Mr. Bispham has a repertoire of nearly fifty roles, and can sing entire parts in German, Italian, French, and English. There are few artists who work as conscientiously for the general good of art, and there are few who have made so general a success in such a wide variety of roles, among the best of which are Wotan, Wolfram, and Beckmesser. He is also without a peer on the concert platform as an interpreter of Wagner. He was seen in opera in America in 1896, and his artistic efforts made a deep impression, for he is one of the few artists who combine with unusual vocal accomplishments great dramatic powers. CHAPTER IX. CONTRALTOS AND BASSOS. The contralto in an opera company has a somewhat thankless task. Her fate is to be either a boy, or else a nurse, duenna, or some character which implies age. She frequently is obliged to stand mute while the prima donna warbles and trills and receives the applause of the house, and yet the musical demands upon the contralto are equal to those made upon the soprano. A contralto who was deservedly popular for many years during the middle of this century was Adelaide Phillips. She was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1833, and in 1840 went with her family to Canada, afterwards settling in Boston, where, in 1843, she appeared as an infant prodigy at the Boston Museum. In 1850, her voice having attracted attention, she was introduced to Jenny Lind, who advised her to study music. A subscription soon raised the necessary funds, and she was sent to Manuel Garcia in London, after which another fund was raised to enable her to go to Italy, where she made her debut in 1854 at Milan. She sang with success in many cities of both hemispheres, and her repertoire consisted of all the contralto parts in the operas that held their places on the Italian stage during the twenty-five years that she was known as an opera singer. In 1879, when the Boston Ideal Opera Company was formed, Adelaide Phillips was the chief contralto. She made her last appearance, in Cincinnati, in December, 1881. In 1882 the state of her health was such that she was obliged to go to Carlsbad, and she died there on October 3d of the same year. In private life Miss Phillips was highly esteemed, for she was not only an artist of sterling abilities, but a woman of grand character and a most devoted friend. She was buried at Marshfield, Mass., where the family had lived for some years on an estate which her success had enabled her to buy. Her life was one of hard and unceasing labor, but she had the satisfaction of being able to care for the necessities of her family, who were thrown upon her in early life.