[Patti, Adelina. (1843–1919)]
Original 1861 Broadside from her First English Tour
Original broadside from the Theatre Royal Manchester, advertising the legendary prima donna in Lucia di Lammermoor, in "her first appearance out of London" on August 19, [1861]. Patti, only 18 years old at the time, appeared with the much older singers Hermine Rudersdorff, Maria Caradori, Giorgio Ronconi, and Joseph Tagliafico, among others. The week's performances also included La Traviata, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and L'Elisir d'Amore. Overall creases, chips, edge wear and a few small edge tears, but overall in very good condition for its age. 10 x 20 inches (25.7 x 50 cm).Patti had made her Covent Garden debut on May 14, 1861, stunning the audience with her precocious talent at the age of only 18. London society took notice of the young singer: Charles Dickens wrote that her voice had "some quality in it (not to be reasoned or defined) which has more of the artist than the automaton. She has a rare amount of brilliancy and flexibility." At the end of the Covent Garden season in July 1861, Patti performed with the company on tour in Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool, and then continued with the first of many concert tours through the British Isles. Her incredible popularity and success in England would continue until the end of the century. (14380)
Broadside Opera