I have known many singers to fail dismally because they were simply
singers. The idea that all the singer needs to know is how to produce
tones resonantly and sweetly, how to run scales, make gestures and smile
prettily is a perfectly ridiculous one. Success, particularly operatic
success, depends upon a knowledge of a great many things. The general
education of the singer should be as well rounded as possible. Nothing
the singer ever learns in the public schools, or the high schools, is
ever lost. History and languages are most important. I studied Italian
and French in my childhood and this knowledge was of immense help to me
in my later work. When I first went to Paris I had to acquire a
colloquial knowledge of the language, but in all cases I found that the
drill in French verbs I had gone through virtually saved me years of
work. The French pronunciation is extremely difficult to acquire and
some are obliged to reside in France for years before a fluent
pronunciation can be counted on.
I cannot speak too emphatically upon the necessity for a thorough
musical education. A smattering is only an aggravation. Fortunately, my
parents saw to it that I was taught the piano, the organ, the violin and
thoroughbass. At first it was thought that I would become a professional
pianist; and many were good enough to declare that I was the finest
amateur pianist in Melbourne. My Scotch-Presbyterian parents would have
been horrified if they had had any idea that they were helping me to a
career that was in any way related to the footlights. Fortunately, my
splendid father, who is now eighty-five years old, has long since
recovered from his prejudices and is the proudest of all over my
achievements. But I can not be too grateful to him for his great
interest in seeing that my early musical training was comprehensive.
Aside from giving me a more musicianly insight into my work, it has
proved an immense convenience. I can play any score through. I learn all
my operas myself. This enables me to form my own conception, that is, to
create it, instead of being unconsciously influenced by the tempos and
expression of some other individual. The times that I have depended upon
a _repititeur_ have been so few that I can hardly remember them. So
there, little girl, when you get on your mother's long train and sing
to an imaginary audience of thousands, you will do better to run to the
keyboard and practice scales or study your etudes.