Evening star., 1948-09-05

singers VINO aspire TO grand Opera
should not miss reading Lotte Leh.
mann's My Many Lives" tBoosey
& Hawkes., $3.75). 1t is as sequel tt
her More than Singing" dealing
with her repertoire of German
lieder, of which she is one of the
worlds greatest living exponents. II
her latest book, the famous Wag.
merriam soprano makes a real contri.
button to the understanding ol
opera, "the stepchild of drama" Shs
is sincere in her desire to serve the
cause and to inspire others to follow
in her footsteps. There are no ego
tistical panegyrics of self, an over
dose of which can be found in the
amazingly puerile autobiography
written by a certain prima donna
and released in the same year as
Nine Lehmann's first Midway ir
My Song.
Ten years ago the singer prom
ised in that volume to dedicate her
self to helping others at some future
time. Lost in "reminiscences of hel
childhood, professional hardships
and rise to fame, she did not stoI
then to share with the reader. hel
ideas, but skinned over her rich
operatic experience. If she tool
pleasure. formerly. in describing
places and events, she now opens &
door into a strange world full O
mysterious beauty. Believing tha
an opera singer should lose he
identity in each impersonation ane
that the, heroine's joys and sorrow
should become her. own she says
Soaring between heaven and hell
between great exaltation and deel
disappointment" is preferable to tn,
deadly uniformity" of a common
place existence.
1t is enlightening to read of he
gradual evolution from a frightened
novice, whose eyes were glued OF
the conductor" into mature artist
concerned only with living her part
One deducts also that only thos.
who have a strong Imagination, +;
superabundance of emotion and
constitution to stand the wear an,
tear of a professional life can eve
aspire to develop eventually into
great artist.
Opera, = Page From Life.
MY Many Lives" is Nine Leh
mann's account of many operate
roles portrayed during her long ant
arduous career Musing over then
she wonders when she had time t
be herself To her. opera is a pag
from life, each new role-an adven
ture, an escape from hum-drun
monotony, subterfuge and sol
ace. She tells of actually havinI
experienced. for the moment. what
ever emotions her roles called for
and finding the same in her part
ners. She does not go into detail
about each one, there have been to'
many of them, but confines hersel
to those in practical use and select
about dozen which she discusse
at length. Among these are the lead
ing feminine parts in Wagner,
"Lohengrin," "Tannhauser," "Di
Walkuere," Die Meistersinger," Bee
thoven's "Fidelio." Puccini's IL;
Boheme." Tschaikowsky's "Eugen,
Onegin," Gounod's Faust" Mas
cagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana' and
last but not least, her special ia
vorite, Richard Strauss Der Rosen
kavalier." To her, the latter fulfill
the ideal of what opera should be
In chapter entitled "Singin,
with Strauss" the artist relates al
amusing incident connected will
the composers engagement to Leon
tine de Alma, prima donna of al
unpredictable disposition. AS tn,
story goes, Miss de Alma, while sing
ing the part of Elizabeth In Tam.
hauser." got into violent argument
with young Strauss during the re.
hearsal. In a fit of bad temper she
gave vent to her feelings, threw the
piano score at him and left the stage
in fury. Strauss. composed a.