word
"loosening."]

The study needed for this occupies an entire lifetime; not only
because the singer must perfect himself more and more in the roles of
his repertory--even after he has been performing them year in and year
out,--but because he must continually strive for progress, setting
himself tasks that require greater and greater mastery and strength,
and thereby demand fresh study.

_He who stands still, goes backward._

Nevertheless, there are fortunately gifted geniuses in whom are
already united all the qualities needed to attain greatness and
perfection, and whose circumstances in life are equally fortunate; who
can reach the goal earlier, without devoting their whole lives to it.
Thus, for instance, in Adelina Patti everything was united,--the
splendid voice, paired with great talent for singing, and the long
oversight of her studies by her distinguished teacher, Strakosch. She
never sang roles that did not suit her voice; in her earlier years she
sang only arias and duets or single solos, never taking part in
ensembles. She never sang even her limited repertory when she was
indisposed. She never attended rehearsals, but came to the theatre in
the evening and sang triumphantly, without ever having seen the
persons who sang and acted with her. She spared herself rehearsals
which, on the day of the performance, or the day before, exhaust all
singers, because of the excitement of all kinds attending them, and
which contribute neither to the freshness of the voice nor to the joy
of the profession.

Although she was a Spaniard by birth and an American by early
adoption, she was, so to speak, the greatest Italian singer of my
time. All was absolutely good, correct, and flawless, the voice like a
bell that you seemed to hear long after its singing had ceased.

Yet she could give no explanation of her art, and answered all her
colleagues' questions concerning it with an "Ah, je n'en sais rien!"

She possessed, unconsciously, as a gift of nature, a union of all
those qualities that all other singers must attain and possess
_consciously_. Her vocal organs stood in the most favorable relations
to each other. Her talent, and her remarkably trained ear, maintained
control over the beauty of her singing and of her voice. The fortunate
circumstances of her life preserved her from all injury. The purity
and flawlessness of her tone, the beautiful equalization of her whole
voice, constituted the magic by which she