BOOK NOTICE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XX, Issue 22, 18 March 1892, Page 15

BOOK NOTICE.

" Voice Culture and Practical Suggestions to " igers," by C. N. Baeyirtz, teacher of ginning. Dune din, Ston», Ron an 1 Co. This is a handy little manual, which, we should say, would prove very useful to the fortunate class for whom it is intended, and from which others less fortunate may also take a hint or two. T) the ctitic, for example, who is obliged to forsake his routine work on the racecourse, or in the pugilistic ring, to take an accidental turn in the concert hall or the opera house, it should prove a perfect God-send. But how is the ordinary newspaper reviewer qualified to point out either the perfections or the faults in a technical work of this kind f We should say it must involve some considerable progress in the art of the musician fnlly to appreciate its excellence. And. by the way, is not the anatomist to some extent also concerned in the work ? The chapter at least that deals with the mechanism of the voice is very suggestive of the fact that we are awfully and wonderfully made. It should form a useful exerc.se for the memory alone to remember all the bard words contained in its paragraphs. As to the idea of having all that in your throat, why, freedom from it is almost enough to console th'sa of us whom nature has not end >wed with vocal charms. The author, however, writes ac one who has entered con amove into his task, neglecting nothing in connection with it, and the merest tyro can see that he is a devotee of the art he undertakes to teach. The parts of the book that we are more qaal.fi d to understand are so undeniably excellent that we are prepared, in a great degree, to take the rest of it on trust. It is not for us to say, for example, who the master is whose exercises are to be preferred, or to distinguish between the various means of improving or producing the voice, but the instructions given, for instance, for acquiring a proper mode of breathiug while singing, or fur clear and intelligent phrasing, nusi commend themselves to everyone of ordii ary understanding. lh' writer dens sharply, but we should say wholesomely, with the t-Kger who moa'hs his words. Indeed the sincerity an i plainness with which he speaks are in many instances remarkable. A particularly intere-tin^ chapter, ie strikes us, is that on Gerann son^s. The wiitrfr sennas especially well versed in the merits of Germaa composers, aud he has much to tell us on the subject that is worth hearing. His hints as to the choice of English songs are also worthy of attention. We have spoken of the faults of the book, but we really do not see anything in it by which we can make good our word. An inexact distinction made in one instance between certain singers is rni-st probably a mere thp of the pi n, if not ,i typographical error. Grisi and Mario, for example, were ceitainly contpm^or-ries, and, although tbe tenor kept the boards after the great soprauo had retired, it «vas then a vexation of spirit to listen to nim. The exquisite grace in a great degrte survived, bat the vo.ee was gone. H,-w great was the loss none who had not heard the si 1 ger in his prime could po°Bibly imagine. Sims Rneves too ini^ht almost be counted a contemporory of Mario and Grisi— more justly so tt.an of Patti, or, still mori-, of Madame toelba. Fur our own part, we heard Sims Beevts sing in 1854 and t 1 en be was not a young fiDgur. Patti did not appear befwu. 60 or '61, and Vlel' a is Btill of ytßitrday. But this is toc^vil at a ou-re acciJent. On Uit- whole the book is a useful one, well aud pkasiiuly written, and admiiably calculated to serve the purpose for which it is intendtd. It is carefully and neatly printed, and turned out altogether in a manner creditable to the publishing firm.