Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 June 1893 — Pluck of an Opera Singer. [ARTICLE]

Pluck of an Opera Singer.

Fifty years ago European audieuces listened with rapt admiration to Rubini, a tenor of whom it was said that, though he himself could not act, he made bis voice act for him, says a writer in the Philadelphia Press. The intensity of expression he gave to his voice, the judicious use of the tremolo and the management of light and shade produced a thrilling effect. But his best vocal feat consisted of taking the bass of the upper stave without preparation, thus retaining it for a long time, and then let it imperceptibly die away. The listeners could haidly believe their ears. The adventurous are always on the edge of danger. On one occasion Rubini, after repeating this vocal feat, and being a second time encored, found himself unable to produce the expected note. Determined not to fail, he gathered up his vocal strength and made a supreme effort. The note came with its wonted power, and brillancy and duration, but at the cost of a broken collar bone. A surgeon examined the singer and found that the tension of the lungs had been too powerful for the strength of his collar bone. Two months rest would be required to reunite the clavicle, and this the singer claimed to be impossible, as he had only finished several days of a long engagement. “Can I sing at all with a broken collar bone ?” he asked. “Yes; it will make no difference in your voice,” answered the surgeon. “But you must avoid lifting heavy weights and any undue exertion —above all, you must leave the B flat alone.” Rubini continued to sing with a broken clavicle until the termination o> the engagement.