"Of course there is always anxiety for the artist with every public
appearance. There is so much responsibility--one must always be at
one's best; and the responsibility increases as one advances, and begins
to realize more and more keenly how much is expected and what depends on
one's efforts. I can assure you we all feel this, from the least to the
greatest. The most famous singers perhaps suffer most keenly.
"I have always sung in Italian opera, in which the language is easy for
me. Latterly I have added French operas to my list. _Samson and
Delilah_, which I had always done in Italian, I had to relearn in
French; this for me was very difficult. I worked a long time on it, but
mastered it at last.
"This is my twenty-second season in opera. I have a repertoire of about
one hundred and twenty rôles, in most of which I have sung many times in
Italy. Some I wish might be brought out at the Metropolitan. Verdi's
_Don Carlos_, for instance, has a beautiful baritone part; it is really
one of the fine operas, though it might be considered a bit
old-fashioned to-day. Still I think it would be a success here. I am
preparing several new parts for this season; one of them is the
Tschaikowsky work--_Eugene Onegin_. So you see I am constantly at work.
"My favorite operas? I think they are these"; and Mr. De Luca hastily
jotted down the following: _Don Carlos, Don Giovanni, Hamlet, Rigoletto,
Barbier, Damnation of Faust_, and last, but not least, _Tannhauser_.