me CONTRIBUTING EDITORS' PAGE
2r IMtiOIiatl x SEMI-MONTHLY
Sun&rcM&gaKine iMMAGAZI N E
IUSIC is more popular
today than ever. There
is scarcely a family of
moderate means that
hasn't some kind of musical
instrument. In most families
the children are taught music,
but where such is not the case
they have mechanical pianos
and phonographs. It would be interesting
to know the number of music teachers in
the country. I don't believe there's any
official list of them obtainable.
It is as natural for the village girl to turn
her eyes towards the Metropolitan Opera stage as a Mecca as it is for
the farm boy to have presidential aspirations. But the way to the goal
is long and devious. While church and concert singing are all right
and while the success of the
recent enterprise of giving Grand
Opera in English has apparently
broadened the field of endeavor,
a radical change has occurred
within the last ten years that at
once restricts and broadens this
field. Let me explain.
The whole art is changing and
so are the conditions surround
ing it. As far back as we can re
member great singers seem to
have come in periods a group
at a time. When Maurice Grau
came to the Metropolitan, there
was a period of great singers.
These seem to hav$ disappeared,
retired, or died out. At any rate,
that periodical group has gone.
Then there came the De Reszke
period. These great singers
seemed to bring to the surface
another galaxy of brilliant stars
who also passed away. Time
passed and now we have Caruso,
Fremstadt, and a number of
others. All the Rigolettos, the
Romeos and Juliets, and all that
sort of thing have gone. In
their stead has come Wagner and
the new school, which does not
so much require voices.
THE PRIMA DONNA
ON THE JOB .
By Mary Garden
THHE singer must have a voice,
of course, but it is not the one
essential, as of old. She must
know how to act. Madame
Melba, for instance, could not
sing Charpentier's "Louise" be
cause she has not the dramatic
skill which it requires. She has
the old Italian Bel Canto voice,
her work is in great arias. But I
would not go and sit through an
evening just to hear those arias
alone.
The new school has made the
opera more difficult. Less abso
lutely perfect technique in the
voice is required. Still, the more
operas that are written the
greater is the difficulty, since
these are composed with a view
to dramatic as well as vocal abil
ity in the artist who is to exploit
them.
The aspirant today must be an
actress as well as a singer. Audi-
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ences demand expression by face,
gesture, movement, as well as by
voice. The girl who has a voice must
also have dramatic ability. In that
way the field is restricted. On the other
hand, she may have a good voice which if it
be supplemented by great talent as an
actress may justify her aspirations to pre
eminence in the operatic world.
Up to the new epoch a transcendent qual
ity of voice was absolutely essential. That
was a very rare gift and made the field very
small since such voices only came to the
world at rare intervals. No matter how
great the opera as a drama, the singer simply sang, made bows,
courtesied, threw kisses, and got away with it. True, many opera
singers were great actresses, which added much to their attractiveness,
but acting then was nowhere
near so essential as it is now.
And I think the change in a
way is good. It used to be just
ideal to go and hear people sing
without any emotion, simply to
have the ear charmed. Now you
go and see people crying in the
house emotion !
Managers, seeing the tendency
on the part of the public to de
mand more than the voice, ex
plored the fields of drama for
such plays as would most effect
ively lend themselves to operatic
exploitation.
QF COURSE, during the time
when the voice was para
mount to everything else, and as
there were very few such voices,
the field was greatly restricted
and salaries soared into the very
heavens. But now that acting as
well as singing is required the
field is broadened again, since
there are many more persons
who have extraordinary ability
as both actors and singers than
there are who have transcendent
voices.
I warn any girl against being
discouraged by what I have said
of the difficulties besetting the
road to success. If she has any
voice at all, by all means let her
have it tested by an expert. She
may have a rare gem hidden in
her throat a salary of a thous
and to fifteen hundred dollars a
performance and the oppdrtunity
to sing two or three times a week.
Beyond this, there is an untold
glory in being able to thrill and
uplift an audience, for great
music is always inspiring. The
position of the prima donna is
that of a queen it means the
highest quality of fame, social
position, money every tiling
that the ambitious woman
craves. Isn't it worth risking a
heartbreak for?
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