Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-02-15

Also then, and only then. would come a
satisfactory answer TO the Question When
do we cat
They would have princely salaries and New
York offered the best food in the world
knowing all that, can anyone blame Gatti-
casazza from not wishing to snatch the meat
from the mouths Of his ravening lions and
lionesscs?
When sound pictures arrived and Holly
wood hired singing stars the heavyweight
opera singers found it as difficult for fat ono
10 get into that golden heaven as for the
proverbial rich man 10 get into the other one
The shock rocked the institution TO its
foundations Old stars began to repent too
late, their sins Of the table but the youngsters
great light and reformed.
Singers like Helen Jepson now exercise
strcnuously TO lop off extra poundage and
Helen is agile as an acrobat Com
pare her figure with that of the great Nor
dca who if she tried a backward roll
would have been impaled on the whaebones
of her corset. Lily Pons too is an attractively
slim young person who has taken over the
coloratura roles that Tetrazzini made famous
Tetrazzini so stout that il is said she
couldn't see the conductor over her bosom
On the other hand, stoutness is sometimes
a distinct asset among the males.
Salvatore Baccaloni. the find" Of this sea-
son, weighs over 200 pounds and every pound
Of flesh TO him is worth its weight in gold
For Salvatore has brought comedy TO the
stage Of the Metropolitan in his roles in THE
Daughter Of the Regiment" The Barber Of
Seville and The Marriage of Figaro" all
of which call for fat, putting pompous men.
Lauritz Mechior tenor star of the Wag-
merriam operas is pretty betty too. but he
needs a lot of muscle 70 get through the long.
strenuous operas which require every ounce
Of energy.
Among the women singers big Berthas"
are still tolerated in Wagnerian roles on the
excuse that probably the ancient Germans
liked their heroines that way but they are
debarred from portrayng vtoletta
a lady Of that size might be dying Of
govt or some other unromantc aiment. but
only on the radio could an audience imagine
her wasting away from consumption
Many Of the other roles have been cap
tured by singers who can step into the movies
and back, with the greatest Of ease because
Hollywood is planning to film many Of the
great operas.
Another sign Of the operate revolution is
in the names and nationality Of the stars
Instead Of being about So, Italian and
German. with a few other foreigners and an
occasional American. usually disguised with
an Italian name, here are some OF tho operate
statistics Of the moment
OF tho los principal singers n the Metro
politan, S0'c are American by birth or natural
lied citizens. This is true Of . among tho 81
sopranos II among tho Is mezzo~sopranos
and Contraltos, Is among the % tcnors II
among the Is baritones and among the
- bassos
While there are still few names ending
In mini or IN another vowel sequence TO
denote foreign birth there are liberal sprinlt-
Hngs Of good, American names
Among other achievements, Mr. Johnson IL
strongly behind the movement TO Anglicze
opera and ~ has demonstrated that Amer
lean voice teachers are AS good any
There is no reason Why the greatest operas
Of all time are not yet 20 be written in Eng
lish and no reason why good American voices
cannot sing tho roles Another matter is the
translation of The French German and
italian classics rfo English
Words and Music arc .somctimcs so per-
fcc'y welded that on" cannot be changed
without ,rWry t9 the other.