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J AN U ARY , 19 3 0
21
Metropolitan Star Puts
Stamp o Approval
On RADIO
By WILLIE PERCEVAL-MONGER
RADIO broadcasting has been a little severe on opera stars. It has turned the fierce light of magnification on their vocal faults but, at the same time, it has emphasized, in a most favorable manner, the beauties of a good voice. Sound vocal production has always been enhanced by the radio.
If an artist is able to "deliver the goods," without unnecessary display of bad taste or temperament, remembering that he or she has no stage spectacle, no friendly audience, no striking appearance nor claque of hornyhanded galleryites to assist him, then the radio and its vast audience have been kind to that artist. But, stripped of all the trappings, of the sentiment, of the color, of the sight of a great orchestra competently directed, the artist singing over the radio faces a problem entirely different from operatic presentation. Here only vocal merit tells. Everything considered, radio treats the true operatic artist handsomely.
On the other hand, how does a great operatic star regard radios? A famous singer who, stripped of all operatic embellishments, remains a vivid personality — one who has reached the heights largely through the medium of a gorgeous voice and her own real charm — was approached on the question.
Lucrezia Bori, who is perhaps the ideal prima donna and is certainly one of the most popular stars of all time, likes radio, both from the angle of a pioneer broadcaster and an enthusiastic listener.
Received Many Letters
"I like radio broadcasting enormously," she told me the other day. "I think it is the best reproducing medium we have. And I have received so many thousands of pleasing letters from great distances. Instead of the applause that is generally, I am very happy to say, bestowed
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Lucrezia Bori and Rowdy.
upon me, I receive stacks of charming letters from, how do you say, "radio fans', and I am going to preserve them all and re-read them long after the echo of the opera house applause has died away.
"It was a little difficult for me at first, because I missed seeing my audience. I like to note the expressions on the faces of my friends and to watch them, at the close of an act, as they turn to each other and say nice things when I have had a success. I like, too, to hear the rustle of the programs.
"According to my contract with the Metropolitan, I am allowed to sing only twice a year over the radio, with the Atwater Kent and the Victor companies, but I am very proud of my contract with the Metropolitan Opera Company and, after all, one cannot have everything.
"I will sing 'Louise' in January for the first time, and I am very excited, of course, over the prospect, as I like the work.
"Do you know that Vincenzo Bori, my brother, attends all my opera performances, and he is at once my best friend and severest critic?' ' The singer here laughed a little at her lack of originality.
Obliging and Agreeable
For a person of her attainments Lucrezia Bori is very obliging and agreeable to interview. "Whether in her splendid apartment in a New York hotel or walking up Fifth Avenue, she is always very informal, and Rowdy, her very Irish terrier, joins with her in extending a welcome.