A Barren Baron!

"No doubt you associate Chicago with gangsters. For me, however. The name brings back happy memories. As a member of the Wagnerian Opera Company I was to appear on this particular evening as Baron Ochs in R. Strauss "Der Rosenkavalier," described by critics as a comedy with music. During the first presentation I fooled a critical audience with unrehearsed burlesque. Baron Ochs, a rude boor of a nobleman, has sent one Octavian carrying the conventional offering of a silver rose to the young daughter of a vulgar plebeian, Octavian, however, falls in love with her and fights a duel with Baron Ochs, who, although slightly wounded dances about frantically, presenting a ridiculous figure—truly a buffoon.

"I realised that there was no response to my antics, no shrieks of delight from a silent audience. The thought of failure flashed through my troubled mind. When suddenly a tremendous burst of cheering and shouting filled the great hall, The seams in the gaudy trousers of my magnificent costume had parted under the strain! There was I, a truly ludicrous buffoon—Baron Ochs! A scene irresistible to the audience's sense of humour, They screamed with delight. Laughed and laughed until they ached. I managed to complete the scene, dancing impressive waltzes with a pillow while the house was in an uproar. Yes. The opera season was an undreamed-of success."