Variety (Mar 1941)

By Ulr Pon* Coloratura^ Metrppolitiin Opera Once, fcenturies^ ago,' a period of aesthetic and intellectual disintegra- tion khdwh as :the Dark Ages spread over civilization; After It came the Renaissance. Tdday^ too, ^her^ is a; Dark Ages, but iiistead of blanketing the world,. It covers only Ei)rcipe,. and | the Hehaissance,.TnLOt waiting, for it to end, has alrieady started, through- out the arts, in America, The.futui-^ of opera.is bound Up Iti this rebirth, and the refugee musiclahs, artists and composer's Iroiri bombed' and blitzkrieged Europe ..will, all .con- tribute to iti I believiB that with the Renaissance^ opera .will undergo a .change .and will lemerge from^ .its renovation in a new, revaihped and much Americanized yersioh. I don't think that these operatic alterations will be manifested in trainslatihg its . old and established Balanced Ensembles, Not Stars, K e y to Po ra By Eli8abe^l R^tkbe^^ LyTit-spintoi Soprdnq, . Metropolitan Opera ' I conUnuatf from paf* if; The problem, of th^ y.bung Aiheiri-. can singers and the future of opera in Anierlci is a serious one. Young' Americans . are receiving far more attention today than! they: did a. decade ago,, biut: still what: we are doing is far from, feriough. . Europe has ceased to. be the Mecca of opera siiigers,; anid If there, is . to be any future for the art. America . would seem to be the logical place for that future, but many things must be- done to insure It. We need two major things before deprived by natur* or clrcutnstances of th« basic requirements of singing. Oriia woulJi nol insist that • medical student be a good shpemaker; yet everyone seeitis to; fe*l she possesses • voice. Standards must be kept high, aiid th* .unfit :ellmlnated. ■ - Radio hai both aided and hurt singers. It has aided by giving thein the opportunity to be heard by a far greater' number of people than they ever dreamed of. . It has hurt sihgiers bebause^the amplifier has made sing-, ers out of peiople who would never haVe been able to sing anywhifre else.' -'.':' ■ ^ -"^ I. might conclude by saying that thiert . is rio question in my mind; that In the niear futurie : Ani'Tica will awaken to the serious financial difli-. ctilties at present hesettihg . opera; and in its usual .benevolent fashion will provide .the, hjecessary funds to insure. Its .growth and continuation. _ we can proceed far. .First, we need v>6rks into Eriiglish, httw.ever, Music, .^jnajiej. opera _ conipanies' scattiered like painting; sculpture or any . of jj^.oygij5ut the country where youiig the arts, dtaws its inspiration Jrom singers will be able to riecelve their the llviSs of the . people , who . create. Ujgjning-.-aTlid . expe and sec- it arid frort the country from which Lj^^ly^ yfif^ will have to give our It comes. Italian operas mirror the ©peras iii English so that the public flrei sensuousness and melody of the large will understand, people' Of Italy; French operia^ :Ever since opera was filrst pre- epitomiie the precise, neat, minds of gg-^^g^ in America the star ■ system the Frenchriilbn. While the Germatt Kj^g prevalledL This is wrong, for force, seriqushess and lack of humorj y^e,. Operas, are what thj public ■ de is revealed iii .Gerrnan works, . ' siri^s to see, arid so long as the sing- But it must be remeriibered that ing- iS: adequate a balanced, enseriible the language of. each of these coUn-['shouid. he more Important than a tries has also helped« often uncon- sciously, in determining the- struc- ture of the melodies. Keeping the theme and the: riiusic of operas and star. You see, Under the - star sys- tem, the average person feels that whatever the publicized singer ihay be .doing is correct ,and regardless altering their lariguages would be as of whether the star is g6od, ba4 or false as teaching an Ariierican Span Ish, then referring to hiiri as a Spaniard. I am 'confident that the .famous operas of toidfey will never change. •Aida,' "Die Walkuere,' 'Carmen,' •Faust' and others, of the present favorites will remain as is. The changes will come in the nature of opera en masse, not in additions to existing works. How? Musicians: a:oniirLg from Europe will most probably .continue to write In their native tori:gues,: for a while anyway, but their surroundings will be. different. The experiences they've indifferent,: the public believes \yhat was done . pn the stage, is correct. The results are that other' singers suffer .by comparison, and usually the opera suffers. The average at<> teridee of opera does not really know the good from the bad, and the only way they determine what they like is by newspaper criticism. This is no good, for opera', since it tends to place-the entire ]>erformance in the hands of one or two persons, arid thus Jeopardizes the good of all. Lately I understand our public schools have been .training young sters.'in the knowledge and apprc' beeT'throughr'the'lhingr they've I eiatlon of good music. This is what seen wil}, uridoubtedly be imprinted on their minds, and will in turn be reflected in their compositions. The gay colorings, fabulous plots and glamorizing