )t ' ' ( j WONDERFUL TWIN VOICES I' I Jj In tho December number of the H J J S American Magailno appears an artl- B ' le about Mary and Marie McFarland B . j twin elsters who are well known sing- B I ' tl 1 ers. Theso slstors not only look B j , , I 1 alike but their voices aro alike. Un- H i fi less you can see them you cannottell B U IS -when ono stops singing and tho oth- B j H ! beRina. Following 1 an extract B i' ; j from the article: H M ;r "It happens sometimes by some Bi 9 freak of naturo that twins have tho Hl . IK , Biimo features, but it does not happen B! I .1 onco in a blua moon that two persons Bj f , . 'f havo tho same singing voico. Noth- H ,'. '1 lng about a human being Is more unl- B J i quoly his own than his olco. Yet B J hero aro twins, famous concert and Hl B operatic singers whose voices are K I il iOentical in rango, tone, and ocn in H- I j! tlmbro. Such a miraclo, they sayv HV j ji happens about onco in a century H ' i This tlmo It has hnppcned to a pair H , of young Amorican women, who havo B j L tho same name, tho saroo bright fnfes M r ; I and wavy hair, and tho snmo beautiful B l,! ( coloratura soprano voico. B ' "Tho twins hro Mary and Mario B !jj McFarlnnd. They woro born at Lcnv- 1 v M -onworth, Kansas; but whllo thoy K 1 K wero still very young tholr father Col- M 'i j i onel Austin McFarland, nn official In B I ' ' the passenger department of tho Den- m I i vcr & Rio Grande railroad, moved his 9! j family to Donvor, Their musical tnl- B f, ,,' ont W,1B (yi Inhcrltanco from their ft Srfl mother, who wa3 a singer ,and it Bflflfy i Ik! t showed Itself oarly. At tho ago or, BflBf 'V lH sovon their ability was noted and n.o B I I j 1 1 concert of local talent In Denver was BflBrr' V Ml complete without tbo twins. Hi';! iM BBBRHy "Abroad they haVa sung much in, grand opora, but their debut in; America Am-erica last year was In vhudovlllo. Mario Ma-rio (Mhlnk It is Mario!) explains this breach of precedent: 'Thero is no money in grand opera. It takes ten years to get in. Thero are ten years of golden plenty, ten years of genteel gen-teel decadence, and then the end.' "Tho figures she gives are convincing. convinc-ing. A great 'enor or a superb soprano sopra-no is pa;d $1000 a night; forty performances, per-formances, covering a period of Ave weeks, complete the season. Tho star then has $40,000 but out of this must como n multitude of expenses. Living Is high, of course, for tho star must keep up appearances; $60,000 is not excessivo for this ono Item alone. $2000 must go to coaches and accompanist, accom-panist, $1000 to h throat specialist, and $1000 will ha,vo to bo distributed around the opera houso to tho mem- lirra nf thn worklnff fitnff. Aimthor $1000 goes to tho musical papers, throughout the world for display ad-, vertlslng and ten per cent of tho stats earnings ($1000) to tbo musical agency agen-cy or agent who placed her. "Steamship fa'os and other oxpon-scs oxpon-scs to and from Europo take another $1000. Tho star's press agent must must havo $2,000 and her maid and her secretary in live months get another $1000. "When tho star tstrlkcs n balance for her Amorican appearance sho is fortunate If sho has a much as $100 a weok to show for hor work." |
