Evening star., 1948-09-05
Understanding of Opera Is Goal
of Lotte Lehmann's Sequel
By Elena de Sayn

usual. followed and entered her
dressing room without knocking.
Piercing screams of frenzied indig-
nation, outburstS of vehement
speech came through the closed
doors, and then. suddenly. there was
dead silence. Fearing the worst, a
delegation of musicians left the or
cheStra pit. A cautious rap brought
Strauss to the door. Seemingly in
high spirits he listened smiling hap
PLY to the mems resolution never
to play performance in which Miss
de Alma had a part, since she. by
her unparalleled and outrageous
conduct. had shown such utter dis
respect toward him. Your decision
hurts me very much" said Strauss,
4 have just become engaged to Miss
de Alma"
Emotions of Strauss.
Nine. Lehman tells also of
Strauss immortaizing his adored
wife in the 'Intermezzo," delights
full, witty opera. the true story Ii
bretto of which, built around her,
was written by the composer himself.
1t was Nine. Lehman who imper-
sonated Pauline" as Christine at
the premiere of the opera in Dres-
den. She tells also of the tears she
saw in the eyes of Strauss when he
would play for the two women some
OF his beautiful songs, inspired by
his wife, land how the latter, in an
outburst of affection. would weep
and clasp her husbands Yet she
also remembered the day when Nine.
Strauss referred to HIM in absentia
as that raging devil that imp
of Satan" =. while Nine. Lehmann,
at all times. considered the COM
poser to be an exemplary of kind
ness, gentleness and consideration.
According to her. Pauline Strauss
seemed to never have ceased won-
dering how she, the exalted daugh-
ter of German officer. ever could
have married a mere musician. even
| If he were the greatest living Ger
man composer.
An entire chapter of the book is
devoted to the discussion of singing.
1t is as If Nine. Lehman were an
'swering many pertinent questions
on the subject. Vocal training
should not begin before ones 10th
year, she cautions, and then with a
paramount understanding by the
teacher of individual needs. If the
student expects to make singing
his profession. he should sing only
the best music, should aim high
and work hard to overcome any nat
ural handicap. When Nine. Leh-
mann speaks of the agony endured
through physical and musical un-
preparedness" she must have had
in mind the need of acquiring musi-
cianship, knowledge of the piano. of
foreign languages, of stage deport-
ment. etc. prior to taking vocal
lessons. She believes in the impor-
tance of vocal technique, the key
to which, of course, is breath
control
Key to Acting.
AS to acting, she points out the
necessity of rising spiritually above
the artificial and making the song
sound as natural as speech. She
advises the student to identify him.
self emotionally with every role and
to give way to feeling. Gestures,
she says. should be the logical re-
action to words and to the behavior
Of other characters. 1t goes with
out saying, that concentration on
stagecraft can only be attained
after the music has been mastered
to the point of absolute independ-
ence from the printed page.
Not many have the gift of pre-
senting their ideas in such a concise
and attractive form as does Mime.
Lehman. Nor have many had
professional experience to equal hers.
Adding to this a musical flowing
quality of her style and the charm
ing informality of her way of ex-
pressing herself. the book makes for
pleasurable reading.