At sixteen, she made her _début_ at Venice, in an opera by Nasolini; and she afterwards sang at Florence, at La Scala in Milan, at Trieste, Rome, and Naples. Her fame got her an engagement at Lisbon, where she married M. Valabrègue, a French officer attached to the Portuguese Embassy; but she still kept to her name of Catalani—at all events, on the stage. From Lisbon she went to Madrid, thence to Paris, where she only sang at concerts; and, finally, in October, 1806, she came to London, where she speedily became the rage. According to one biographer (Fétis), she gained immense sums here; but I much doubt his accuracy. He says: “In a single theatrical season which did not last more than four months, she gained about 180,000 francs (£7,200), which included her benefit. Besides that, she gained, in the same time, about 60,000 francs (£2,400) by _soirées_ and private concerts. They gave her as much as 200 guineas for singing at Drury Lane, or Covent Garden—‘God save the King,’ and ‘Rule, Britannia,’ and £2,000 sterling were paid her for a single musical fête.” [Illustration: CATALANI.] This, according to the scale paid her at Covent Garden, said by her opponents to be £75 per night, must be excessive; but the mob had neither sense, nor reason, in the matter; she was a foreigner, and native talent was neglected. Her name suggested a subject to the caricaturist, of which he speedily availed himself. These were the principal indictments against Kemble (for he, as manager, had to bear the brunt of the riot) and the proprietors replied to them categorically—_vide_ _Morning Post_, September 18, 1809: “It is stated that the old For £25,000, read £1,000. materials of the Theatre The bricks were of so little were estimated at £25,000 value, that not one old brick was used in the building, and the greater part now lie buried near Hart Street. It is stated that instead For 22 read 12 additional of twelve private boxes, private boxes. In fact, the they have now thirty-four, Proprietors contend that being an addition of twenty-two they have no private boxes, private boxes. as all of them are let annually to the Public. They are taken by the higher classes of society, and, by that means, the first and second circles of boxes are left free for the public at large. What the Proprietors gain by them annually, they lose nightly.