Evening star., 1937-02-27

without this muscular aid and most
of our celebrated singers of today re-
sort to this help. A proof of the
beneficent effect of repoSe was recently
had in the recital of Lily Pons, who
has changed her method Of vocal pro-
duction since her last appearance
here, to her advantage. Others have
retrograded because they have relied
too much on this energetic impulse
to their singing, an impulse which,
once begun, must be added to, con-
stantly, to the detriment of the vocal
organ.
THE second point of dispute is her
Interpretation. Here again one
runs up against the unaccustomed.
Few singers have that rich range of
emotional color in the very quality
of the voice that can become ex-
preSsive with the slightest wish. The
kernel of Flagstad's voice is its warm,
loving timber, to which is joined the
brilliancy of free, open, resonant
spaces. She does not stress her
phrases in a manner to indicate to
her audience just what they are to
understand, but let's them speak for
themselves. Her interpretations of
Grieg's songs were replete with atmos-
phere, and into the other numbers she
injected tender suaVity that seemed
to encourage her listeners to make
their personal discoveries of the
beauty they expressed. This is real
art, the kind that develops the other
person in the way Of thinking and
feeling.
Flagstad'S idea of the Elsa aria
from "Lohengrin" is a revelation in
its character depletion. Elsa sings
her aria under the influence of a
dream in which she has seen a per-
feet knight coming to her rescue She
is not. as most singers interpret her,
an energetic princess StrenuouSly de-
manding that some one come forth
and fight for her rights. 1t is this
picture of a gentle maiden, pinning
her unShakable faith on the glorious
figure of her dream, which only Flag
stad can portray. She is in truth the
gentle woman who sees him ma
terialize in all his righteous Splendor,
who accepts him without question as
to his name, as her husband, and
who, in the end, succumbing to her
! intense desire to transmit to her child
name she is sure must be of noblest
origin, breaks her promise of silence
in her excessive feminine anxiety, and
so loses forever the man whose mis-
sion in life is greater than the bonds
of his love for her.
VET as Brunhilda in die Walkuere, F"
Flagstad is the proud goddess. the
beloved daughter of her father, Wotan,
who, free and sure, rides through the
air in War-like attire at the head of
her band of equally war-like sisters.
Her glorious "Yo no to no" rings out
with that luscious freedom that in it
self gives the complete picture of a
goddess who knows the air and the
mountain top for her home.
TciudpS, SOIIlc udy, we Will nave
more singers of Flagstad's type. To-
day, she stands alone. an isloated
example of the vocal art. Should she
serve as an inspiration to better vocal
standards, we may look back on many
singers acclaimed today who, except
for their interesting personalities, are
far from being perfect masters of the
technique of their art At least, it is
worth considering just what Flagstad
stands for. Before her advent We have
had no criterion on which to form a
Judgment. The least that can be
done is to seek to learn from her
rather than condemn her because her
singing has elements which we have
never heard before.