The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-06

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- On, destroy tho deaiened eHect
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"a, ,s.p.lers In ths Department. ~ fse'.
s,cder furthef from Tho trish, NV
- .,.ie.tIe aineina wanderers afs nHs'S
ounefHIH 4, ,hess daVa ~
.,4,d In the opera ho''ae csF'sss
-,.o. arc ~rsp@ctei Some ~ the
',.,,I rifles ara ~indi-putably soOti'
- i,,r, arr % lsg-t qientlonaossi
:, .r ,ro runcert platform every ons IS
NJ. .r.n nIuaelf Singer VIC WIN one
"-nc ,o differences ~ style and inter-
, ,lms. Cantando sing Strailas
"a. ,, manner 81 Milan, and VIE
-, .,nt- Schumann according 70 WI"
- n the Boulsva rides. Wills Frau
l.Uyera harsslf ~ "Caro mo
~, \, tic manner u Bairuuth.
rs.b contends hat the other u wrong
ST ,r. claims that hers IA the only true
.r1 authoritative style. All tho WORM
100. 80 ono Ia quite certain OF any.
,s,as stsrpt that there are more ways OF
'ss'ng , song than Of cooking q goose
mo critics vaiuly thunder. NO one pays
,,y attention to them. THE giorined Vo
o,b., faa her little army OF worshipper
,.J IN the religion Of musician worship
\. neither conversion nor apoetasy'
'Ths question 81 Interpretation may In
=, ,,..s ho debatable. IL ia not thus
i, =. many instances a. the singers would
h,ys Ma believe. Your true artist who
cannot sing u certain passage in the nght
manner without disclosing some defect OF
vo,ce II. very ingenious in preparing argu-
r.,ts To demonstrate that her wrong way
"a tho trie way. Still for the sake OF tenn
nonrv comfort let us assume that there
NAV ,.laIly be differences Of opinion az to
tho correct Interpretation Of songs. Unless all
the texts are by Browning and all the music
by Richard Strauss, we know That this IL
not true, hut let that pass ant that
il ia 80. there is still no room for wild d.
verRence Of belief as to style.
style is general; Interpretation Is particu-
lar STYLE il the character Of q period or a
school INTERPRETATION Is the disclosure OF
an individuality. Style may embrace all
the songs of a single composer, though ~
seldom does; but Interpretation can apply
only to one at a time.
In order TO construct q correct style
Il Is essential first to reconstruct the period
TO which the music before US belongs
When an orchestral conductor endeavors
,oeectriiy us by reading Mozart's Jupiter
symphony as if it had Missed from the burn
ig pen Of T~sohaikowsky, he commits a
fundamental error. He tries TO impart 70
the composition a character which no com
poser Of Mozart's time conceived. When
A singer attempts to make Mozart's arias
more dramatic" by singing them as II they
had been written by Puocini, he sims In
precisely the same manner.
The first thing a singer must do In study
Ing an aria or q song Is to get a correct oon-
oeption Of tho content Of the work itself.
Without that true Interpretation Ia quite
impossible. The next thing to do Is to
examine the music in the light OF the period
10 which it belongs. The final thing Is
10 analyze the music In the light OF the
known artistic aims Of the composer.
To know the period the singer must be
tVQudlllltu with w bibVoty va io eAts
one Is to sing an aria of Alessaudro Scarlatti
correctly, he must be familiar with the
general conditions Of operatio compost
ton in that masters time, with the aims
of the composer himself and with the state
and resources OF the art Of singing.
Very few singers know anything about
The state of singing in the latter part Of
the seventeenth century. Fewer still have
any knowledge Of the progress made In
the art in the middle or early part OF that
century. Yet there is no period in the
history Of singing 80 interesting as this
one, A very brief glance into II will
satisfy the artist that there were vocal
giants in those days. The operas Of the
latter half Of the seventeenth century
brlstled with technical feats, Every singer
had TO he a vocal acrobat Of the highest
order. On the other hand, the oantilena
Of that day demanded exquisite purity
Of tone, perfect command OF MESA di vooe
and portamento, a genuine lekato style
and great finish In phrasing and nuanoe.
This period paved the way for that Of
Handel and Hasse, the period OF the ex-
traordinary voc1 virtuosi who were gradu-
Ned from the schools OF Pistocchi, Ber-
nacchi, Porpora and their contemporaries,
The testimony Of those who heard these
famous singers Is that they sang with q
marvellous command OF all the resources
OF the art Of bel canto.
They we're not specialists. The operas
Oh their day were not constructed In such
q manner as to call for one dramatic and
one lyric soprano, one dramatic contralto,
one tenor robusto, n barytone and one
basso cantante. All the singers we're
sopranos, oontraltos, and tenors, with an
OCCASIONAL bass.
The barytone voice was not used In the
opera at all. Male roles were often sui
BY men with soprano voices, and In the
same opera you will sometimes And a male
"prano singing one male part and a female
soprano singing another, All the music
was in the same style. Every one In an
opera was entitled to at least one aria di
oavura, and all singers excelled In both
sustained melodies and sparkling lorituri.
Technics were at their apogee. It wal
me golden age Of the art Of singing,
The singer who takes up an aria OF this
period must be prepared TO give It a large
amount OF hS time and attention. He
must refine and refine till he recalls Kip
hhg's description OF Robert Louis Stevenson
a. a man who made most delicate mosaics
N words and fled out to the finish OF a hair.
lhefe can be no rough spota In n oorraotly