Project Gutenberg's Confessions of an Opera Singer, by Kathleen Howard

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Title: Confessions of an Opera Singer

Author: Kathleen Howard

Release Date: June 26, 2010 [EBook #32980]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFESSIONS OF AN OPERA SINGER ***

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[Illustration: Photo of Kathleen Howard, Autographed]

CONFESSIONS OF
AN OPERA SINGER

BY KATHLEEN HOWARD

NEW YORK MCMXVIII

ALFRED A. KNOPF

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
KATHLEEN HOWARD BAIRD

_Published September 1918_

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

_To
Marjorie_

FOREWORD

So many fantastic tales have come to us of students' life abroad, of
their temptations, trials, finances, successes and failures, that I have
attempted to give here the true story of the preparation for an operatic
career, and its fruition. My road leads from New York to Paris, to
Germany and thence to London, and back to the Metropolitan Opera House.
My operatic experiences in Germany are inalienably associated with the
lives of the people, particularly with the German officer class, viewed
publicly and privately; in fact in the town where I was first engaged,
Metz, I found they were as vital a part of the Opera house life as the
singers themselves. Their arrogance tainted the town life as well, and
here I first became acquainted with the pitiful attempt at swagger and
brilliancy which often covered a state of grinding poverty, or the
thwarted natural domestic instincts which were ruthlessly sacrificed to
the "uniform"--the all-desirable entree to society, for which no price
was too high to pay. I hope this book will be of interest not only to
those whose goal is the operatic or concert stage, but to those to whom
"human documents" appeal. It is a story of real people, real obstacles
overcome, and contains much intimate talk of back-stage life in opera
houses.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER