HOW TO SING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 86, 4 January 1908, Page 11

HOW TO SING.

. Mme. Tctrazzinv who" made' heT English debut in "La Traviatn" at CoVerit Garden on November 2, came to London an'' unknown singer,, but was at once hailed as " the new F.atti;" Sho contributes some interesting hints.'.and reminiscenccs "to the "Daily .Mail-',

' s'rYou ask me," sho. writes, "how to learn tinging? Well, well, I should have to write you'-W 'Big book,'.not- a shbrt articlo liko this —then, perhaps, you would bo none the wiser.-. • For no one can loam to, sing ns people learn to play games—'dinbolo,' for instance. ■. In the very first place it is a gift, for. if you wish to bo a singer you must first have a voice. Everybody is not .born- with a voice; ajirl some people who are have'not the Second vital qualification of a singer. I alludo to what I can only describe as 'heart:' . • The' Complete Singo?. '"'A voice, and the heart, to go. with it— ah'!, there you, have tho complete-singer. But. how often does this occur? ' • I',have heard so many vocalists with wonderful, pure, perfectly trained voices who ', sing the . notes flnwlbssly—and. that is. all. Thoro is no warmth, no passion in'their singingj.it leaves one quite unmoved afterwards. : And this is solely because they have . not been born with'a r 'heart.' The voice can be* trained ; the, heart never. It is there or it is not there."' Voila tout! > .

'"People have been kind enough to. say that I was. born with both. It is not for me to toll,'but from my - earliest days I haye been steeped in, music. You see, my elder sister was ia pfcima'donna,. and it was through hearing .her. sirig so often that I acquired tne ambition to .-be one ; too. , And then in Italy —the land of sun—everybody sings. . You hear,''them nn the streets, :the cafes, the thqatriV—everywhere you go. 'In I'loronce, whero' I : was born, no-ono is so .poor, or so sad -that they'caiinot lift their voices in a lightfheaHed canzonctta. I'"think tho Italian people must have music in their blood','as you say; they are.so fond of-it; and,,it'.'forms'; so intimate a - part of their lives. , ..■ -• .'

-" My; parents' wore very much against my becoming an opera . singer at first ; they, thought that one prima'donna in the family was .as' much .as they-might reasonably expect'.' ' But, you see,. I simply- could"not help-myself—l felt as though I had to sing or. diol- So at .last'.they-let mo go to.a teacher,' and I sang him'- 1 the chief soprano scenes from Boito's 'Mefistofelo' and 'Semiramide,' and tho 'Ave Mario,' -.from -Verdi's' 'Qtello.' Ho seemed to be astonished, and t-okl'me that I had a natural 'trill;' and also that I had nothing to learn in tho .matter of 'respiration.', " I 'studied, operatic, parts with, him' for six months, and that! is-all the training I havo ever-had. "How,l,,Hear patti and : Melba." "Perhaps : I -ought to • mention thjit I have' never heard Patti;or'Melba' until quite lately l -rand then it.has been only on ' tho gramophone; •_ r have ~a\ big.;one of., these mstru--ment's .in my-sitting-room here, 'and it- is very;, interesting,-to-.bear tho: groat singers who .have sung, into- it. Of. course, it'is nbt tho same'as hearing- the real people . !themselves; -but it is very' ...good,- none:.the' less. .v. Curiously, enough, "I .was singing not■ long:.:sg'J at-the-Tivoli in San. Francisco at th 6 rartio time as Mme. Melba, was singing, at thp .'Alhambra. in. the same town. liyanted to'.hb'ar the Australian, diva. very much indeed,.'but you see it.-was quite impossible,, as we. were: both .performing, at.'tho same time/ .'"Biit you ask me how to. becomea'singer.lam .afraid that- I cannot toll you. When' I; go ,on .the stago'td play .Violetta or Lucia. T.simpl.v. forget all 'about- the audience, and. '— h.ok .do you say?—'loso',' myself,-. in the 'part and the music. •Do you - know that the. other night,, after I had sung in-the scene between Violetta- and tho father of Giorgio Germont'in..'La Traviata.' there were real tears on my cheeks! But how to .sing! That is a question I have never -really thoughtabout.

/.'I; do not think any artist, who is a true artist—a singer, not a. mere .vccalist—could describe'the way to'do'it.,; But this I- can toll , you, that nothing is done without real :'haidj ...work—much practice, .and. genuine, not.simulated,', enthusiasm: ' You -see, I como ;ba.ck to/my old truism: to be a singer you ■ must -first have a voice, and then a ,'hoart.' :If you have both these, you! will then -know how to bo, one yourself without asking anyone. If you havo neither, I. adviso you to try. something else. ■ No one can teach you how to be a great singer.

TO MAN'S ADDRESS

In her "Woman's Notebook," Mrs. Neish has.'.tho,.following' "ancient littto t-alo about the' last ' and noblest. work of Providence,that "astute and far-seeing, self-centred creature callcd MAN." ! . ■

Once upon a time'a puppy dog was born in 'a: stable. In clue course ho became a ful.l-grbwn. terrier, 'and: he set forth one day toimpart the wisdom and experience ho had gathered'through life to a fellow-terrier. Ho spoke.'to his -tho following 'words ;of ".mean-, and explanation: '.''lt was a ■curious' thing," said he, "how I cnirio to be born. It was many and many a year'ago when I found myself alive and nlono in ;tho:---.dark. ' I was barely ■ conscious that there was.'something iii me that desired- to express itself in some strange.way,.but after a few days'l gradually obened my eyes, and ;then Irfound.that Providence,' busy on my behalf, ''had built for my use a kind of box in'which; He had niado me a soft, straw bod. In. tfiis bod I lay while Ho created for me my mother, whose business it was to supply m'o with'.food. -My' Creator then made for mo a radii',; a'.person who came to mo constantly, saw to my wants, and cleaned my bed. Then one day'.l slippe dout of this box and found that. Providence, busy again oil my behalf, one; clay I slipped out of this box,-.and, as 1 grew, and grew, Ho made new and newer things'according to ray .needs, and. ho made .the. sky and . the earth and many beings and nil. that goes to make this thing you now call a .world—and all this was made for me and mo alone, and I am very thankful. .'. . ."

Such is often tho man's unconscious view of himself—a'view that lis .sometimes' considerably altered, if not entirely dispelled, by Matrimony." ■