settings which have dis tinguished opera to date will uri doubtedly be greatly minimized, and a truer, more realistic type Of libretto' and. score will take their place. America will • begin' to take its position in the creative " as well as; the business end of opera. Preyious ly opera in ^ta^nerica has riiore or less limited ttself to the classes. As great works generally comz from the masses, opera in the New World has been staggering under an almost im movable handicap. - Movies have be gun to interest the people .in better forms of .music; Radio has aided it. With the arrival of television opera should come irito its owri as an American form of entertainnient arid ciourcejof creaitive irispiration ^ As ..the i Ariiericans are - realists, American, operas will, surely deal with, the world of the conscious rather than of the fancy. T^^ey will probably center about, this country's folklore and life. The music will have none of the'depth, sorrow, and backgrpund pf America is rnpt: an old nation filled With sadriess. Its operas, as. Its movies, will end ..hajppily. Heroes and heroines '-will be.. young arid hahdspnie. This trend is already ap parent.. Voice isn't enough for the American ' audience, it demands lopk^, personality and ^ dramatic ability as well; aind it gets it. .: Admission prices to operas will be lower. Productions will bis costlier. Opera will belong to the, Amerjcari pepjile arid it .will see that; it has everything that big business ;can give it. Talent scouts' will soon probably visit music schools looking for young singers, the same as today. they visit campus^ searcTiing.. for", youthful atftprs. Opera wiU undoubtedly gO; Into large-scale . production, . The best:bf the bid music will be kept. New will. be added. Opera :which was in danger of stagnation Under the old European; regime will have a new revival, and I atr sure will be as great, and considerably ipore pib^>Ular.than «v'er before. must be done ten times -over, in America, If music is to survive, for a love of good music instilled in the ybuhg will carry over Into to morrow's generation and establish the audiences of the future, WedneBdajt March 5, .1941 Spends 75!^ of Vocd Teachers Are Menace to By t'riedrich ScKorr yfagvierian •Borttone, - MetropoHton. .: 'Op6rd. :[■■,-.. "-'''-/^ Patient Preparation For Opera Career Cannot Be Laz3y Avoided By Gladys Swarthout Meno-Soprano, Metropolitan Opera Thd principal reason behind the failure of the world In general, arid the United. States In particular, to produce great singers Is lack of op portunity. Unquestionably America has the voices; and great voices'-it that. The best of the Aiherican singers of the past 15 years all 'were helped tiremendpusly by Tulllo Sera fin (former leading Italian conductor at, the! Met), who gave thcni the necessary time andcoaching to make them; iable to suiCcessfully han- EUrope£)n operas;..] die their roles. Rosa Ponselle, Law- rence Tibbett, .Richard Grppks, Rose Bamptbn, Helen jepsori and myself are eixairriples -of: Some of the people he helped. ■ When Serafln . left here to go back 'tp Italy he told me he would ; return. If at: any. time a project could be started to aid: young singers to learri and sing their operas in English.- . He felt the, greatest voices in the world .Were ;in Ahierica and. all that they. needed, was. proper training and the chance to be heard. ' One cannot expiect the MetroiJoli- tan, as the greatest jntstitution of its. kind In the country, arid: beSet with; the ' many difficulties of its seaspri* to train, d.eyel6p,. arid givfe trie tiihe. that.is, necessary to the young sing- ers. ; prie carihPt also expect the oiiersl^gping public to accept these young singiers at a $7 top; The Metrbpolitah Is ript a training schpol. but yet that; 13 Just what the icoun- try needs. : Everi In Italy tPciay, where oper- atic; siriging is as natural aS eating, young men ; land . Women no longer aire devoting themselves-; to study.^ Most of today's youth seems to be desirous of starting on top without expending .the years of sweat and toil" that are. required, for perfecting voice for a successful carecsr. I, receiye : huridreds :of: ' letters .from young Americans who want to sing opera, but .desire to appear ..on the radio, first, :feelirig it is iriUch easier and rnbre lucrative. That does: not mean I aril disparaging radio, for if any thirig has dbrte wonders toward the establishmerit of appreciation of ojpera In this country. It is radio. , It has increased our. public mainy tbnes over, and: aided in making us kniown on our concert tours. .But it. re- quires, an entirely . different tech- nique, and one which the embryonic singers Shbuld study just as care- fully, as .for his; or her debut In opera.' ;.