A KINDLY WORD TO THE GIRL WHO SINGS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 78, 2 April 1914, Page 8

A KINDLY WORD TO THE GIRL WHO SINGS

AND TO HER FRIENDS. INTERVIEW WITH MDLLE. , DOLORES. Mdlle. Dolores has again arrived in Wellington. She has come from the South, and will be shortly singing in this city. Anyone who knows anything of her kindly nature will concede that she owes much to the bite and blow of circumstance. She is eminently fitted to speak a kindly word to the girl who sings— and thinks she sings surprisingly well— and also to that same girl's friends. When asked by The Post to-day to give such counsel to the girl who sings, and not overlooking her friends, Mdlle. Dolores made it clear that before a girl sets out upon her career as a singer or pianist, or violinist, she must be quite sure, and her friends must be quite | sure, that she has both brain and soul. "Every girl knows that! Ah, yes; and takes it for granted that she has them. Dazzled by the successes of girls she has known or heord of ; girls of her own State, or colony or country, she asks herself 'And why not I? 1 But can she always _ satisfy herself that she has these indispensable possessions? When slie sings, does she first know, feel, enter into, understand what she's singing about? If she is in doubt about it, 'ct her then hear all the best she can, and have— well, a nice little cry in church. She must first feel all she sings. If not, she can never hope to move those who hear her when_ she sings. She must become enveloped in the atmosphere of her songs, be honest with herself, and with her art. Only so can she reach the hearts and touch the emotions of others. Do not all girls know this? Ask yourself ; recall some of your own experiences of singers, and not only girls, but men. wooden,' inanimate men, who sing. Technique, too, is important, ye 3; but it should be regarded as a servant, not as a master, or rather,' a tyrant. Girls who sing, you may say, know all these things. But do they? Of course you must have technique, but you must have something more. MUST WORK. "And thon the girl who sings and hopes to r sing. Well, she must work. Yes, yes, must work. _ What would you have? I know of girls in the South who have one lesson of half <an hour a week. Of What use can that be? It really means a lesson of a quarter of an hour a week, and what can a girl hope to do with that in five years? No, no; better will it be for to go right on and take more lessons, spend more time and work, work, work. I cannot emphasise that too much. Shall I tell you how I worked : yes, and how difficult it was, too. for me to get the money ,to pay f6r my lessons? The girl who sings must have le*ssons every day. With her half an hour a week she may arrive; but when? % As she is going to spend time and money on her art why not do it that she will arrive in two years instead of five or even more. I worked, yes ; eighteen months' solid work > and one hour's teaching a daj\ My teacher \*said I was a, good pupil. .Believe mo the professors • know their young people so well that in a few months they can tell with unerring accuracy whether they will become a success or a failure. " Well, I worked hard and my teacher helped me.' I could not pay him all I owed— not when I left him j but I did pay all when I had earned it. But supposing 1 had had but half an /hour's lesson a day ! And very many New Zealand girls, as I have told you, think that is quite sufficient. TlfE FRIENDS OF THE GIRL. ' "And the friends of the girl who sings? Ah, there lies the danger. They seldom realise the seriousness of tho things they speak about so nicely. *o easily j they so rarely realise the con&equences ot what they say. Alas, many poor girls who are coaxed and flattered by them do, to their sorrow and life long di&ap--pointment. If the gh'l was their own daughter Would they speak of her so flatteringly or would they be more candid? i do not know. But, of course, one must do nothing that may discourage or dishearten a possible genius. Alas, ala*. for the los»t battalion* of girl singers, misguided, misled, deceived— by their- friends. There is no sorrier eoul than the poor musician. Do the young. girls realise this; are the possibilities made quite clear to them at the outset? .So many poor musicians become -embittered, and they have only bitterness to give. ".No, no. Let the tTuth be, told to the girl who sings —kindly told. Do not flatter, and do not dishearten her. Deal gently with her, a,nd in many cases perhaps she will be spared yean* of suffering, using her other gifts in wnya that will be more to her advantage. And the girl who can sing on the contrary will be' really helped silong hei 1 ' Way by all the sincere and honest help and criticism given to her by those who really are her friends because they are not afraid to tell her the truth."