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| Pietro Mascagni |
It was 1902 and Mascagni was quite famous for Cavalleria Rusticana, an opera featuring love, hate and murder. He was also an orchestra conductor.
He arrived in New York with his own orchestra, singers and chorus. Except there were not enough musicians and there were constant union problems with American musicians.
On the same ship that carried Mascagni was General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. This prompted a “battle of the bands”, with exuberant Italian-American bands on the dock competing with Salvation Army bands, belting out hymns.
In every city, Mascagni changed the advertised programs. So, those who bought tickets for a certain opera got either a different opera or the performance was totally cancelled.
His next stop was Philly, where 5,000 Italian immigrants gave the maestro an enthusiastic welcome at Broad Street Station. “The impetuous Latins swarmed about, embraced him fondly and shouted ‘Viva Mascagni,’” wrote the Inquirer.
Everywhere he went, Mascagni got a warm welcome and “good riddance” after a week.
That first evening at the Academy of Music – after a long wait - he conducted the orchestra and following a late reception the maestro went to his room in the nearby Walton Hotel. However, no one had made any sleeping arrangements for the musicians and singers. Some fell asleep in the green room but 30 to 40 others walked out to Broad Street at 2 a.m. Only one tavern was open but the owner and his sister managed to find places in rooming houses for the visitors.
Every performance started late. He changed the program three times in one day. One time there was a one-hour pause during the intermission.
He was going to introduce his latest opera, “Iris” in Philadelphia. People purchased tickets and were livid when it didn’t happen.
The Italian societies organized a banquet for Mascagni in South Philly. Everyone showed up but the guest on honor.
Audiences grew smaller. There was carping reviews by the critics.
A few days after he left town, newspapers ran a headline “Blows Out His Brains. Young Man Commits Suicide After Hearing Mascagni.” The 19-year-old Drexel student loved Rusticana and might have heard the maestro at the Academy of Music. He had his mother play his favorite section of the opera on her piano. He Immediately went into his bedroom and killed himself.
In Boston, Mascagni got into legal hassles with creditors and was briefly placed under arrest. The Italian ambassador was called into the fray.
At one point, his orchestra went on strike declaring it had not been paid. He fired different Americans managing the tour. He canceled engagements. At one point in Chicago, an American orchestra and Mascagni’s Italian orchestra both came to practice.
In Chicago, a former American manager charged Mascagni embezzled $5,000. Then his personal property was attached by constables for another alleged $126 debt. When he was arrested by the Chicago constables in front of friends, it was the last straw.
The next day a Chicago newspaper headline read: “Disastrous American Tour of Pietro Mascagni Cancelled.” The story said he collapsed after being released on bail “suffering from nervous exhaustion.”
The planned four-month tour of America ended in two-months.