an virtues. As a
rule, Italian singers have a better ear for pitch, breathe more
naturally, and execute more easily than German and French singers,
whose guttural and nasal sounds they also avoid. The difference
between the average Italian and German singers is well brought out by
Dr. Hanslick, in speaking of the Italian performances which formerly
used to alternate with the German operas in Vienna: "Most of our
Italian guests," he says, "distinguish themselves by means of the
thorough command they have over their voices, which in themselves are
by no means imposing; our German members by powerful voices, which,
however, owing to their insufficient training, do not produce half the
effect they would if they had been subjected to the same amount of
training. With the Italians great certainty and evenness throughout
the role; with the Germans an unequal alternation of brilliant and
mediocre moments, which seems partly accidental."

It is this element of accident and uncertainty that lowers the value
of many German singers. Herr Niemann, for instance, has moments--and,
indeed, whole evenings--when his voice, seemingly rejuvenated, not
only rises to sublime heights of dramatic passion, but possesses rare
sensuous beauty; while on other occasions the sound of his voice is
almost unbearable. Niemann, of course, is fifty-eight years old, but
many of the younger German singers too often have their bad
quarter-hours; and even Lilli Lehmann--whom I would rather hear for my
own pleasure than any other singer now on the stage--emits
occasionally a disagreeable guttural sound. Nothing of the sort in
Mme. Patti, whom Niemann no doubt is right in pronouncing the most
perfect vocalist, not only of this period, but of all times. I, for my
part, have never cared much for the _bel canto_ as such, because it is
so often wasted on trashy compositions. Yet, when I heard Mme. Patti
for the first time in New York, I could not help indulging in the
following rhapsody: "The ordinary epithets applicable to a voice, such
as sweet, sympathetic, flexible, expressive, sound almost too
commonplace to be applied to Patti's voice at its best, as it was when
she sang the _valse_ Ombra Leggiera from 'Dinora,' and 'Home, Sweet
Home.' Her voice has a natural sensuous charm like a Cremona violin,
which it is a pleasure to listen to, irrespective of what she happens
to be singing. It is a pleasure, too, to hear under what perfect
control she has it; how, wit