The San Francisco call., 1896-03-13
Frau Mauterna Describes the
Effects of Singing Music
Drama.
WAGNER WROTE BEL CANTO."
The Prima Donna Says Too Many Girls
Rush, Half Prepared, on the
Stage.

There are few women on the lyric stage
to-day who have oftener stretched out the
hand of good fellowship to struggling
young artists than Frau Materna. She is
always ready with word of valuable ad-
vice or whole-souled encouragement,
when her professional work brings her in
contact with young and talented singers,
but woe betide the young person of slen-
der talent and big ambition. who stumbles
across Materna's path, for she never fiat
teIs mediocrity.
Materna was asked yesterday to say a
few words of wisdom about Wagnerian
singing, and it's effect on the voice, for who
is so qualified to speak on the subject as
the woman who created the roles of his
heroines for Wagner himself? Zach!
that is the thing l love most to talk Of,
said Materna in her genial frank way, for
there is nothing naughty or commanding
in private life about this terrible
Brunhilde, though she positively over
powers one with her majesty on the stage.
When you talk to Materna, though, you
forget that she is celebrity. If she had
spent her life in knitting stockings and
concocting stews, you could not feel more
at home with her, or more assured that
she is the sort of woman who would SYM
pathize with you if you were in trouble.
II am so sorry that | speak not English
better said the prima donna apologetl-
cally. "German is the tongue | have
always sung in, even when l was singing
'Fidelio, 'Africanna' and the other operas
of the old repertory.
You ask, Does singing Wagner music
wear out the voice?' l must answer no.
Twenty-Five years ago, when l began to
sing the masters music, all the people
,I 49, H.. G
years you will have no voice; you will
have screamed it all away. Well, that is
twenty-five years ago, and my voice is as
strong as ever and the high tones are
clearer was a mezzo-soprano when
Wagner first began to teach me his roles.
His music wants very high and very low
notes. At first would say, oh, no, not
so high as that but he would say, That
must be sung, try, and always l found he
knew best.
'There is one mistake that many people
who try to sing Wagners music make.
They think it is loud and strong, and that
so they must always practice at full voice.
That wears out their voices. l have always
practlced meZzo voce, for, If you can sing
a thing with the half voice, to yourself,
you can always sing it with the full voice
when you are before the public.
Much depends upon the conductor. A
| man who knows and understands Wagner
subdues the orchestra so that the sound
does not overwhelm the singer. How
great poor Hermann Levy was for that
1t was a joy to sing 'ParsifaP to his con-
Quoting"
Materna was alluding regretfully to the
great Wagnerian conductor who is report
ed lately to have become insane and who
has been forced to retire from the conduc-
torship of the Hof Theater of Munich.
But anyway, singer who produces her
nQ fCr hcsrf ff,.a
continued Materna thoughtfully. IF she
produces it Sc" and the disciple of Wag-
ner gave deep cultural roar, ''her voice
must wear out very soon. for she is strain
ing the muscles of her throat: but if the
sound reverberates sc" and this time Ma
her palate. after which she added compla-
Gently, 'that sort of production does not
wear out the voice."
WagnerS great motto, according TO Ma
terna, was to make his artists sing as they
spoke. mo faces, no contortiops, he
abomnated all those unnatural things.
Oh it is terrible to see the way some
singers twist their mouths out of shape,
when they might sing as easily and natur-
ally as they talk if they would only try.
But will tell you what is the first real es-
sential for Wagner singing, and that is to
have the bel canto before you begin to
study the music dramas. All the time I
see poor girls going on the stage with only
three or four tones in their voices and they
sing Elsa and Eva and Senta. Poor little
things; they are almost children and they
have not studied half enough. In two
years their voices are gone, but it is not
singing Wagner that has ruined them; oh,
no, it is because they began to strain their
voices in difficult parts before they had ac-
quired enough school to know how to use
them. 1t is terrible nowadays now many
unprepared young ladies 60 on the STAGE"
Frau Materna says that she attributes
her own success in the music dramas
largely to the fact that she understood bel
canto and could sing Mozart's florid arias
before she began to study Wagner's music.
She scorns the idea that there Is no bel
canto in Wagner, however. "Ellzabeth's
role. is that not all singing?" she asked. |
tAnd Elsa and above all Isolde. When
Tristan lies dead and Isolde sings her
dying lament over him till her voice
grows fainter and dies away, who can say
that swan song is not bel canto?''
When the singer was asked for some
personal "reminiscences of the master
whose music she had praised so much
tears welled up in her kind eyes and she
answered quickly: mo, l cannot talk of
him. When / sing his music my whole |
heart goes out into it, put when / think |
that so good man, so great composer
is dead, then-excuse me-" and Materna |
tried to smile away some big tears and
hastily turned the conversation to her
pleasure at being in the golden California
sunshine.