Whether or not it was necessary to collect $300,000 from the public in order to have opera in New York next season, the Metropolitan's drive for funds had two happy results:
First, it brought forth a heroine. Lucrezia Bori, whom New Yorkers had viewed in a matter-of-fact way as a dainty, satisfactory operatic soprano, became suddenly a capable, hard-working money-raiser, speaking in her charming, broken English at opera performances, club luncheons, society dinners, signing letters of thanks even to people who sent in as little as a dollar.
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