The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-11-13

6kXX THERE shall we search for
wv beautiful voices now2" grand
opera impresarios are ask
ing In comic dismay, What may be the
queer hiding place Of new sopranos. or
a successor to Caruso"
It is question they we'll may ask, for
singers have been appearing from the
most unexpected quarters. 1t was called
freak of chance at first, when opera
recruits were drafted from ice wagons,
inn stables and blacksmith's shops. And
when critics insIsted-and proved their
words-that there was grand opera ma
trrial to be had from the cabarets,
that was believed about the last straw
in the way of odd finds. But it wasn't,
for recently quirk of fate marked down
a prima donna in a little cottage just
one block away from the sands of Coney
Island beach. Cabarets-Coney Island
what next?
"Coney Island of all placesW shifted
some critics, before Viola Philo had re-
ceived her trial. For to the mind of the
general public, Coney Island has not the
slightest association with grand opera.
1t Is a garish place Of frivolous amuse-
ment, where the only voices are the rau-
cous Nres of the "barkers," crying the
merits Of loops and labyrinths; where no
scales are run, but foolish steeplechases.
Where soprano vocal efforts are con-
fined to the shrill shrieks which the long
inclines of the coasters draw from the
merry maidens who clutch the necks of
their SWANS in well feigned fear. Where
mouths are not opened wide to give vent
to high "Cs" but to envelope the succu-
lent bulk of the ''hot dog" Where the
diamond horseshoe" is represented by
the sandy oval curve of the beach, with
its thousands Of sporting bathers.
And yet Viola Philo, now a member
of the Metropolitan Opera Company, is
a resident of Coney Island.
She and the other all-year-round resi-
dents may point out, as they do, that
the public conception Of Coney Island,
takes account only Of passing summer
phase; that the place makes healthful
winter resort and that it Is at its best
when the amusement crowds have gone
their way. However, she cannot take
too great umbrage at the general visu-
alization Of Coney Island, for it Is to
that she owes her opportunity to display
her talents, without which they might
have remained unappreciated.
The regular channels by which would
be opera singers seek the chance to crown
their ambitions are, Of course, study
abroad, the concert stage, then trial be-
fore the impresarios and critics Of the
opera. These channels, which are always
full, yield a good percentage Of singers
which are acceptable, but such sources
arc most often looked upon es being Of
the Observation-Disclosures
variety. II 10 understood that evon with
ali advantages a young aspiring singer
must meet very severe competition In
such trials and that repeated efforts
must be made, and oven then success
may not arrive.
1t was not with great deal Of hope
Of immediate acceptance that Miss Philo
entered on these channels. She knew tho
difficulties which she believed would take
time TO surmount, but she took courage
In the fact that she was starting young,
for she was only eighteen. Iior grand
father, Edward Burk, wrote TO Otto
Kahn, music lover and q power In the
metropolitan Opera Company, and asked
. trial DO givsn the girl.
The Ietter, OF course, was only ono Of