Evening star., 1896-09-26

successful test feF the right school. You
must ask the gira With wlom Sc rs st"oy-
Greatest gre test profess5 lind has turned out the
These professots, male and female, are
always thefr1seives retired stars Of the OPP
triumphs in the past: each has list of
pupils who Siave gained fame and fortune.
All have system S the result ,,s OF their .s eM
can ca get get their haads on. for the sake Of
Il cir pockets, the:T pride and their reputa-
ton. For the next thing to being star is
to be the artistic ffther or mother of stars.
New; the truth seems to be that the sc hool
trat continues to- draw the largest number
of pupils will. fl the end. turn out the
81 eatest number, Of stars, II only because
it has the ,grea test s. : amount of material to
We never hear OF the failures-only the
successes. Therefore, the larger the SC hool,
the greater Its eputation-and the higher
its prices. This may go on for a time, but
little by little the successful high-pricad
school draws TO itself more and more Of the
worthless class of rich and unambitiols
dabblers, girls who will never appear upon
created in the school: the poorer, hard
| working girls feel strange and slighted.
| and one day the world will wake up to the
fact that what was once training house
| for stars has now become coZy reputa-
| ticn-g.ving nest for rich and lazy anna teurs.
Tfis is the process through which all the
| schools go In their turn. Schools that were
Justly famous seven or eight years ago to-
day have nothing like their ancient stand
| ing. The rich girl, who never seems to
| want to study painting is the mcrobe of
| the singing schools of Paris
| A Music Students Life.
The daily routine Of the young songstress
has this advantage over that of the painter
in that 1t is full Of pleasurable and health
| giving activity. Instead Of bending over
an easel half the day. she is always in
movement and very much on her feet. Be
| sides this, the care OF her health is one of
| the prime requisites of her training. Her
| greatest preoccupation Is not to catch
| cold. her next greatest not to grow fat. On
| arising, she takes her bath, her coffee and
| rest She then practices her voice an
| hour and goes out shopping. From her
| shopping she goes to her class walking as
| much as possible, and from the class she
| trips back to the boarding house for lunch.
| with a fine appetite and complexion.
| Then she rests again and practices an
| other hour. Then she is free to run about.
| make calls. attend the matinees and culti-
vate an appetite for dinner. She will never
| sing more than three hours a day, and she
| has all her evenings for her social recrea-
ton. The technical methods of voice culti-
walton are interesting rather to the sub
| jects than their friends We who see them
| rather their improvement than the means
| by which they reach it. Their teachers
| nave toid them they must never sing out
side their class and practice, and they i'm
prove In following this prime rule accord
ing to tteir assiduity in its observance.
Nearly all. however. will sing for you the
louvre ties yeux bleux" Of Massenet
| Thus, working modestly and seriously
| every day. and very seldom singing by re-
| quest. the floating public of the American
| colony learns to speak Of the future star in
| an awed whisper. When she is pretty girl
| and she Is nearly always pretty-she gets
! invited everywhere. When she does sing
| the hostess feels that a great exception has
| been made, and Is elated correspondngly.
1t is the fact that she can sing. rather than
her actual singing, that gives her her
cachet. Being thus accepted quite at her
own valuation. the girl gets on socially
from the beginning. Even when compare
lively poor she finds no lack of invitations
to the Opera. Opera Comque and lighter
lyric stage. Paris Is full Of well-to-do
Americans who give box parties, and it is
alwys distinction to have in the company
girl who knows 1t all and can talk know
ingly of the merits and dement's of each
singer and give just appreciations Of the
score.
The Future Prima Donna.
Most people feel quite fat.ered enough
when she confdes to them the outlines OF
her studies. She is working M,ssenet's
| Manon" or she Is committing to memory
the part of Marguerite in Faust" To be
told of the difficulties of these labors, the
. incessant devotion OF art which they ex.
|, act, the Invitations one has been obliged
to decline and the precautions one Is
obliged to take not to catch cold seem
. while She tells them, even more interest
ing than her warbling, should she warble