There has never been a time or a country presenting more inviting
opportunities to the concert and the oratorio singer than the America of
to-day. As a corollary to this statement there is the obvious fact that
the American public, taken as a whole, is now the most discriminating
public to be found anywhere in the world. Every concert is adequately
reviewed by able writers; and singers are continually on their mettle.
It therefore follows that while there are opportunities for concert and
oratorio singers, there is no room for the inefficient, the talentless,
brainless aspirants who imagine that a great vocal career awaits them
simply because they have a few good tones and a pleasing stage presence.
This is the age of the brain. In singing, the voice is only a detail. It
is the mentality, the artistic feeling, the skill in interpretation that
counts. Some of the greatest artists are vocally inferior to singers of
lesser reputation. Why? Because they read, because they study, because
they broaden their intellects and extend their culture until their
appreciation of the beautiful is so comprehensive that every degree of
human emotion may be effectively portrayed. In a word they become
artists. Take the case of Victor Maurel, for instance. If he were ninety
years old and had only the shred of a voice but still retained his
artistic grasp, I would rather hear him than any living singer. I have
learned more from hearing him sing than from any other singer. Verdi
chose him to sing in _Otello_ against the advice of several friends,
saying: "He has more brain than any five singers I know."
Some people imagine that when an artist is embarked upon his
professional work study ceases. It is a great mistake. No one works
harder than I do to broaden my culture and interpretative skill. I am
constantly studying and trust that I may never cease. The greater the
artist the more incessant the study. It is one of the secrets of large
success.