The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-19
ONE SINGERS AMBITIONS.
MME. EAMES'S IDEALS AMI PLANS
FOR THE FUTURE

what she wanted to do or OF carrying out her
plans with any lack OF determination. She set
certain artistic goals for herself. arranged the
problems OF her career when she was at its be-
ginning. and then fulfilled her purposes with q
success that has placed her to-day In the first
rank OF singers at an age at which few women
have ever gained such prominence. This has
been. of course. the result Of her natural tall
ents in the first place. The singers pro-
fession Is one. however. in which talent with
out Rrt leads to little progress. 1t was
Nine. Eames's knowledge OF what she
wanted to accomplish and her will to accom-
plish it in the right way that have brought her
80 far in her artistic career. One drawback In
this rapid progress has already made itself
felt. She has already begun to wonder what
there will be for her to do after her plans for
the immediate future have been fulfilled. 1t
may not be necessary to say that these include
the rest OF the Wagnerian roles not yet In her
repertoire. Her final achievement In this d.
rection will be Isolde. and that will not be
reached for several years. 1t Is q part OF tho
artistic future which she laid out for herself
when she sang the first OF the Wagner h~eroines.
That was naturally enough Elsa. After this came
Era and Elisabeth. This winter her Sieolinde
was heard for the FIRST time. In the progress
which every one of these parts showed there
was evidence of an ability to 60 still further.
Nine. Eames is quite determined that she will
go further. When she achieves the final dis
%tinction, Nine. Eames will be the youngest
woman OF her day to have gained such success
on the operate stage. The case Of the German
singers is scarcely analogous. They begin
with Wagner. and their preparation is not COM
parable to that which Nine. Eames has made.
Il metimesw wonder what roles / shall un-
dertake." Nine. Eames said the other day.
later l have sung Isolde. That is always
+nl-ap 70 ropracapt tha olirav of N dramatic
singers career. AS matters are In the world OF
music to-day. there is no greater height. l
hope to sing all the Wagner heroines before
very long. Shall l have to keep on singing
them or will there be some new roles by that
time which / can undertaken I have been
greatly interested in Iris from what l have
heard OF it. as there seems to be in the
work an indication Of an element that
may be new in opera. This work 1
have heard has a spiritual character
that has never been attempted before in the
same way that Mascagni has tried 1t. have
often thought that might be the direction OF
the new composers. The spirituality OF Wag-
ner's operas Is always allied with very different
elements. Mascagni has. l understand. made
the spiritual character of the japanese girl the
predominant tone in his opera and done that In
n way that has never been utilized before. l
am anxious to study the results OF IL. for l think
that must indicate a direction in which some
thing new is to be accomplished in opera.
The French composers who are writing to-
day in Wagner's style are only exaggerating
his methods. and there seems to be no likeli-
hood that anything will come from them.
French music of the kind hat Is written now
seems to make little appeal to the taste OF
Americans. In French music to-day one no.
tees more than ever the adherence to the form
and the line rather than to any great breadth
of conception and feeling. That music ~pleases
the French sufficiently. Alexandra Dumas fhs
once said to me: We're not q musical people
at all 1 looked at him in establishment, for l
had not then been so long in France. That Is
true he said. We like military music and
the chansonette.' Those are the only forms OF
music which Frenchmen really like. In other
forms Of music they love to admire the beauty
OF a phrase. fine execution and exquisite work
manship. But they do not love the music. 1
have realized the truth of that the more I have
come to know the French"
Nine. Eames thinks that the public is more
exacting than it realizes in it's demands on the
singers in the opera.
instruments may get out OF tune in cold
weather or for some other natural reason" she
said. but the singer is always expected by the
public to be in perfect condition. A great many
things that would not affect another person
| may put a singer into such condition that it is
impossible for him or her to appear to the best
advantage. But the public Is not patient with
| the artist under these circumstances. The
singer who would win fame to-day must do far
more than was ever expected in the past.
Albani once told me that she could never have
made the reputation she did IL she had sung to-
day. She told me that in the days her
triumphs were made the orchestras were
smaller and not 40 loud. and that above all
things the singer was not required to act. But
to-day one must not only sing well. That Is
Not Not enough one is expected to act Just as
Mime, Eames is concerned not only with the
rr5Ies are concIuded IN her Repertoire, but she
is also interested Just now In deciding which
OF the older Italian roles she shall k learn A. IN ths
studied La Trayiata," and was prepared to
make her debut IN t. when Charles Gognod
heard her sing and selected her for Juheae at
~ was about, to learn Norma she said.
excellent practice. l think that the time
role TIeiiI in an an vepsI Which the sG public lie likes better;
! studied Valentine ip L. Huguenots," had
decided that under no circumstance would /
ever sing 1t. Meyerbeer In that opera seems to
me 70 have gone hopelessly out Of fashion. The
the most rretoptious Of tho Meyerbeer operas,
One OF his, ~her6ines l shall sing. but not palen,
t Ike operas n@S Of G t2tSi''% %ese T NOT presen ansi
more frequently, i Armide.' for example. or
'0rpReG as Clock Intended that i should BE-
sung. with a EurVdice-would their beautiful
music appeal to the taste of the people now. or
Is their duality too white In these days OF such
heavily colored orchestration? ! should think
that their classical beauty ought to make them
the young Italians are choosing now. Such
stories as Sardou's Fedora or I Tosca
are not an advance from, any standpoint.
1t, seems to, mo rather, a backward step to
select such old-fashioned melodramas for the
s,h,,ot 81 liIrattt In Tho lInu DpQaihlV N ia
not until a new composer has come UP that we
shall find out what music is to follow Wagner's
1t will have to conquer the public. and il
must appeal to the singers as WaG.
the highest achievement Of the sinGer,f
ton OF, those roles. and practically with
them. the career has reached its zenith
hut | expect to sing long after | have beer
hoard as hrunnhitde and Isolde. suppose that
j shall lave to continue singing them or MAKE
my career a short one. as nothing has come vel
to be undertaken aiterward."
Nine. Eames has plans for charging. hel
repertoire. which will extend it in other direc'
tions while she acquires the new Wagner roles
which she Intends to sing. Before every