The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-12-22
'0RMKRAL MANAGER, nfETRO-
 H0MEEAM nREKA ANGgN

AMD NMA#NAs&a&S VI WIFI GAANe brought to an end the tradition of presenting famous European artists at the Metropolitan Opera House tradition generally in practice since 1883. Until this war Is over we will not look at Europe to pro- vide singers for the opera houses of America. The Metropolitan is trn- defROing e transition from foreign successes to the discovery and de- veIopmef1t of American talent. The opera -gofng public seems to have sef1sed this.
 Recently q Metropolitan Opera audience was part of a drama that ttnfolded on the well-worn stage of the 30th Street House. They were watching and hearing 8 young American soprano make her operatic debut under circumstances that have had few parallels in its long his- tory.
 With Lily P0ns ill, and "Lakme" scteduied for the evening of De- cember End, Miss Marie wilkins of Lawrence, Kansas, was called upon {. to step into the role at 24 hours notice.
 "Iakme" has been sung before by many sopranos at short notice, but the exciting aspect of this occasion was the fact that it was not sea- soned artist who was called upon to sing the principal role in an ex- tremely difficult work, but a young American, who after preliminary studies in Paris and Milan, had re- ceived her training and preparation in this country.
 Another Metropolitan artist, Ametican-born and trained is Helen Traubel, dramatic soprano of St. Louis, Missouri. With the Wag- merriam heroine Brunnhilde already in her repertory, she is now being acclaimed for her presentation of the immortal Isolde, the first American-born soprano to sing this role since Nordica.
 This trend of American-trained singers is exemplified also in the recent debut of James Melton, as Tamino in Mozart;s Magic Flute" Mir. Melton, well known to radio and concert audiences, received his preparation exclusively in the United States.
 Today American artists are no longer on sufierance, nor are they unduly championed from motives of patriotic pride. They are enjoying all that any artist reasonably could Wish-reco2nition solely on the basis of merit. Many years must go into the making of a mature artist, but through the Metropolitan Audi tions of the Air the Metropolitan Opera company has been enriched by seventeen young singers of defin- ite promise. This is ore source of native talent for the Metropolitan in years to come. More than 50 per cent Of the singers on the roster were born in the United States and the majority of the others are na- turahzed citizens.
 The war has resulted in another change in the world of opera. For many years the U. S. was known as an "operatic export" nation. Our young American singers, trained on our own shores, are proving to be the bulwark for the opera seasons of our neighbors to the south.
 In Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, where the Teatro Municipal and the Teatro Colon offer opera which rivals in quality with per- tormances in San Francisco, Chi cago and New York, American sing CTS for the past three years have been received enthusiastically. The singers are native American prod ucts in more than one sense - many of them have been trained right here at the Metropolitan.
 Leonard Warren, comparatively recent Additions of. the Air winner who not more than four years ago was a singer in the Radio City Mu- sic Hall chorus. performed with dis tinction at both the Teatro Colon and the Teatro Municipal. receiv- ing excellent press notices, and completely winning over Brazilian and Argentinian music lovers. ! Another young American, who recently returned from South Amer lea after a highly successful season, IS Rose Bampton, an example of a domestically-trained operatic artist who scored on foreign shores. Others there were, too. among them Fred erick Jagel. Charles Kullman, ten- ors, and Norman Gordon, basso.
 Those who remember the previous postwar years recall the artistic as well as economic bankruptcy of Euro ean countries which resulted in Scandinavian singers assuming leading Wagnerian roles in German opera houses and French and Italian opera houses opening their doors to foreign singers.
 European countries, drained and exhausted in worldly goods and cul- turaI riches. will turn to the United ~2 2 M A