FEMALE VOICES AND MILE TEACHERS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 128, 28 May 1909, Page 2

FEMALE VOICES AND MILE TEACHERS.

MADAME MELBA'S CHARGE OF INCOMPETENCE. (Post Correspondent.) LONDON April 16. With regard to Madame Melba's recent declaration that many promising female voices had been ruined by male teachers, and her charge of incompetence against male instructors, a London newspaper has been interviewing some of the accused teachers. IDr W.. G. M'Naught, who is well | known in London musical circles, said: "It is, of course, with much diffidence that I place my opinion in apposition to that of Madame Melba upon this subject, but the experience of many years compels me to do so. If- she -had warned her friends against incompetent teachers of singing, without regard to sex, I should be in hearty agreement with her, for it is quite certain that no profession is more overrun by incompetent pretenders than ours. The historical facts, however, are dead against Madame Melba's warning when directed against male teachers, as such. "Most of the greatest singers the world has seen have been trained by men, and the women themselves show a marked preference for the instruction of the opposite sex so far as singing is concerned. Proof of .this latter assertion is to be found at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, where there are very few lady teachers, because so many of the lady pupils prefer to be taught by men." IN PRAISE OF MARCHESI. Dr M'Naught was in hearty agreement with Madame Melba in her generous praise of Marchesi as a teacher. "If all lady teachers," he said, "were half as excellent as Marchesi the situation would be very different. But, as a matter of fact, wo-' men teachers worthy of the name are very hard to find. They have not devoted their minds so much to the art of voice-production and singing instruction as the men have. ' That is the whole truth of the matter. And it is the more to be regretted because women teachers have a great advantage in training pupils of their own sex by being able to give them the exact pattern. I am particularly well placed for knowing where competent female teachers of singing are to be found, and the restricted number with whom I am acquainted are always strongly recommended by me for the instruction of lady pupils." WHY MANY VOICES ARE RUINED. That hundreds of good voices are ■ruined every day by bad training Dr MNaught frankly admitted. "But this is not to be laid to the door of male instructors x>n account of their sex," he said. _ "It is due to the fact that the men in this profession outnumber the women by quite fifty to one. Some of the greatest teachers undoubtedly make mistakes. That is because nearly every one of them has his own particular theories for obtaining the best results, and many of them aim at achieving the marvellous, instead of confining their efforts within safe and sound limitations. We are only just beginning to make a science of voice production. I thought I knew a great deal more about it as a young man than I do now when getting on in years." A STRONG INDICTMENT OF THE PROFESSION. Here Mr Thomas Beecham, the conductor, who had so far been a listener

only, ventured the remark: "You may be surprised to hear it, but it is my firm opinion that • nineteen out of every twenty teachers of singing, whatever their sex, are charlatans! and I fpeak with knowledge, too." "I would not go so far as that," replied Dr M'Naught, with a smile, "but I would say four out of every five do not know their business. I am afraid it is a case with most of them of plenty of brass on the door and plenty of 'brass' in the method!" And Mr Beecham closed the interview by observing, "The art of singing is the easiest thing in the world to teach—badly."