Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 41
41.—SLIPPERS AT A PREMIUM.
No more excellent or generous lady has ever graced the operatic stage than Madame Malibran. Pure in life, beautiful in character, generous in heart, she made friends of all who knew her.
When she arrived in Venice on one of her continental tours, Malibran found the manager of a theater which had just been built, to be on the verge of bankruptcy. The great expense of completing his building had brought him to this point, but he had hoped to have the edifice graced by the presence of the King on the opening night, and that would secure him a large attendance and an overflowing treasury. But, unfortunately, the King died. The manager was in despair.
Hearing of Malibran's arrival he besought her to sing on the opening night and save him from ruin. She consented; but owing to his financial difficulties she declined the sum which he offered for her services.
The manager was not mistaken in the drawing power of the artiste; when it became known that Malibran was to sing in "Somnambula," every seat was taken.
In the course of the opera, Malibran slipped on a leaf from a bouquet that had been thrown her and but for one of the singers would have fallen into the orchestra. That singer was Balfe, who afterward became famous as a composer. As it happened, in the effort to recover her balance, one of Malibran's slippers came off and dropped from the stage into what was then called the "pit." The occupants of that part of the house at once entered on a struggle for the possession of this prized relic. Malibran was much amused at their efforts and, taking off the other slipper, threw it to those in the rear of the house. Both slippers were finally torn in pieces and the fragments carried away by the enthusiastic Italians as mementos of the occasion.
At the close of this incident Malibran was led forward by the happy manager; he explained the circumstances of her appearance at his theater and added that, in view of her saving his credit, he should name his theater after the generous prima donna. And to-day the "Teatro Malibran" stands as a monument to her kindness of heart.