an stop the passing of time. The old
technique of the singer breaks down before the new technique of the
composer and the musician with daring will go still further if the
singer will but follow. Would that some singer would have the complete
courage to lead! But do not misunderstand me. The road to Parnassus is
no shorter because it has been newly paved. Indeed I think it is
longer. Caffarelli studied six years before he made his debut as "the
greatest singer in the world" but I imagine that Waslav Nijinsky
studied ten before he set foot on the stage. The new music drama,
combining as it does principles from all the arts is all-demanding of
its interpreters. The new singer must learn how to move gracefully and
awkwardly, how to make both fantastic and realistic gestures, always
unconventional gestures, because conventions stamp the imitator. She
must peer into every period, glance at every nation. Every nerve
centre must be prepared to express any adumbration of plasticity. Many
of the new operas, _Carmen_, _La Dolores_, _Salome_, _Elektra_, to
name a few, call for interpretative dancing of the first order.
_Madama Butterfly_ and _Lakme_ demand a knowledge of national
characteristics. _Pelleas et Melisande_ and _Ariane et Barbe-Bleue_
require of the interpreter absolutely distinct enunciation. In
Handel's operas the phrases were repeated so many times that the
singer was excused if he proclaimed the meaning of the line once.
After that he could alter the vowels and consonants to suit his vocal
convenience. _Monna Vanna_ and _Tristan und Isolde_ exact of their
interpreters acting of the highest poetic and imaginative scope....

It is a question whether certain singers of our day have not solved
these problems with greater success than that for which they are given
credit.... Yvette Guilbert has announced publicly that she never had a
teacher, that she would not trust her voice to a teacher. The
enchanting Yvette practises a sound by herself until she is able to
make it; she repeats a phrase until she can deliver it without an
interrupting breath, and is there a singer on the stage more
expressive than Yvette Guilbert? She sings a little tenor, a little
baritone, and a little bass. She can succeed almost invariably in
making the effect she sets out to make. And Yvette Guilbert is the
answer to the statement often made that unorthodox methods of singing
ruin the voice. Ruin it for performances of _Linda di Chaminoux_ and