Her actual voice study should not commence before she is seventeen or
eighteen years of age. In the hands of a very skilled and experienced
teacher it might commence a little earlier; but it is better to wait
until her health becomes more settled and her mature strength develops.
At first the greatest care must be taken. The teacher has at best a
delicate flower which a little neglect or a little over training may
deform or even kill. I can not discuss methods, as that is not pertinent
to this conference. There is no one absolutely right way; and many
famous singers have traveled what seem quite different roads to reach
the same end. However, it is a historic fact that few great singers have
ever acquired voices which have had beautiful quality, perfect
flexibility and reliability, who have not sung for some years in the old
Italian style. Mind you, I am not referring to an old Italian school of
singing here, but more to that class of music adopted by the old Italian
composers--a style which permitted few vocal blemishes to go by
unnoticed. Most of the great Wagnerian singers have been proficient in
coloratura roles before they undertook the more complicated parts of the
great master at Beyreuth.
It is better to leave the study of repertoire until later years; that
is, until the study of voice has been pursued for a sufficient time to
insure regular progress in the study of repertoire. Personally, I am
opposed to those methods which take the student directly to the study of
repertoire without any previous vocal drill. The voice, to be valuable
to the singer, must be able to stand the wear and tear of many seasons.
It is often some years before the young singer is able to achieve real
success and the profits come with the later years. A voice that is not
carefully drilled and trained, so that the singer knows how to get the
most out of it, with the least strain and the least expenditure of
effort, will not stand the wear and tear of many years of opera life.
After all, the study of repertoire is the easiest thing. Getting the
voice properly trained is the difficult thing. In the study of
repertoire the singer often makes the mistake of leaping right into the
more difficult roles. She should start with the simpler roles; such as
those of some of the lesser parts in the old Italian operas. Then, she
may essay the leading roles of, let us say, _Traviata_, _Barber of
Seville_, _Norma_, _Faust_, _Romeo and Juliet_, and _Carmen_.
Instead of simple roles, she seems inclined to spend her time upon
_Isolde_, _Mimi_, _Elsa_ or _Butterfly_. It has become so, that now,
when a new singer comes to me and wants to sing _Tosca_ or some role
that (sic) the so-called new or _verissimo_ Italian school, I almost
invariably refuse to listen. I ask them to sing something from _Norma_
or _Puritani_ or _Dinorah_ or _Lucia_ in which it is impossible for them
to conceal their vocal faults. But no, they want to sing the big aria
from the second act of _Madama Butterfly_, which is hardly to be called
an aria at all but rather a collection of dramatic phrases. When they
are done, I ask them to sing some of the opening phrases from the same
role, and ere long they discover that they really have nothing which an
impresario can purchase. They are without the voice and without the
complete knowledge of the parts which they desire to sing.
Then they discover that the impresario knows that the tell-tale pieces
are the old arias from old Italian operas. They reveal the voice in its
entirety. If the breath control is not right, it becomes evident at
once. If the quality is not right, it becomes as plain as the features
of the young lady's face. There is no dramatic--emotional--curtain under
which to hide these shortcomings. Consequently, knowing what I do, I
would insist upon my daughter having a thorough training in the old
Italian arias.