f gymnastics each day, to exercise the
voice and limber up the anatomy. These act as a massage for the voice;
they are in the nature of humming, mingled with grunts, calls,
exclamations, shouts, and many kinds of sounds--indeed so many and
various they cannot be enumerated. But they put the voice in condition,
so there is no need for all these other exercises which most singers
find so essential to their vocal well-being. I will say right here that
I am working with two masters; the first for the mechanics of the voice,
the second who helps me from quite an opposite angle--interpretation and
finish.

WITH MAUREL

"The master from whom I have learned so much that it cannot be estimated
is Victor Maurel. He is a most remarkable man, a great thinker and
philosopher. If he had turned his attention to any other art or science,
or if he had been but a day laborer, he would be a great man anywhere,
in any capacity.

"I have been with him, whenever possible, for two years now. He has
shown me the philosophy, the psychology of singing. He has taught me the
science of intense diction. By means of such diction, I can sing _mezza
voce_, and put it over with less effort and much more artistic effect
than I ever used to do, when I employed much more voice. You hear it
said this or that person has a big voice and can sing with great power.
A brass band can make a lot of noise. I have stood beside men, who in a
smaller space, could make much more noise than I could. But when they
got out on the stage you couldn't hear them at the back of the hall. It
is the knowing how to use the voice with the least possible effort,
coupled with the right kind of diction, that will make the greatest
effect. Now I can express myself, and deliver the message I feel I have
to give.

THE SINGER BEFORE AN AUDIENCE

"You ask if I hear myself, when I am singing for an audience. In a
general way, yes. Of course I do not get the full effect of what I am
doing; a singer never does. It takes the records to tell me that, and I
have been making records for a good number of years. But I know the
sensations which accompany correct tone production, and if I feel they
are different in any place or passage, I try to make a mental note of
the fact and the passage, that I may correct it afterwards. But I must
emphasize the point that when I sing, I cast away all thought of _how_ I
do anything technical; I want to get away from the mechanics of the
voice; I mus