The sun., 1901-07-28


ss3ss: pupil ne :sssAss ! you'd s.. SSs s:e. e
. letter 70 Nine. BoloGna- This expe!tence
was little bic disheartening 70 the siri Who
snd HSs ss's s.:sSsi. :sSs GS %
one another. denouncins a. fraud. all but the
one who happens 10 have taught them. Usp-
and in their hearts they always believe that
they lave 40 ,uired what they krow. NOT
iSs 'Ssr osn %st superior q ef Eno%.as:
Several persons that she met on the steamer
:GS .a their o. vss. sas.' % TaS s'c sGcs
saTefisSs q q her e esn es%ns :. she ad from
Of % Singers and i"s teachers should have been ~
widely disseminated. She was keen enough
70 see that with all this denunoiation and
ss o. yaS "a .Ss sssm ". an
In Paris her life was the same. as that led
the an ss sSs,s s,s say SS"
boarding house was CHEAP. although when
winter came and the question OF hre. aIose
was more expensive than she hed & ehLeTS'eeo Lee 20,
could 9'i% practice s n the the Sosrdins house only
certain hour Of ,tS m day "pS
came and went IL was sometimes necessary
for her 70 change this arrangement 10 suit
The American students she. met seemed
TO be supplied with remarkable s-lf-confl.
dence. They. dismissed singer. 2f treat
reputation with slight comment, and praised issd
formance. az its 'p ra that 4 they SOuldn't
SS better than those Bsop. ,ssy c0Sd sens
Of them seemed to have been there q re-
mari ably long time still 10 be students. One
-. ON. n r.sy II Ss. e know s 'o 20 mueS
you have TO study ,pentomime and scting Az. ena
dict!on and then all the trsditqns Of tne roiss ,
realise how long you have been here. ! DID
think that could prepare In two years at tns
most, but there was always something more
to be learned Now am studying the role OF
Manon With . stage manager OF the Opera
Comique who coached Sapderson In the
part He tells me that IN do II lots better.
BrSses' @ The manager Of the theatre there
came to see Madame about soprano next
year and she msntioned my name name TO him.
She did not mention that the manager had
said he would take tho soprano u she would
sing for three months Tor nothing. provide
like her. The. teacher knew y was almost q
forssone conclusion he would not IKE her;
probably look for some one else TO sing Tor
nothing on trial in the hopes Of being en-
gagged Tor the following year The teacher
dS srssd sd Snk tSs pup 70 accept Or the
in Paris nearly all the money. that her friends
Nav YORK woman was Just at that time try
ing to raire a fund Of $1,000 to keep her abroad
'of Helen % heard all Of this in talks with stu
dents who had never once come before the
public 10 have their own qualities tried IL
surprised her al. first. but she grew accus,
toned to H. and did not know enough OF
operate matters to recognize that tne only
sin gers they ever spoke NJ well were no
bodies appearing = some small town;
too much for her to devote thought to what
the others were doing She was STUDYING
with the teacher 70 whom she had brought
her letter She thought she was getting On
without being In the least certain Of It. lie
had heard her sing on her arrival and had Tod
her that she had beautiful voice, and that
he thou cht within about three years no would
have her ready for the stage. lie was one
OF the eminent men. or at all eve ts one oil the
much talked Of ones In his own business. ana
She was shrewd enough not to tell him
that she expected to stay only year with
him. IL seemed to her at times that her
voice did not sound as i had, but she was
too ignorant Of musical ethods 10 know
whether or not she WAS right, and she mad
nobody to ask. One day she thoughtlessly
intimated that she did not expect 90 stay
toned her she told him that 1t would be Inn
years, for abe could not afford Il. The next
week he stopped teaching her alone and put
her In a class with six girls.
Then she was more uncertain than ever as
to the progress she was making. To every
that after awhile the effects Of her study
would begin to be apparent Sho knew very
little French. and hs luckily spoke English.
After eight months she was convinced that
her voice was not so good "a It had been. aud
after consulting an American student she
had met in Paris she went With her 20 another
sSa Ts Name only % ST saaSe Gr hfl 10
the woman into a fury Of denuncIatiQn.
Hes running your voice she cried, Just
as he does every wG2mans when she has a
dramatic SOPRANO like yours. Hes making
you sing piano. piano. plano until you wont
have BIT Of voice left. Get away from him
she did not say Come to me- but she
meant that. Four weeks more OF the term
with her first teacher remained. and after
that Helen was studying with the woman
first year Of her work abroad which, was to
have completed her preparation was drawing
to an end, OF the real art that was to make
her ~ great as abe wanted to be. there was
not yet tho slig ghtest trace.
Her pride prevented her from returning to
America. but 1t did not prevent her from
the yea % Gss hs haa wsS
back Of her great progress because that
seemed tho least she could do to those AZ
home. They were struggling. and 40 was
| she for that matter. although the work was
not producing the results they had all e1-
pected.
She got along better with the new teacher
who was but little known. and she felt her
self that she was beginning to get some grasp
| on tho art she was struggling to learn. She
| felt herself improving There was never
any prospect Of engagements or Of any means
| by which she might make money. The
| frst year had gone, a complete loss Of time
| and Of the fund that she had brought abroad
| with her Several times she told her teacher
] that she was anxious to get to work TO earn
money as soon rs possible The, woman
knew, better than to discourage her, but
| MY dear girl she said, you do not know
French well enough to sing in any French
| theatre. and you have never learned n note
| Of Italian. The study Of those two subjects
| will take you At least year. You have
a good voice and you are learning now how
| be paid anywhere when you have had no
| experience. are ignorant Of foreign languages
| have never yet studied diction, nor mise
cn-sctne and have nenry every practical
| part Of an opera singers work TO study eK-
cept the slngins' SO you must wait and
| YOU viii know these things and will be ready
to come before the public. Then We will
| Helen heard stories Of her fellow students
| careers that seemed strangely at variance
| with their satisfied mcn and self-posse.sio n
one girl had paid $500 FOR the privilege Of
| to buy her costumes for these operas Mo-
body had engaged her after that, althou 9h
| the critics spoke very kindly OF her An
| other had gone TO Holland to sing for six
/ ala Tor mot md hAr fan Nv