ot be sung, and we have so often heard it shouted and
declaimed by Tristans who could not sing, and by Isoldes without a
voice, that it was a double joy, not only to hear it sung, but to hear
it superbly sung, with all the confidence and apparent ease one is
accustomed to in a Schubert song, or a Massenet romance."

Madame Nordica is now in her prime. What new honors she may win we
cannot foresee, but she now stands high in the front rank of the great
singers of the day. In 1896 she married Mr. Zoltan Doehme. The
engagement, which had been once broken off, came to a sudden climax
while Nordica was in Indianapolis. Mr. Doehme suddenly appeared, having
travelled from Germany, and in a few hours they were married without any
display or previous announcement.

Madame Nordica wins many friends by frank, engaging cordiality of
manner, while her impulsive nature and enthusiasm help her over many
difficulties. One may imagine the consternation caused in the Boston
Symphony Orchestra by her startling declaration, at a rehearsal, that
they were like a Kalamazoo band. Perhaps the sore is still open, but
her winning manners will close it the next time that she comes among
them.

One of the most brilliant singers among the number of Americans who
have, during the latter half of this century, won distinction on the
operatic stage, is Emma Nevada. She is the daughter of a physician named
William Wallace Wixom, of Nevada City, Cal.

As a child she was so musical that she sang in public when only three
years old. Her mother died when she was quite young, and she received
her education at a seminary in Oakland, California. She was now consumed
by a desire to go to Europe and make a study of voice, and she became
one of a party of girls under the care of a Doctor Eberl, who was to
escort them and keep them under his protection in Berlin. When the
vessel anchored in the Elbe, the passengers were transferred to a
smaller steamer to be landed. Dr. Eberl went on board the little steamer
with the rest, walked into the cabin and died. This was a terrible
calamity for the party under his care, but Emma Wixom succeeded in
finding her way to Berlin, where she sought advice with regard to her
voice, and was recommended to go to Marchesi at Vienna.

It is said that on reaching Vienna she found her funds exhausted, but
she sought Madame Marchesi and told her her circumstances. Marchesi was
so much captivated by her voice and manners that she off