TIlE ETUDE DECEMBER 1920 Page 799 Self-Study, in the Art of Singing An Interview with the Distinguished Diva Mme . A M ELIT A GALLI-CURC I Secured Expressly for TH E ETUD E [Editor's Note: No success in the recent history of the Art has equalled that of Mme. Amelita Galli-Curci in its apparent suddenness or in its brilliance. One moment she was "unknown" in America and the next she was heralded as "the only successor of Mme. Patti," "the wonder voice of the new century," etc., etc. Naturally the public was only too anxious to hear her in opera, recitals and through records. No w that she has been before the American public for four years and has become established by a long chain of triumphs, American musicians are anxious to know something of the preparations which made it possible for her to take the rank which she so splendidly deserves. She was born in Milan, Italy. Received her general education at the Liceo Alles-sandro Manzoni, Milan, and at the International In-stitute at Milan. Her musical education was re-ceived at the famous Milan Conservatory, where she was a pupil of Vincenzo Appiani, graduating as a pianist. Mme. Galli-Curci is a gifted linguist, speaking several languages with fluency.] "JUST wha t influence heredity ma y hav e upon th e musical ar t an d upon musicians has, of course, been a muc h discussed question. I n m y ow n case, I wa s for -tunat e in havin g a fathe r who, althoug h engage d in an -other vocation, wa s a fine amateu r musician. M y grand -fathe r wa s a conductor an d m y grandmothe r wa s an oper a singer of distinction in Italy. Lik e myself , she wa s a coloratur a soprano, an d I can recollect wit h joy he r voice an d he r metho d of singing. Eve n at th e age of seventy-five he r voice wa s wonderfull y well preserved, because she alway s san g wit h th e greates t ease and wit h non e of the force d throa t restrictions whic h mak e th e wor k of so man y singers insufferable. "M y ow n musical education began at th e age of five, whe n I commenced t o play the piano. Meanwhil e I san g aroun d the house, an d m y grandmothe r used t o say in good humor : 'Kee p it up, m y dear ; perhap s some day you ma y be a better singer tha n I am.' M y father , how -ever, wa s mor e seriously interested in instrumenta l music, and desired tha t I should become a pianist. Ho w for -tunat e fo r me. Otherwise, I should never have ha d tha t thoroug h musical drill whic h gave me a n acquaintance wit h the ar t which I cannot believe could come in any other way. Mas -cagni wa s a ver y good frien d of our famil y an d took a grea t interest in m y playing. H e came t o our house ver y frequently, an d his advice an d inspiration naturall y mean t muc h t o a youn g impressionable girl. General Education "M y general education wa s very carefull y guarde d by m y father , wh o sent m e t o the best schools in Milan, one of whic h wa s un -der the managemen t of Germans , an d it wa s ther e tha t I acquired m y acquaintance wit h the Germa n language. I wa s the n sent t o the Conservatorio , and graduate d wit h a gold medal as a pianist. Thi s wo n m e some dis-tinction in Ital y an d enabled m e t o tou r as a pianist. I did not preten d t o play the big, exhaustiv e works , but m y program s wer e mad e up of such pieces as th e Abeg of Schu -mann , studies by Scharwenka , impromptu s of Chopin, th e fou r scherzos of Chopin, the first ballade, the nocturne s (th e fift h in th e book wa s m y favorite ) and work s of Bach. (O f course, I ha d been throug h the Wohltemper -ites Clavier.) I n those days I wa s very frail , an d I ha d aspired t o develop m y repertoir e so tha t later I could include th e grea t »vorks fo r the pian o requirin g a mor e or less exhaustive technic of the bravur a type. "Onc e I wen t to hea r Busoni and afte r the concert it came t o m e like a revelation, 'You can never be such a pianist as he. You r hand an d you r physical strengt h will not per -mit it / I wen t hom e in mor e or less sadness, knowin g tha t despite th e success I ha d had in m y piano playing, m y decision wa s a wise one. Figuratively , I closed the lid of m y pian o upon m y career as a pianist an d decided t o lear n ho w t o sing. Th e memor y of m y grand -mother' s voice singin