The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-09
NEW ERA EXPECTED
 ON OPERA STAGE Future Singers Arc Learning
 Art of Acting ATTENTION TO DETAILS Some Curious Lessons In Which Pupils Are Taught How to Crook Their
 Fingers and Bend
 Their Elbows.

Boston, July s-A new era Is likely to
 be set on the operatic stage If the new
 method of training would-be artists
 should prove a success and be generally
 adopted. The prima donna with the voice
 of an angel but the department of the
 wax lady wearing a fifty-dollar gown in
 shop window. and the celebrated tenor
 with the high C's but the temperament of
 a cake of ice. are apparently doomed to
 disappear. The future hero and heroine
 in opera must be able, according to tho
 new rules, to walk with grace and dig
 nifty along straight line; they must so
 color their voices that when they
 sing. "oh, Lover What Lover" the traveller from New Zealand will not sus- pect that they are discussing the weather; they must be able to express twenty diff ferent emotions and sentiments simply by holding their arms akimbo at various angles; they must be distinctly French in La Boheme' and just as distinctly Italian in .'I Pagliacci" in short they
 must act their parts as to the manner born.
 The practice of the advanced ideas which has already begun at the New
 England Conservatory of Music has
 some curious features. Perhaps the vIs-
 itor finds the pupil making faces through l hole in sheet of paper or gesticulating with one hand through the hole. This is practice in facial and manual express sion. Perhaps the pupil is seen simply walking energetically from the rear to the front of the stage. This is an ex- pression of confidence. Or maybe the
 young man or the young woman is discov- cred walking off the stage in zigzag a1 wi hkaqd
 means defeat or dejection The actions just described are used with strong ef- feet by Duse, the great Italian actress, in the quarrel scene in Camille" An other pupil may be found sitting down
 and standing up again and again, in imi- tation, say, of the graceful manner In
 which Mrs Patrick Campbell, the pride of London town, performs this most commonplace action; or perchance a stu dent is seen engaged in shrugging of shoulders after the style of the divine Sara"-curous activities, indeed, when
 taken by themselves. ae
 The young aspirants for grand opera fame begin their course by learning some- thing about their bodies They are intro- drced to the Persian method of physi- cal culture, which, though it does not involve gymnasium work, nevertheless corrects physical deformities and removes physical weakness. They are told to stand erect. to walk so that their heels will fall in line; they t,.ke breathing exer- cises to develop their lung power; they go to the Fenway park near the con- | servatory and practice walking and jump ing; they are made to walk down flight of steps on the ball of the foot. High
 heeled shoes, walking shoes, and shoes
 wllii rubber heels are barred: the pupils
 must get used to light footwear and to the natural boise that comes from feet well placed on the ground
 Madame Patti in the winter time muf- f1es herself In furs, ri6es in tightly closed vehicles and even wien going from one
 room to another in her well-screened suite covers her mouth and threat. The sing CTS under development. at the Conserva- tory of Music take cold sponge baths ev- cry morning and subject their throats to an extra severe treatment; otherwise their habits are normal and they take only the ordinary precautions. Between the acts of the opera some artists sip champagne, while others smoke cigars. The conservatory expert MT. Clayton D. Gilbert tabooes stimulants. Wine, he says. will have its injurious effects some day, while smoking Is bad for the throat. The first year the pupils study physical 4nlture and general depor,ment The short stretch themselves up, the lean are made plump, the fat are thinned; hollow chests are filled out, dull eyes are bright ened, and voices are strengthened. Ani- nation is the watchword. conductor of a singing class apepals to Mir. Gilbert: T cannot get the power I want What do you suggest?" MT. Gilbert goes on the
 stage and the first thing he says to the
 class is: Wake up!' He teaches the young women the fine points of expression
 flor instance. that the thumb expresses
 will the forehnger direction, and the sec-
 ond and third fingers emotion and the
 little finger subety.
 During tine lessons Mir Gilbert insists
 that the action shall be suited to the
 words. For example. young lady sings
 love song for him. That's not love"
 he observes; that's like telling the time.
 Sing as If you meant what you said" He
 has small patience with some librettists,
 also. and no matter how beautiful the music Is. If the words are not appropriate
 he bids the singer sing the song no more.
 Let's have genuine sentiment or none
 at aIl," says he MT. Gilbert is satisfied
 when the pupil can express fifteen vocal
 "colors" Lately some of the pupils of
 the Conservatory joined chorus in a To- cal theatre just for the experience, but they soon left because, as they explained they had nothing to do. 'The opera chorus as at present conducted is a joke" says Mir. Gilbert
 The pupils who aspire to shine in
 concert or oratorio are taught to walk
 neither too fast nor too slow. to carry
 themselves airily. not awkwardly. and
 to show repose under all circumstances.
 Besides. the girl must wear a dress of
 ideal length. falling almost to the toes;
 she must not mince her steps. nor yet stride like a man. If she accompanies
 herself on the piano. she must, as she
 sits down. let the loose folds of her
 gown fall on the side near the audi
 ence; and then she sits leaning forward little. The vertical position and the swaying motion that some virtuosi affect are alike condemned by the leaders of the new school.
 Speaking of only one phase of my work, lyric action" says Mir. Gilbert "I need hardly make the comment that many of the singers whom you hear in opera have hardly anything under con trol but their voices. The De Reszkes are admirable opponents of rational ac- ton in opera. They always know when and how to do the right thing. and so, to mention a few others, do Scotti. the Italian baritone. and Plancon. the French basso. Among the women Madam Calve is a conspicuous example of the artists who have cultivated physical technique. Now and then you hear a singer who seems never to have been taugh the fun damental truth that fine voice does not make an artist.
 And if you come down step, there is Lillian Russell Why, when she was here last she had nothing with her but her technique; owing to illness, she was not in good voice. but she carried herself so
 well she expressed herself so artistfcallv