who were engaged with me in Metz have
made careers. Two were at the Charlottenburg Opera House in Berlin at
the outbreak of the war, and one in Hamburg, both in leading positions.
One was a stage-manager at the Volksoper in Vienna, and one teacher in a
conservatory.

CHAPTER X

MY DEBUT AND BREAKING INTO HARNESS

I had to sing _Azucena_, my first part on any stage, without rehearsal.
The reason for this dawned upon me afterwards. Though I sang German well
by this time, my conversational powers still left something to be
desired. I have explained that the present director had never heard my
voice; no one knew of what I was capable, and they quite expected that I
would prove incompetent, and had engaged a native born contralto to
provide for this contingency.

When I heard one evening, that I should have to sing _Azucena_ on the
next, I confess that something rather like panic assailed me for a few
minutes. The stage manager called me onto the stage, and spent half an
hour in showing me the entrances and exits, and giving me the merest
outline of the positions. That is all the preparation I had for my
so-called debut. The other members of the cast had sung the opera
together many times the year before, which made the performance
possible. The lyric tenor was a decent enough colleague, though an
absolute peasant in behaviour, with an extraordinary high voice which
was rapidly degenerating from misuse. The baritone was of the tried and
true type, and a great favourite, and the soprano was easy to get on
with. They were all nice enough to me, if somewhat uninterested and
indifferent, for I had had as yet so little to do with them that we
hardly knew each other. They thought me a rich dilettante at that time I
fancy. I was so horribly nervous all that day that I fainted whenever I
tried to stand up, and when I began to sing my sister did not recognize
my voice. However, I was very well received indeed, all the criticisms
the next day were favourable, and there was no question after that as to
who should sing the leading roles.

It was fortunate for me that I succeeded in pulling myself together
sufficiently to make a success, as at that time the old system of
_Kuendigung_ was still in force. I have said that a contract was not
valid until the singer had successfully completed the number of guest
performances stated therein. I had not been called upon for these
_Gastspiele_ because I was a beginner, but they are