ic of _Marouf_?' I asked. 'Oh, yes indeed,'
every one said. It is one of my longest parts, but not one of my special
favorites.

"In the summer! Ah, I go back to my beloved Italy almost as soon as the
Metropolitan season closes. I could sing in Buenos Aires, as the season
there follows the one here. But I prefer to rest the whole time until I
return. I feel the singer needs a period of rest each year. To show you
how necessary it is for the singer to do daily work on the voice, I
almost feel I cannot sing at all during the summer, as I do no
practicing, and without vocalizes one cannot keep in trim. If I am asked
to sing during vacation, I generally refuse. I tell them I cannot sing,
for I do not practice. It takes me a little while after I return, to get
the vocal apparatus in shape again.

"Thus it means constant study, eternal vigilance to attain the goal,
then to hold what you have attained and advance beyond it if possible."

VII

=LUISA TETRAZZINI=

THE COLORATURA VOICE

Luisa Tetrazzini has been called the greatest exponent of coloratura
singing that we have at the present time. Her phenomenal successes in
various quarters of the globe, where she has been heard in both opera
and concert, are well known, and form pages of musical history, full of
interest. This remarkable voice, of exquisite quality and development,
is another proof that we have as beautiful voices to-day, if we will but
realize the fact, as were ever known or heard of in the days of famous
Italian songsters.

[Illustration: LOUISA TETRAZZINI]

Portraits often belie the artist, by accentuating, unduly, some
individuality of face or figure, and Tetrazzini is no exception. From
her pictures one would expect to find one of the imperious, dominating
order of prima donnas of the old school. When I met the diva, I was at
once struck by the simplicity of her appearance and attire. There was
nothing pompous about her; she did not carry herself with the air of
one conscious of possessing something admired and sought after by all
the world, something which set her on a high pedestal apart from other
singers. Not at all. I saw a little lady of plump, comfortable figure, a
face which beamed with kindliness and good humor, a mouth wreathed with
smiles. Her manner and speech were equally simple and cordial, so that
the visitor was put at ease at once, and felt she had known the great
singer for years.

Before the conference could begin a pre