Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Adelina Patti Theatre at Craig Y Nos Castle, Wales. August 7, 2024

Copyright © 2024 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

Mike Hume and I drove to Craig Y Nos Castle on the morning of August 7, 2024. We had scheduled an appointment to visit the Adelina Patti Theatre.

Fortunately, there was enough time that morning to explore the small town of Brecon. Despite cloudy skies and damp streets, everything was verdant green from a recent rain storm.

Blue skies began to appear on our drive to Craig Y Nos Castle, playing a game of peek-a-boo with the clouds. This made the sections of the landscape sparkle as rays of sunshine chased across the hills. I now have ample source material for my painting projects this winter!

We soon arrived at our destination – Craig Y Nos Castle, now home to both weddings and ghost tours. Located near Glyntawe in Powys, Wales, the estate is nestled in the scenic Brecon Beacons.

It is very easy to see and feel what draws people to this place. The countryside is picturesque and the old building rife with history. Adelina Patti’s Castle and Theatre should be on the bucket list of every opera-enthusiast and theatre historian.

I am going to start with a little history about the castle before shifting to Adelina Patti and her theatre. This will be the first of at least three blog posts.

Captain Rice Davies Powell built a country house of limestone in 1840. Reminiscent of Gothic Castles and Baronial Halls, the building complex was situated on a terraced site above the River Tawe in the upper Swansea Valley. As in many grand construction projects, however, costs eventually exceeded available funds, leaving the north wing unfinished.

In 1878 Adelina Patti purchased the limestone mansion and immediately began an extensive renovation, both expanding the building and developing the grounds. She was at the height of her career as a Bel Canto Soprano, performing all over the world. Her new estate was not only an oasis between operatic tours, but also a testament to her talent and success. 

In 1891, Patti added a private theatre, complete with stage machinery and stock scenery. It is estimated that the hall could accommodate between 180-200 people.

The inaugural program lists Patti performing in scenes from La Traviata, Faust, Martha, and Romeo & Giulietta. Here is an illustration from opening night.

Few photographs of the theatre survive, making it difficult to identify specific scenes delivered to the stage. Here is the only one I have found to date that depicts a landscape drop, woodland board, and two wood wings.

On July 27, 1891, an article in Western Mail described: “The most unique thing about the establishment is the floor of the auditorium, which can be raised from a slant of one inch in twenty to an exact level with the floor. Madame Patti has in this way managed to combine in one building a perfect theatre and ball-room.”

This aspect was again described in another article, published in Western Mail on August 22, 1891. It reported, “The floor has been arranged with a view to utilizing the theatre as a ball-room when desirable. For this purpose the floor, which slants away towards the stage end, for the purpose of giving a good view, can be raised without any difficulty to a perfect level with he stage. A ballroom 62 ft. long can thus be provided at any moment, and the fact of cosy drawing room effects being obtainable at the stage end certainly does not diminish the pleasures of the ballroom.“

To many, the private theatre may appear to be a self-aggrandizing endeavor for an aging opera star; nothing more than a diva’s playhouse. Even newspapers at the time described Adelina’s excitement for the opening of the venue as a child with a new toy.

However, this perception minimizes both Patti’s accomplishments and the space. When reflecting on her life and career, I see a very smart and successful individual; one with the financial freedom to built a theatre and practice her art.

Her financial success was remembered upon her passing. On Monday, September 29, 1919, The Daily Telegraph reported, “Adelina Patti was certainly the only woman of her own or any other epoch which had earned three-quarters of a million sterling by singing and acting, in the course of three decades and a half. It was only, however, after her separation from the Marquis de Caux that she was able to mass considerable wealth, Probably her largest earnings were acquired during her American tours executed under the respective managements of Colonel James Mapleson and Henry Abbey. For many years before her definitive retirement into her private life her Albert Hall concerts and British provincial engagements were arranged by Mr. Percy Harrison, of Birmingham, her rates of remuneration being fixed at £800 for every London performance, and £500 per concert in the provinces.”

Patti’s purchase, renovation, and expansion of Craig Y Nos Castle is her lasting legacy. Craig Y Nos Castle and the Adelina Patti Theatre are something that has far outlasted her life and career.

There is another aspect of Patti’s tale that may resonate with women today. Older women are often set aside; life-long contributions minimized. In the end, their names are either forgotten or ignored. Such is the case of Adelina Patti. Before this trip, I had no idea who she was, what she accomplished, or anything about her theatrical legacy. Her tale has been left out of so many history books.

I am going to start with an 1895 article published in the Westminster Budget entitled, “Patti at Craig Y Nos: The Queen of Song at the Opera Once Again” (pages 13-14). It really speaks to her character, kindness, generosity, and success.

