e orchestral barricade by storm. Never was seen so
unique a soprano, such enormous hands and feet. He courtesied, one hand
on his heart, and pretended to wipe away tears of gratitude with the
other at the clamorous reception he got. He sang the soprano score
admirably, burlesquing it, of course, but with marvelous expression and
far greater powers of execution than the prima donna herself could have
shown. The difficult problem to solve, however, was the duet singing.
But this Tamburini, too, accomplished, singing the part of _Elisa_
in falsetto, and that of the _Count_ in his own natural tones. This
wonderful exhibition of artistic resources carried the opera to a
triumphant close, amid the wild cheers of the audience, and probably
saved the manager the loss of no little property.

But, greatest of all, perhaps the most wonderful artist among men that
ever appeared in opera, was Lablache. Position and training did much for
him, but an all-bounteous Nature had done more, for never in her most
lavish moods did she more richly endow an artistic organization. Luigi
Lablache was born at Naples, December 6, 1794, of mixed Irish and
French parentage, and probably this strain of Hibernian blood was partly
responsible for the rich drollery of his comic humor. Young Lablache was
placed betimes in the Conservatorio della San Sebastiano, and studied
the elements of music thoroughly, as his instruction covered not merely
singing, but the piano, the violin, and violoncello. It is believed
that, had his vocal endowments not been so great, he could have become
a leading _virtuoso_ on any instrument he might have selected. Having
at length completed his musical education, he was engaged at the age of
eighteen as _buffo_ at the San Carlino theatre at Naples. Shortly after
his _debut_, Lablache married Teresa Pinotti, the daughter of an
eminent actor, and found in this auspicious union the most wholesome
and powerful influence of his life. The young wife recognized the great
genius of her husband, and speedily persuaded him to retire from such a
narrow sphere. Lablache devoted a year to the serious study of singing,
and to emancipating himself from the Neapolitan patois which up to
this time had clung to him, after which he became primo basso at the
Palermitan opera. He was now twenty, and his voice had become developed
into that suave and richly toned organ, such as was never bestowed on
another man, ranging two octaves from E flat below