Evening star., 1947-07-13
Conductor Saws
ProperFo Foods
Vital to Artist
By Alice Eversmon

sic conditions in Europe have been
a. deductive as that Of Antal Dorati
who returned recently from con-
>ducting engagements in Vienna and
Budapest. The Dallas Symphony
director found that the degree OF
musical artistry, not to speak of
efficiency, was Influenced directly
by good or bad nourishment. In the
cities he visited where food was
plentiful, the orchestra musicians
played well and the opposite in
places where its quality was in
ferior. From this fact he estimated
that an interdependence existed be-
tween proper and substantial eat
ing and artistic performance.
While this may seem to put SO fine
Q thing as artistry on a thor oughly
material plane. it Is, nevertheless,
true. OF course, the popular con-
ception Of starving geniuses turning
out masterpieces still holds good
and history can substantiate that
idea with many proofs. But these
conditions existed In another era
when life was less complicated and
when the nervous system could re-
plenish itself through quiet sleep In
towns where noise subsidized with the
going down of the sun.
Few Can Afford Sanctuaries.
Today few artists can afford a
sanctuary far from the busy cities
in which to relax and prepare them
selves for the drain of creative work
of any kind. They must be near the
centers of the music industry and
that means submitting themselves
to the wear and tear Of urban life.
To counteract that and to build up
resistance to the demands of a pub
lie career, the quality of food con-
sumed is more important, perhaps,
than sleep and exercise. 1t alone
can enrich the blood which in turn
nourishes the two seats Of artistry,
the brain and the heart.
Although a certain amount Of
challenge can be applied to the estt-
mate Of older people of the artists Of
the past, it is indubitable that those
of the present day equal them only
rarely. The pictures Of the old
celebrities show them to be a
buxom lot with plenty Of avoirdu-
pois to give them strength. They
were not so much concerned with
their figures as with the preserva-
ton of nerve equilibrium and en-
durance. The Hollywood fetish OF
slender lines and glamorous per-
sonality was unknown to them.
Common Sense Rules Needed.
1t Is not said that return should
be made to the styles of a past
period but common sense can be
used in the matter of keeping the
body fit for complete realization
of artistic intentions. A well
nourished nervous system is re-
hected in the quality of tone
whether in an instrument or the
voice and in the freshness and
vitality of a performance. In pro-
portion to the richness of the blood
is the working of the brain where
ideas and fantasy are born. These
elements OF the artistic cannot
function in anernic surroundings
but need all the assistance that
comes from the magic operation of
good food in the body.
Never in decades has there been
such an attractive array of musical
artists as today. They add a con-
siderable measure of enjoyment to a
public performance. Most of them
are young and have still the mys-
terious alchemy that gives a glow
and a wonder to whatever they do.
But the years ahead must be taken
care of. There must be bank
account of health to draw on when
hard and constant work depletes
the system. 1t Is by steadily culti-
waiting good health Of mind and
body that the life of an artist is
prolonged and the beauty that re-
sides in his work will be retained
to the end No instrumentalist
whose muscles are not nourished or
singer whose vocal cords have not
the proper healthy surroundings can
reach or maintain the eminence
that is the goal of serious musicians