\ '■ ; ';■ ■ . My solution to the present prob- lem of saving or expanding opera, would be for a goverriment sponsor- hip of opera as, a whole throughout the country, with a principal com- pany in New York, with the stairs who have arrived and are estab-. lished, working on tour with the conductors and maestri throughout municipalities where yoUng singers could appear for auditions and se- cure the coaching and instruction that Is necessary. A half dozen such companies covered by government backing could tour the country giv- ing every aspirant a chance to riiake good, until he or she, wrbrking their way'gradually upward as is done in the smaller baseball leagues, would reach the big league, or the Metro- politan. This would, give that com- pany an endless stream of talent from which: to choose and plan Its season. The Metrbpolitan tbday draws on an operatic public of 50,000 to 75,000 in New York over the period of a season; This figure, is^ insignificant when we consider the vast numbers who attend legitimaite plays or: films, and yet With proper care that pub- lic, too can be tapped. To ao so would require giving opera in tne terms of the modern theatre, tather than the antiquated presentation of 1850. Opera Is an expensive piiropO' sition, but it is not necessary to give rehearsals with full orchestra. Using conductor and piano accompaniment, sirigers can be well rehearsed in their roles before stepping on the stage. Today the young singer must almost always prepare a role by himself, when all. that should be done at home. Is the memorizatibn of the role. ; Fortuno Gallo is an excellent ex arnple of an impresario who has niade opera pay. over a period of 25 years. Operas can be mounted, and most -respectively so, for $3,000; ahd when you^ consider ; that yoU. riiay give 30 or mors performances of that opera bver a peribd of a few years, it actually costs orily . $100 a show ;ing./.''.",..--'. •■ The star system never hais been a good brie, .but the. public has always insisted on it.. However; the public establishes and makes its own stars; Kirsten Flagsted, Lily .Pons arid Sal- ;v,atbre,:B$ccolirii during, the past few years are gpod examples; of singers appeairing .with no advance baiUybo'o, whp Ijecame.;: established overnight; -Tob many singers'today, with five or six' roles, feel they- are ready, Iri: triy^ own case 1 learned 22 roles orif summer fbr my debut", at • Rayina Park,, Ghicagp, arid sang 63 perfprm anceS. bf: therii - that summer. ■ That meant rising, at. 7 a.m; .arid' wPrklng Until" midnight; bjut it .was worth it. In the case pf 'diarmen,', I studied the role five years before I dared step ori the stage.. Today I have a.p- proximately 50 roles, arid for some seasons i; sang as often as SO to 60 times yearly at the Kletropplitan. : inability of America, to produce a really great: Wagnerian singer among thbiisands of ybungstiers.can be laid ,equally at the door of the teacher and the aspirant. It is safe to say that fully .75% df: the. teachers today are a menace to' the profes- sion; Voice teaching or coaching is the only prbfessibn / In the V. S.. where some sort,of an examin^^tlon oi" decree before starting is riot re- quired; The doctor, lawyer, en- gineer,: must .paiss rigid examiriatioris before being allowed tp practice, but tiiifr voice teacher need only;.hang out a shingle; and he is ready .to start '.. ).' i, The . singer .who never, .made; a jdebut, the stage directpr .Who never had a job, the .accompanist who cpuld not make, a career as. a solp-^ ist, even the butler tb a singer, have- become -vpcal teachers. :Especially, ara thesb persons able to sUcceed in the smaller towns. In New York or Chipiago. a young student may, hear- ing bthers; be able tb. switch, and do so. before his voice is •wrecked, but the smaller cities db not allow so great a selectivity. The Pnly way in which this men- ace to young singing America can be overcome, is by a. government or state set-up,; with a board of exam- iners inquiririg minutely into the qualifications of each teacher befpre a license is issue^d. This >vould eliminate the incompetents and those to whom the finahciial returns are far: more Iriipbrtant than the training; of the voice. Then, too. It must be remembered that rio teacher Is a magician. I well remember a young lyric tenor with a light t>leasing voice who came,to me for helt>. He wanted irt^medlately to become a heroic tenbr. After sev- eral attempts to dissuade him I was forced, to let hini go. He wanted what nature had not given him and I could not help. Earnest study among the. young Is not a trait bf Ainerica to.day. Everything Is sacri- ficed to speed, and the question of most young singers Is not *How can I do. this,' but 'How soon wHJ. I be able to do it.' Training a voice for opera takes years of sweat and work,, arid no miracle can be accomplished overnight. That Is the reason so few Ameri- cans really reach the heights, for they fail to work on a role from all angles; the historical, tonal, dramatic, and human; Most young singers . memorize roles and have: little or no idea of what they Mare singing about. It is best for them to learn all their roles first In English, and then after they kriow where the proper, nuances be- long, relearn them, in the original language. ... At the present tlmie I am head of the vocal department of the Jiillus Hart Musical: Foundation at, :Hart- ferd, Conn.. Here, after experimenta- tion, I . refuse to let a singer. sing; in any tongue but English