Perosi and others. After the young
singer has proven her worth with the public she may expect an income of
from $10,000.00 to $15,000.00 a year. That is what our first-class
singers have received for high-class concert work. Some European prima
donnas like Schumann-Heink and others have commanded much higher
figures.

You ask me what influence the sound reproducing machines have had upon
the demand for good vocal music in America. They have unquestionably
increased the demand very greatly. They have even been known to make
reputations for singers entirely without any other road to publicity.
Take the case of Madame Michaelowa, a Russian prima donna who has never
visited America. Thousands of records of her voice have been sold in
America, and now the demand for her appearance in this country has been
so great that she has been offered huge sums for an American tour. I
believe that if used intelligently the sound reproducing machine may
become a great help to the teacher and student. It is used in many of
the great opera houses of the world as an aid in determining the
engagement of new singers who cannot be personally heard. Some of the
records of my own voice have been so excellent that they seem positively
uncanny to me when I hear them reproduced.

I have no patent exercises to offer to singing students. There are a
thousand ways of learning to breathe properly and they all lead to one
end. Breathing may best be studied when it is made coincident with the
requirements of singing. I have no fantastic technical studies to offer.
My daily work simply consists of scales, arpeggios and the simplest kind
of exercises, the simpler the better. I always make it a point to
commence practicing very softly, slowly and surely. I never sing notes
outside my most comfortable range at the start. Taking notes too high or
too low is an extremely bad plan at first. Many young students make this
fault. They also sing much too loud. The voice should be exercised for
some considerable time on soft exercises before loud notes are even
attempted. It is precisely the same as with physical exercises. The
athlete who exerts himself to his fullest extent at first is working
toward ultimate exhaustion. I have known students who sang "at the top
of their lungs" and called it practice. The next day they grew hoarse
and wondered why the hoarseness came.

NEVER SING WHEN TIRED

Never sing when out of sorts, tired or when the throat is sore. I