"Madame Adelina Patti"

Name of traveller

Wilhelm Ganz (1833-1914)

Reason for travel

• friendship with Adelina Patti

Date of travel

repeated visits since the 1880s

The Albert Hall at Swansea was crowded to suffocation. [Adelina Patti] sang several of her favourite songs, and ended with the ever popular "Home, Sweet Home," which made many of the audience shed tears. (Ganz 198)

Content

• architecture:
  • overview of the rooms of Craig-y-Nos Castle and their respective functions; mention of a small theatre and a winter garden with an electric fountain
  • general description of the Craig-y-Nos estate with hot houses and artificial lakes
• art:
  • contains a photo of Adelina Patti (1843-1919) and a caricature of her and Ganz from the Puck magazine
  • Ganz assists Patti in organising the first of a series of annual charity concerts for Swansea Hospital at the Albert Hall in Swansea
  • brief sketch of the first successful charity concert at the Albert Hall in front of a full house
  • conducts at each of the charity concerts as they are rotated between Swansea, Brecon and Neath
  • mention of Patti's constant refusal to sing soprano parts in operas by Richard Wagner (1813-1883) for fear of damaging her voice
• clothing: description of the fashionable clothes and jewellery owned by Patti
• customs:
  • description of a lavishly decorated Swansea in praise of Patti on the occassion of her charity concert
  • customary musical entertainment for invited guests at Craig-y-Nos Castle
  • mentions Patti's charitable donations of coal, blankets and clothes during winter times to local people
• people:
  • chronicles friendship and occassional musical collaboration with the Italo-American soprano Patti and describes her personality, muscial accomplishments and proficiency in seven languages
  • crowds of miners and their families cheering Patti on her way to and around Swansea
  • mention of Patti's third husband, the Swedish Baron Rolf Cederström (1870-1947)
  • attends the Patti-Cederström wedding together with his wife, Elizabeth, and their daughters, Georgina and Adelina
  • servants working on Patti's estate are of Welsh, English, German and Italian extraction
• terrain: beautiful surroundings at Craig-y-Nos Castle
• transport:
  • travels by train
  • description of the privately hired Patti-Cederström wedding train from Brecon to London
• click here to read the full account

Nationality of traveller

German

Language of publication

English

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

autobiography

Citation

Ganz, Wilhelm. "Madame Adelina Patti." Memories of a Musician: Reminiscences of Seventy Years of Musical Life. London: John Murray, 1913. 196-213. Print.