, exceeding sweetness, marvelous flexibility and perfect
equality, has been so wonderfully well cared for that even now, in her
sixtieth year, she enjoys singing, although she rarely appears in
public. Her sister, Carlotta, was also a coloratura vocalist of
exquisite technique.

Queens of song now pass in swift review before the mind's eye. We recall
Marietta Alboni, the greatest contralto of the middle of the last
century, with a voice rich, mellow, liquid, pure and endowed with
passionate tenderness, the only pupil of Rossini; Theresa Tietiens, with
her mighty dramatic soprano, whose tones were softer than velvet, and
her noble acting; Marie Piccolomini, a winning mezzo-soprano; Parepa
Rosa, with her sweet, strong voice and imposing stage presence; Pescha
Leutner, the star of 1856; Louisa Pyne, the English Sontag; Parodi,
pupil of Pasta; Etelka Gerster, whose beautiful soprano could fascinate
if it could not awe; Pauline Lucca, whose originality, artistic
temperament and intelligence placed her in the front rank of dramatic
sopranos, and many others.

Amalie Materna, dramatic soprano at the Vienna Court Theatre from 1869
to 1896, with great musical and dramatic intelligence, with a voice of
remarkable compass, volume, richness and sustaining power, vibrant with
passionate intensity, and with a noble stage presence, proved to be
Wagner's ideal Bruennhilde and introduced the role at Bayreuth in 1876.
She was also the creator of Kundry at the same place in 1882. She
aroused unbounded enthusiasm as Elizabeth in "Tannhaeuser," and as Isolde
in "Tristan and Isolde." She is not forgotten by those who heard her in
various cities of this country.

The same may be said of Marianne Brandt, who sang the part of Kundry at
the second "Parsifal" representation at Bayreuth, having been Frau
Materna's alternate in 1882. With her superbly rich, deep-toned voice
and her splendid vocal and dramatic control she thrilled her audiences
in her Wagnerian roles, in Beethoven's "Fidelio," and in all she
attempted, whether in opera or concert. She was a magnificent
horsewoman, and was perhaps the only Bruennhilde who was able to give
full play on the stage to her Valkyrie charger. It is told by an eye
witness that before a first appearance in a German city she was borne
furiously on the stage at rehearsal by her spirited, prancing steed, and
when she drew him up suddenly, rearing and pawing the air, near the
footlights, the members of the orc