Few singers seem to realize that an operatic career will be determined
in its success very largely through physical strength, all other factors
being present in the desired degree. That is, the singer must be strong
physically in order to succeed in opera. This applies to women as well
as to men. No one knows what the physical strain is, how hard the work
and study are. In front of you is a sea of highly intelligent, cultured
people, who for years have been trained in the best traditions of the
opera. They pay the highest prices paid anywhere for entertainment. They
are entitled to the best. To face such an audience and maintain the high
traditions of the house through three hours of a complicated modern
score is a musical, dramatic and intellectual feat that demands, first
of all, a superb physical condition. Every day of my life in New York I
go for a walk, mostly around the reservoir in Central Park, because it
is high and the air is pure and free. As a result I seldom have a cold,
even in mid-winter. I have not missed a performance in eight years, and
this, of course, is due to the fact that my health is my first daily
consideration.
[Illustration: PASQUALE AMATO.
(C) Mishkin.]