Here it Patti’s portrait that graced the cover of the publication.

“On Tuesday night Patti appeared in “Traviata” at the Italian Opera, and was of course enthusiastically welcomed by a great audience. Only for a short season will the most famous of singers tear herself away from that most sumptuous palace of hers in Wales, to which we give some pictures here, and a few notes of a visit paid to her some time ago by one of our contributors :-

During my visit to Craig-y-Nos we usually spent our evenings in the billiard rooms. There are two at the castle, an English room and a French one. In the French room there is the great orchestrion which Madame Patti had built in Geneva at a cost of £5,000. It is operated by electricity, and is said to be the finest instrument of the kind in the world. M. Nicolini would start it of an evening, and the wonderful contrivance would “discourse most eloquent music” from a repertoire of 116 pieces, including arias from grand operas, military marches, and simple ballads. Music is the one charm that Madame Patti cannot resist. The simplest melody stirs her to song. In the far corner from the orchestra she will sit, in an enticing easy-chair, and hum the air that is rolling from the organ-pipes, keeping time with her dainty feet, or moving her head as the air grows livelier. Now and again she sends forth some lark-like troll, and then she will urge the young people to a dance or a chorus, and when everyone is tuned to the full pitch of melody and merriment she will join in the fun as heartily as the rest. I used to sit and watch her play the castanets or hear her snatch an air or two from ” Martha,” “Lucia,” or “Traviata.” One night the younger fry of us were chanting negro melodies, and Patti came into the room, warbling as if possessed by an ecstasy. “I love those darky songs” said she, and straightway she sang to us, with that inimitable purity and tenderness which are hers alone; “Way Down upon the Swanee River,” and “Massa’s in the Cold, Cold Ground,” and after that “Home, Sweet Home,” while all of us listeners felt the tears rising, or the lumps swelling in our throats.

Guests at Craig-y-Nos are the most fortunate of mortals. If the guest be a gentleman, a valet is told off to attend upon him; if the guest be a lady, a handmaid is placed at her service. Breakfast is served in one’s room at any hour one may choose. Patti never comes down before high noon. She rises at half-past eight, but remains until twelve in her apartments, going through her correspondence with her secretary, and practicing a little music. At half-past twelve an elaborate déjeuner is served in the glass pavilion. Until that hour, a guest is free to follow his own devices. He may go shooting, fishing, riding, walking, or he may stroll about the lovely demesne, and see what manner of heavenly nook nature and Patti have made for themselves among the hills of Wales. Patti’s castle is in every sense a palatial dwelling. She saw it fifteen years ago, fell in love with it, purchased it, and has subsequently expended at least £100,000 in enlarging and equipping it. The castellated mansion, with the theatre at one end, and the pavilion and winter garden at the other, shows a frontage of fully 1,000ft, along the terraced banks of the Tawe. But the place has been so often described that it is unnecessary for me to repeat the oft-told story, or to give details of the gasworks, the electric-lighting station, the ice-plant and cold-storage rooms, the steam-laundry, the French and English kitchens, the stables, the carriage-houses, the fifty servants, the watchfulness of Caroline Baumeister, the superintending zeal of William Heck.

Every afternoon about three o’clock Patti and her guests go for a drive, a small procession of landaus and brakes rattling along the smooth country roads. You can see at once that this is Patti land. The cottagers come to their doors and salute her Melodious Majesty, and all the children of the countryside run out and throw kisses. “Oh! the dears,” exclaimed the kind-hearted cantatrice as we were driving towards the village of Ystradgynlais (they call it “Ist-rag-dun-las”) one afternoon, “I should like to build another castle and put all those mites into it, and let them live there amid music and flowers!” And I believe that she would have given orders for such a castle straightway had there been a builder within sight.

