I honestly believe that the young vocal student can do far better by
studying in America than by studying abroad. European residence and
travel are very desirable, but the study may be done to better advantage
right here in our own country. Americans want the best and they get it.
In Europe they have no conception whatever of the extent of musical
culture in America. It is a continual source of amazement to me. In the
West and Northwest I find audiences just as intelligent and as
appreciative as in Boston. There is the greatest imaginable catholicity
of taste. Just at present the tendency is away from the old German
classics and is leading to the modern works of French, German and
American composers. Still I find that I can sing a song like Schumann's
"Widmung" in Western cities that only a few years ago were mere
collections of frontier huts and shacks, and discover that the genius of
Schumann is just as potent there as in New York City. I have recently
been all over Europe, and I have seen no such condition anywhere as that
I have just described. It is especially gratifying to note in America a
tremendous demand for the best vocal works of the American composers.
The young concert singer must have a very comprehensive repertoire.
Every new work properly mastered is an asset. In oratorio she should
first of all learn those works that are most in demand, like the
_Messiah_, the _Elijah_, the _Creation_ and the _Redemption_. Then
attention may be given to the modern works and works more rarely
performed, like those of Elgar, Perosi and others. After the young
singer has proven her worth with the public she may expect an income of
from $10,000.00 to $15,000.00 a year. That is what our first-class
singers have received for high-class concert work. Some European prima
donnas like Schumann-Heink and others have commanded much higher
figures.
You ask me what influence the sound reproducing machines have had upon
the demand for good vocal music in America. They have unquestionably
increased the demand very greatly. They have even been known to make
reputations for singers entirely without any other road to publicity.
Take the case of Madame Michaelowa, a Russian prima donna who has never
visited America. Thousands of records of her voice have been sold in
America, and now the demand for her appearance in this country has been
so great that she has been offered huge sums for an American tour. I
believe that if used intelligently the sound reproducing machine may
become a great help to the teacher and student. It is used in many of
the great opera houses of the world as an aid in determining the
engagement of new singers who cannot be personally heard. Some of the
records of my own voice have been so excellent that they seem positively
uncanny to me when I hear them reproduced.
I have no patent exercises to offer to singing students. There are a
thousand ways of learning to breathe properly and they all lead to one
end. Breathing may best be studied when it is made coincident with the
requirements of singing. I have no fantastic technical studies to offer.
My daily work simply consists of scales, arpeggios and the simplest kind
of exercises, the simpler the better. I always make it a point to
commence practicing very softly, slowly and surely. I never sing notes
outside my most comfortable range at the start. Taking notes too high or
too low is an extremely bad plan at first. Many young students make this
fault. They also sing much too loud. The voice should be exercised for
some considerable time on soft exercises before loud notes are even
attempted. It is precisely the same as with physical exercises. The
athlete who exerts himself to his fullest extent at first is working
toward ultimate exhaustion. I have known students who sang "at the top
of their lungs" and called it practice. The next day they grew hoarse
and wondered why the hoarseness came.