Unless lie speaks ; that .pther.. . language, as. ;a native. ; Such experimentaitipn - has borne -fruit, arid my pupils at least know What they are singing abbut. It is true; that Inadequate, transla- tions exist which frequently niake the words ridiculous, but no riibre so than my own siriging pf 'Aida' and ■ Carmeri' in German when I was eri-. gaged at the SItate .bjpera Iri Berlin and Vienna, and if I've got to. take a licking I,take the one;which hurts the leiiSt and would, prefer to have the audience understand What is be- ing sung.. • ■: ■:■';■.;.;>;• Opera: . must existT-^generally—as an ensemble and not. ori: tbe Star sys- tem; In the: key cities it may be necessary because the ,public is used to it, but . it must be reriiembered that bpeira'Cannot be a flnanbial success or .even a paying propositionj and aS a: result the. public sui>port must be secured, not for ;the glbrlfication .'pf. societyi but to enable the shopkeeper who has $1 to spend to be' able to gb to an opera the same ias tb a film or theatre for his amusement and the. student for . his education. By Lawrehctt Tibbett . BaHton*/;MetropoUton. Operd RegardUig thf avei^ge presenta- tion of opera in this country at: the present tribment,. I think it safe tb: sajr 'thM ther aybragi* pa^^^^ uriderr stands and. appreciates only the most lanilllar. arlasi The. fault here lies in the staging of the operas.: I be- lieve.; they :8hovil.d lie. given In our own "^tongue and in the vernacular;, so that they: can be brought home to the vast , multitude bf bperagders.. What opera needs ln this respect , is a good translator. . . > . ' isbniethirig must be done '.fpr thie ypiirig siriger just istarting out who needs audience conditioning and ex- perience, and who is on the road tb becoming a name draw. There-are thousands bf people who Would pay fbr the privilege of listenirig to these sirigers if the prices ! were ;withirt- their pbcketbpoks. America needs a na^^ network, bf rimunicipal and stale opera houses; smaller: auditoriums, and opera : at popular prices^; This, type, of. opfera must also : be gfood -entertairimerit. and be able to compete on that level. With other forms of: entertainment. I don't bellevi in art for art's sake, but art fbr the people's sake. To digress for a moment, imagine the Uriited States with 20-30- companies In. the large cities. Prevented from too severe financial losses by gov-, erriment subsidy, and backed by mu- nicipal sppnsbrs to boot, literally thousands of ybung fresh voices . which have ho chance tpday will be heard. It not only means a liveli- hood for the sirigers, but will prp-/ vide stiff competition for radio and fllm.eritertairiment Opera must not be.a subsidy of society.. Most sing- ers dread Monday nights at the Met, when the local '400' turn out in thousands' and all seem to feel it pleblan to applaud. We prefer the popular-priced Saturday night opera which draws, a poorer but more ap- preciative audience. Interest in opeira is growing In this country^growmg rapidly; You can see that in audience reactions, and hear it in their comments. Great music is jiist as contagious as pbpular music, the difference being ^hat It requires a little more time to take."- The American people have been. expPsed to bpera as a result of radio much mbre extensively than a cehr tury and a half before had accpm- pllshed, and It Is going over. Due to radio the general public is losing its fear of grand opera as a bore- some fprhi of higher enterttiflrtient. Radio and films have pointed the way to new vistas. In the operatic - world. They have developed the ~ eye so that the opera singer learns to conform, to their taste for athletic figures, credible costumes and make- up. They: have-familiarized; the country with great music so that^ many of its complexities no longer exist for the public of today. ' This country needs an operatic style of its bwri; straight dialogue for dramatic purposes arid sphg in lyric mbmeritis. And above all—in Eng- lish. ;..■■■•.■■,• ■•■. ■;; ■ :: _ We spend as a nation riiore money each year on . pbpular and classicail mdsie thari any nation on the faice of the earth. ; £(ince opera Is .really drama set to music, why shQ.uldn't it become typically Amerieari . arid take its rightful place near the top?, it shbuld take out citizenshlE papers' and shake off: its foreign background. fTbo little is done fbr the Anierican siriger or . composer and ' Jo offeri. you hear the Arnericari. singer told' by well-meaning .. but mislriforriied persons ' tp secure their training abrbadi and bel 'discovered' by American Impre'saribs,'. -Iri bygone :ye'ars this riiight; have been so,: but triaining can be secured .in Ariierica ' liP.w that it is-every whit-as good as in Europe,' The Metropolitan should; be the last goal of the young singer, not the first, as; succ.ess dOeis nPt cotn^, easily. ■ ' 1 :believe.. in: America and American, singers. I. believe given half a; chairtce they 'can' give; the world the musical, tradition that We have been waitihg so long fbr.; 1 believe ; in America today as the center, refuge and Sanctuary bf the music pf tomorrow. ;