ere is no singer who more thoroughly believes in the gospel of
work, and surely not one who more consistently practices what she
preaches, than Amelita Galli-Curci. She knows the value of work, and she
loves it for its own sake. There is no long cessation for her, during
summer months, "to rest her voice." There is no half-day seclusion after
a performance, to recover from the fatigue of singing a role the night
before. No, for her this event does not spell exhaustion but happiness,
exhilaration. It is a pleasure to sing because it is not wearisome--it
is a part of herself. And she enjoys the doing! Thus it happens that the
morning after a performance, she is up and abroad betimes, ready to
attend personally to the many calls upon her time and attention. She can
use her speaking voice without fear, because she has never done anything
to strain it; she is usually strong and well, buoyant and bright. Those
soft, dark eyes are wells of intelligent thinking; the mouth smiles
engagingly as she speaks; the slight figure is full of life and energy.
Yet there is a deep sense of calm in her presence. A brave, bright
spirit; a great, wonderful artist!

These thoughts faintly glimpse my first impression of Mme. Galli-Curci,
as she entered her big, sunny parlor, where I was waiting to see her.
Her delicate, oval face was aglow with the flush of healthful exercise,
for she had just come in from a shopping expedition and the wintry air
was keen. "I love to go shopping," she explained, "so I always do it
myself."

She bade me sit beside her on a comfortable divan, and at once began to
speak of the things I most wished to hear.

"I am often asked," she began, "to describe how I create this or that
effect, how I produce such and such tones, how I make the voice float to
the farthest corner, and so on. I answer, that is my secret. In reality
it is no secret at all, at least not to any one who has solved the
problem. Any one possessing a voice and intelligence, can acquire these
things, who knows how to go to work to get them. But if one has no
notion of the process, no amount of mere talking will make it plain.
Singing an opera role seems such an easy thing from the other side of
the footlights. People seem to think, if you only know how to sing, it
is perfectly natural and easy for you to impersonate a great lyric role.
And the more mastery you have, the easier they think it is to do it. The
real truth of the matter is that it require