g Bellini's Qui la Voce wa s still ringin g in m y ear s with th e lovely purit y of tone tha t she possessed. Mascagn i called upon us at tha t time, and I asked hi m to hea r m e sing. H e did so, and thre w up his hands, saying, 'Wh y in the worl d hav e you been wastin g you r time wit h piano playin g whe n you have a natura l voice like that ? Suc h voices ar e born. Star t t o wor k at once t o develop you r voice.' Meanwhile, of course, I had hear d a grea t deal of singin g and a grea t deal of so-called voice teaching. I wen t t o tw o teacher s in Milan, but wa s so dissatisfied wit h wha t I hear d fro m the m an d fro m their pupils tha t I wa s determine d tha t it would be necessary fo r m e t o develop m y own voice. Please do not tak e this as a n inferenc e tha t all vocal teacher s ar e bad or ar e dispensable. M y own case wa s peculiar. I had been saturated with musical tra -ditions since m y babyhood. I had had, in addition, a ve y fine musical training. Of course, without this I could not have attempte d to do wha t I did in the wa y of self-training . Nevertheless, it is my firm conviction that unless th e student of singin g ha s in his brain an d in his soul those power s of judgin g fo r himself whethe r th e quality of a tone, the intonation (pitch) , th e shading, the parit y an d th e resonance ar e wha t they should be t o insure the highest artistic results, it will be nex t t o impossible fo r hi m t o secure these. Thi s is wha t is mean t by th e phrase—'singer s ar e bor n and not made:' Th e powe r of discrimination, the judgment , etc., mus t be inherent. N o teacher can possibly give the m t o a pupil, except in an artificial way. That , possibly, is the reason wh y so man y students sing like parrots ; because they have the power of mimicry , but nothin g comes fro m within. Th e fine teacher can, of course, tak e a fine sense of tonal values, etc., and, provided th e student ha s a really good natura l voice, lead hi m t o reveal t o himself th e way s in whic h he can use his voice t o the best ad-vantage . Ad d t o this a fine musical training , an d we have a singer. But n o teacher can give t o a voice that velvety smoothness, tha t liquid fluency, tha t bell-like clarity which th e ear of th e educated musician expects, and which the public at larg e demands, unless the stu-dent ha s the powe r of determinin g fo r himself wha t is good and wha t is ba d MME . AMELIT A GALLI-CURC I Four Years of Hard Training "I t was no easy matte r t o give up the grati -fyin g success which attended m y pianistic ap-pearance s t o begin a long ter m of self-study, self-development. Yet I realized tha t it would hardl y be possible fo r me t o accomplish wha t I desired in less tha n fou r years . Therefore , I worke d daily fo r fou r years, drilling myself with the greatest care in scales, arpeggio s an d sustained tones. Th e coloratur e facility I seemed to possess naturally , t o a certain ex -tent ; but I realized that only by har d and patient wor k would it be possible t o have all m y runs, trills, etc., so tha t they alway s would be smooth, articulat e and free—tha t is, unre -stricted—at an y time. I studied the role s in which I aspired to appear , and attended th e oper a faithfull y t o hear fine singing, as well as bad singing. "A s the wor k went on it became mor e an d mor e enjoyable. I felt tha t I wa s upon th e righ t path, an d tha t mean t everything . If I ha d continued as a pianist I could never have been mor e tha n a mediocrity, an d tha t I could not have tolerated. "Abou t this tim e came a crisis in m y fa -ther' s business ; it became necessary fo r m e t o teach. Accordingly, I took a numbe r of pian o pupils and enjoye d tha t phase of my wor k very muc h indeed. I gav e lessons fo r fou r years, an d in m y spar e tim e worke d with m y voice, all by myself , wit h my friend , th e piano. M y guidin g principles were : "There must be as little consciousness of ef-fort in the throat as possible. "There must always be the Joy of Singing. "Success is based upon sensation, whether it feels right to me in my mouth, in my throat, that I know, and nobody else can tell me. " I remembe r tha t my grandmother , wh o
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