Romantic, but True.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 548, 23 December 1890, Page 4

Romantic, but True.

Apropos of the singing of “ Il Baccio” at an Auckland concert last week, Mr Sydney Hobtn, who was an intimate friend of Lingi Arditi, told a Star reporter the story of the now famous song. When Arditi composed it he was a young man of 25, poor, struggling and unknown. "■ 11 Baccio” was one of the three compositions upon which he ho e-d to ba>e his fame, but he was pennile-s, and could find no publisher to believe in their merit. A t last he went to Ricordi, of the great Milanese musical house, and begged of him to take them, but Ricordi was as obdurate as the rest. Poor Arditi was in despair. Fate seemed against him. and he went home determined to east his manuscriots into the flames two of them blazed up, and shrivelled to cinder in the stove of his room. The other was about to follow, when its composer's heart failed him, and he could not commit it to destruction He determined to try Ricordi once more, and this time worried the great man so much that he took the manuscript and gave its owner £5 to get rid of him. 1 he song was submitted to the readers, who thought there was something in it, and within a week “11 Baccio” was published, and the presses of the great house of Ricordi were taxed to their utmost limit to supply the demand which immediately sprang up for it. The song spread over Italy, then through Europe, and finally round the world ; publisher after publisher made thousands of pounds out of if, but Arditi got nothing beyond the original £5, and, of course the fame the work brought him One day Arditi was in the palatial mansion of a great music publisher in Paris, and complimented its owner. “ Ah,” he replied, “ J have to thank you for all this. It was ‘Il Baccio’ built this house.” Ju-t before leaving Leipzie, Mr Hoben was walking past a music shop with the younger Arditi, and they thought they would go in and ask for the father’s best-known work. ’> hey found that so large were the editions published that it could be obtained for twopence.