raining, and
responsive to the slightest suggestion of an artistic temperament.

In short, virtuosity may have changed in form, but it is still one of
the cornerstones of the singer's art. An executive artist will spare
no pains to acquire perfect technical skill; for the _metier_, or
mechanical elements of any art, can be acquired, spontaneous though
the results may sometimes appear. Its primary use is, and should be,
to serve as a medium of interpretation. True, virtuosity is frequently
a vehicle for personal display, as, notably, in the operas of
Cimarosa, Bellini, Donizetti, and the earlier works of Rossini and
Verdi. At its worst, however, it is a practical demonstration of the
fact that the executant, vocal or instrumental, has completely
mastered the mechanical elements of his profession; that, to use the
_argot_ of the studios, "_il connait son metier_" (he knows his
trade).

Imperfect technique, indeed, is to be deprecated, if merely for the
reason that it may debar a singer from interpreting accurately the
composer's ideas. How seldom, if ever, even in the best lyric
theatres, is the following passage heard as the composer himself
indicated:

[Music: "Plus blanche"

Les Huguenots: Act I

Meyerbeer

Plus pure, plus pure qu'un jour de printemps]

or the concluding phrase of "Celeste Aida" (in _Aida_, Act I), as
Verdi wrote it and wished it to be sung:

[Music: un trono vicino al sol, un trono vicino al sol.]

At present the majority of operatic tenors, to whom are assigned the
strong tenor (_fort tenor_) roles, can sing the higher tones of their
compass only in _forte_, and with full voice. Thus an additional and
very charming effect is lost to them. Yet Adolphe Nourrit, who created
the role of Raoul in _Les Huguenots_, sang, it is said, the phrase as
written. The late Italo Campanini, Sims Reeves, and the famous Spanish
tenor Gayarre, were all able to sing the

[Music]

_mezza voce_, by a skilled use of the covered tones.

I do not ignore the fact that cases occur where artists, owing to some
physiological peculiarity or personal idiosyncrasy, are unable to
overcome certain special difficulties; where, indeed, the effort would
produce but meagre results. But such instances are the exception, not
the rule. The lyric artist who is gifted merely with a beautiful
voice, over which he has acquired but imperfect control, is at the
mercy of every slight indisposition that may temporarily affect the
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