So closely identified is Italy with all that pertains to opera, that the
question of the future of Italian opera in America is one that interests
me immensely. It has been my privilege to devote a number of the best
years of my life to singing in Italian opera in this wonderful country,
and one cannot help noticing, first of all, the almost indescribable
advance that America has made along all lines. It is so marvelous that
those who reside continually in this country do not stop to consider it.
Musicians of Europe who have never visited America can form no
conception of it, and when they once have had an opportunity to observe
musical conditions in America, the great opera houses, the music
schools, the theatres and the bustling, hustling activity, together with
the extraordinary casts of world-famous operatic stars presented in our
leading cities, they are amazed in the extreme.
It is very gratifying for me to realize that the operatic compositions
of my countrymen must play a very important part in the operatic future
of America. It has always seemed to me that there is far more variety in
the works of the modern Italian composers than in those of other
nations. Almost all of the later German operas bear the unmistakable
stamp of Wagner. Those which do not, show decided Italian influences.
The operas of Mozart are largely founded on Italian models, although
they show a marvelous genius peculiar to the great master who created
them.