HOW TO SING
LUISA TETRAZZINI
[Illustration:
© _Photo by E. F. Foley, N. Y._
Signature: _Luisa Tetrazzini_]
HOW TO SING
BY
LUISA TETRAZZINI
NEW [Illustration: colophon] YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1923,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
[Illustration: colophon]
HOW TO SING. II
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I DON’T WAIT TO BE “FOUND” 9
II YOUR AIM 12
III WHY SINGERS ARE SCARCE 15
IV PERIOD OF TRAINING 18
V QUALITIES NEEDED 21
VI GENERAL CULTURE 24
VII STUDY AN INSTRUMENT 27
VIII VOICE 30
IX GOOD AND BAD “MAESTRI” 33
X COMPASS AND QUALITY 39
XI AGE TO START TRAINING 42
XII ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY 43
XIII BREATHING 47
XIV VOCAL CORDS 51
XV PLACING THE VOICE 59
XVI REGISTERS 64
XVII FAULTS 70
XVIII COLORATURA SINGING 73
XIX ENUNCIATION 80
XX LANGUAGE 85
XXI STYLE AND INTERPRETATION 93
XXII HOW I SING AN ARIA 97
XXIII PRACTISING 103
XXIV THE ARTIST AND THE GRAMOPHONE 111
XXV STUDYING A RÔLE 115
XXVI CHOICE OF DÉBUT WORK 120
XXVII REHEARSALS 124
XXVIII CONTRACTS 126
XXIX CONCERT WORK 129
XXX HEALTH, DIET, ETC. 133
HOW TO SING
CHAPTER I
DON’T WAIT TO BE “FOUND”
Every day of my life I receive letters from men and women, mostly women,
whom I do not know personally, asking me to advise them how best to use
their vocal talents. Some of my correspondents also request me to give
them an audition so that they can demonstrate their claim to be
embryonic stars.
It is manifestly impossible for me to spend all my time listening to
persons unknown to me, in the hope of finding new Carusos, new Pattis
and, shall I say it?--new Tetrazzinis. If I were to do so I should have
little time for my own practice. Nevertheless, whenever I am able, I do
give an audition to a young aspirant to musical fame, as I consider it
my duty to help, to the best of my ability, those who are to come after
me.
To those correspondents whom I have been unable to see personally let me
say that star singers are not necessarily discovered by stars. It is
quite true that from time to time it has been my fortunate experience to
discover a tenor or a baritone or a soprano. But they had already been
more or less discovered before I found them.
True at Covent Garden I found John McCormack singing a very minor rôle
and was instrumental in having him elevated to the position of principal
tenor. And other _prime donne_ have acted similarly.
Nevertheless these artists would doubtless have come to the front in
their own time without being “discovered” by a _prima donna_. Most big
artists of to-day were not found by any one: they found themselves. I,
for instance, was nobody’s find. When the _prima donna_ failed to appear
at the opening night of an opera in my native Florence I volunteered to
take the part, and in so doing discovered myself.
My readers will therefore understand that to be discovered by a great
singer is not essential to becoming a great artist, and that because I
am unable to give auditions to all who ask me I am not hindering them
from becoming successful.
But for the benefit of those numerous correspondents who have expressed
to me a desire that I should help all interested in training their
voices, especially in their attempts to climb the difficult ladder of
successful singing in public, I have consented to publish the following
hints, and I hope sincerely they will be useful to all who read them.
I do not claim that I have given an exhaustive treatise--no one ever has
done so--on the art of singing, but I am sure that any one possessing a
voice who cares to put into practice the suggestions I am now making,
will be benefited thereby.
From this handbook I have purposely excluded the story of my
professional life. That is already published under the title of “My Life
of Song” (Cassell and Co., London; Dorrance, Philadelphia, U. S. A.).
It will be observed that I use the word “he” all the way through when
meaning “he or she.” This is merely because I understand there is no
English word which expresses the both. It would have been more modern to
have used “she” in every case, but perhaps less modest. My lady readers
will, however, understand that I am writing at least as much, if not
more, for their benefit than for our lords and masters.