he made an extraordinary
impression, as it afforded room for the finest tragic action; and
the music, trivial as it was, gave full scope for the extraordinary
perfection of her voice. She also appeared in comic operas, and in
Paesiello's "La Frascatana" particularly delighted the public by the
graceful lightness and gayety of her comedy. But in them as in tragedies
she stood alone and furnished the sole attraction. Her astonishing
dexterity seemed rather the result of the natural aptitude of genius
than of study and labor, and her most brilliant ornaments more the
fanciful improvisations of the moment than the roulades of the composer.
Of her elocution in singing it is said: "She was articulate, forcible,
and powerful; occasionally light, pleasing, and playful, but never
awfully grand or tenderly touching to the degree that the art may be
carried." Her marvelous strains seemed to distant auditors poured forth
with the fluent ease of a bird; but those who were near saw that her
efforts were so great as to "call into full and violent action the
muscular powers of the head, throat, and chest." In the execution of
rapid passages the under jaw was in a continual state of agitation,
"in a manner, too, generally thought incompatible with the production of
pure tone from the chest, and inconsistent with a legitimate execution.
This extreme motion was also visible during the shake, which Catalani
used sparingly, however, and with little effect."

In spite of the reputation for rapacity which the avarice and arrogance
of her husband helped to create, Catalani won golden opinions by her
sweet temper, liberality, and benevolence. Her purse-strings were always
opened to relieve want or encourage struggling merit. Her gayety and
light-heartedness were proverbial. It is recorded that at Bangor once
she heard for the first time the strains of a Welsh harp, the player
being a poor blind itinerant. The music sounding in the kitchen of the
inn filled the world-renowned singer with an almost infantile glee, and,
rushing in among the pots and pans, she danced as madly as if she had
been bitten by the tarantula, till, all panting and breathless, she
threw the harper two guineas, and said she had never heard anything
which gave her more delight. The claims on her purse kept pace with the
enormous gains which seemed to increase from year to year. To her large
charities and her extravagant habits of living, her husband added the
heavy losses to