On the way home Patti promised me “a surprise for the evening.” She appeared later on covered with jewels, and when the non-appearance of the ladies kept the gentlemen waiting in the drawing-room at dinner-time I was the more puzzled. Nicolini, to pass the time, showed us some of Madame’s trophies. It would be impossible to enumerate them, because Craig-y-Nos Castle is like another South Kensington Museum in the treasures it holds. Every shelf, table, and cabinet is packed with gifts which Madame Patti has received from all parts of the earth, from monarchs and millionaires, princes and peasants, old friends and strangers. There is Marie Antoinette’s watch to begin with, and there are the portraits of the Prince and Princess of Wales to end with. There is a remarkable collection of portraits of Royal personages, presented to Madame Patti by the distinguished originals on the occasion of her marriage to M. Nicolini. Photographs of the Grand Old Man of Politics and the Grand Old Man of Music rest side by side, on a little table presented by some potentate. Gladstone’s likeness bears his autograph, and the inscription: “Con tanti e tanti complimenti”; Verdi’s, his autograph, and a fervid tribute written in Milan a year ago. There are crowns and wreaths and rare China, there are paintings and I know not what, wherever one looks. If one were to make Patti a gift, and he had a king’s ransom to purchase it withal, he would find it difficult to give her anything that would be a novelty, or that would be unique in her eyes. She has everything now. For my part, I would pluck a rose from her garden, or gather a nosegay from a hedgerow, and it would please her as truly as if it were a priceless diadem. She values the thought that prompts the giving rather than the gift itself. She never forgets even the smallest act of kindness that is done for her sake. And she is always doing kindnesses for others. I have heard from the Welsh folk many tales of her generous charities. And to her friends she is the most open-handed of women. There was one dank, drizzly day while I was at Craig-y-Nos. To the men this did not matter. The wet did not interfere with their projected amusements. But every lady wore some precious jewel which Patti had given her that morning – a ring, a brooch, a bracelet, as the case might be. For the generous creature thought her fair friends would be disappointed because they could not get out of doors that day. How could she know that everyone in the castle welcomed the rain because it meant a few hours more with Patti?

Another article published in Western Mail on June 27, 1891, stated, “Here all are welcome. It is a fortress of hospitality. No visitor ever waits at the door. Madame Patti is particularly kind to literary men and journalists. She is never too busy to see them and show them what the hospitality of a Welsh castle is. Suspicion is banished from this enchanted spot, and no visitor is every plied with questions. That is left to vulgar city dwellers. The only title you need to a warm reception at Craig-y-Nos is that you have thought enough of Madame Patti to make the long and fatiguing journey.”

Much has been written about Patti, over the past 150 years. There is a wonderful Adelina Patti Documentary, produced by the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park, with Welsh translation too! However, I want to provide just a little context for the purposes of this blog. Here is a very brief summary of of this remarkable woman before I share some photographs of her theatre.

Adela Juana Maria Patti was born in Madrid Spain on Feb. 19, 1843. She was the daughter of Italian tenor Salvatore Patti and soprano Caterina Barilli. The Patti family moved to New York City when Adelina was still an infant. She grew up in Bronx neighborhood, one of many skilled musicians!

In 1877 Adelina reminisced about her early childhood:

A musical ear, as well as an aptitude for and great love of singing, was in developed in me at an extremely early age. Even as a little child, I was madly fond of music and the stage. I went to the opera every evening my mother appeared, every melody, every action, was impressed indelibly on my mind.”

It should be no surprise that her first public performance was by the age of 7 yrs. old. Before she turned 16, Patti played the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor at New York’s Academy of Music. Audiences were captivated by her voice; described as pure and bird-like, with an astounding flexibility. At 18 yrs old, she performed the role of Amina in La sonnambula at Covent Garden in London. Her immediate success in London quickly fueled an international career, resulting in tours throughout Europe, Russia and North America.  

Over the course of her life, Patti married three times: Henri de Roger de Cahusac (1868-1885), Ernesto Nicolini (1886-1898) and Rolf Cederström (1899-1919). Adelina Patti built her theatre in Wales while married to French tenor Nicolini (1834-1898). When Nicolini passed away in 1898, Patti was 56 yrs. old and heartbroken. Her final marriage was to Baron Cederström (http://history.powys.org.uk/history/ystrad/craig7.html , a Swedish nobleman 26 years her junior. Records suggest that her life dramatically changed at this time, with her third husband becoming restricting both personal, professional, and financial endeavors.

Understandably, Patti wanted to continue being seen, heard, and respected. Just five years before her passing, Patti planted an oak tree on her estate in 1914. It commemorated her last performance at Royal Albert Hall to aid victims of World War I. Unlike a statue, the tree was a tangible representation of this event; one that would continue to positively impact the earth after her passing.

In my opinion, the Adelina Patti theatre is the epitome of what women can accomplish when they are free from societal and financial binds.  The space is inspirational, especially when considering it was built by a woman during an era when the majority of them had little control over their finances, let alone their bodies or future.

Here are some photographs from our visit to Adelina Patti Theatre at Craig Y Nos Castle.

For more detailed information about the history of Patti and her castle visit the Powys Digital History Project.

Adelina Patti passed away on September 27, 1919. Newspapers around the world mourned the loss, with many again sharing the story of this remarkable woman.

Tomorrow I will explore the lives of scenic artists credited with Adelina Patti Theatre scenery and stage machinery. For more photos and information about our visit to the theatre, visit Mike Hume’s Historic Theatre Photography.

To be continued…