May 27, 1988 The New Federalist Page 7

American Almanac
The Singer's Birthday Anniversary:
Nellie Melba and Scientific Singing
by Carol Ruckert
Nellie Melba early in her career!
May 19 is the 127th birthday of one of the greatest opera singers of all time,
Nellie Melba. Most yonger !meri"ans will not re"ogni#e her name, bt
many older "iti#ens remember well this fablos soprano from the trn of
the "entry. Melba toast and pea"h Melba were named for her, as were
many little girls born between 188$ and 191$.
The literatre on her e%"eeds that on any other singer, e%"ept &nri"o 'arso
and (enny )ind. Melba sang at a time when the stats of opera, 1$$ years
ago, was so great that no "ontry, howe*er small, was withot it in some
form or another. +n !stralia, the "ontry of Melba,s birth, the miners in the
gold fields of -i"toria and the "ane."tters in Northern /eensland enthsi.
asti"ally attended operas staged in "hr"h halls, the Me"hani"s +nstitte, or
on billiard tables pshed together to ma0e a stage in the lo"al pb or hotel.
Melba was fortnate to ha*e been born at a time when some of the greatest
opera "omposers of history, s"h as -erdi, were "omposing and personally
"asting the roles and dire"ting their operas. 1he made her first appearan"e at
)a 1"ala on Mar"h 12, 1893. 4ring this period she met -erdi, and wor0ed
dire"tly with him on prod"tions of Rigoletto, Otello, and Aida.
)eon"a*allo was another "omposer with whom she was asso"iated, and she
spent long hors with him wor0ing throgh his new opera, the famos I
Pagliacci.
+n her writings, she des"ribes spending many hors with P""ini, who 5thor.
oghly e%plained his ideas of the msi"6 we rehearsed it bit by bit6 and my
s"ore is fll of his pen"il mar0ings and annotations.5
Bel Canto: Beautiful Singing
For almost 7$ years, she filled opera halls with her beatifl *oi"e, a *oi"e
that was as fle%ible, light, and powerfl at retirement as it was when she
began her "areer. +t astonishes most people today to learn that for Melba,
and other bel canto singers, no mi"rophone was ne"essary to rea"h "learly
ea"h and e*ery person in the adien"e with the beaty and power of the
*oi"e.
The bel "anto method of *oi"e training is a spe"ifi"ally s"ientifi" approa"h
to singing. +n an arti"le re"ently pblished in the New Federalist's !meri"an
!lmana", 5The 8diments of Tning and 8egistration,5 )yndon )a8o"he,
in des"ribing bel canto, writes9 5The simplest e%ample of this is the way in
whi"h the soprano *oi"e natrally sings in a different :ality of *oi"e, in
singing the F of the well.tempered system ;at ' < 22=>, as opposed to
singing the ne%t half.tone, the F.sharp. This register shift of the soprano on
the well.tempered F.sharp is determined by the physiology of the hman
soprano *oi"e. 1inging differently will lead to damaging the singing *oi"e.
Ths, bel canto represents another "ase of man,s dis"o*ery of natral laws,
rather than some artifi"ial "stom.5
Melba,s *oi"e was a li*ing e%ample of the *alidity of this s"ientifi"
approa"h. +n her "hara"teristi"ally independent fashion, Melba applied the
prin"iple of register shifts rigorosly with her own *oi"e, shifting at the F.
sharp into the middle register. !s )a8o"he says, bel canto is not
something whi"h is arbitrary, bt is the dis"o*ery and se of the natral
:alities of the hman *oi"e,s potential for singing. Melba des"ribes in her
own writings her dis"o*ery of this method. 1he refers to a period when she
was still training in !stralia9 a growth began to de*elop on her *o"al
"hords, and she 0new then that if she didn,t "hange the way she was singing
and pla"ing her *oi"e, she wold destroy it. 1he then determined to re?e"t
5"on*entional tea"hing5 and instead to 5obser*e Natre,s laws.5 4ring
training in Paris with Mathilde Mar"hesi, who had trained nder the elder
@ar"ia of +taly, she learned how to pla"e the registers.
Melba and her har"ist Signorina Sassoli!
Melba and her voice teacher Madame Blanche Marchesi #left$ in %&&'!
(uestion of Registration
+n her arti"le, 5The 'are of the -oi"e,5 Melba writes, 5+ espe"ially ad*ise
yong singers abo*e all things to loo0 after the proper posing of the *oi"e.
Ahen + first went to Mar"hesi, in Paris, withot a single *o"al lesson + sang
as well as + do today, bt for one brea0 in my *oi"e. Mar"hesi "orre"ted that
at on"e, and pla"ed the registers properly. +f this had not been done + shold
ha*e totally lost my *oi"e. 1ingers will 0now of themsel*es where the brea0
lies between their registers, and if the tea"her tries to for"e the *oi"e o*er the
brea0 there is sre to be something wrong. The probable reslt will be
permanent rin of the *o"al organs. Many a *oi"e is ths rined in the first
stages of tition. +t is :ite possible to sing as an artist and yet be an
e%"eption to the ordinary rle as to the pla"e where the registers "hange. !
natral pe"liarity in this respe"t shold not be disregarded, + "arry my
middle register to F.sharp, half a tone beyond the pres"ribed limit. +f + were
a tea"her and ad*o"ated this in any spe"ial "ase, + shold ha*e the whole
fraternity absing me. Bt + 0now my own *oi"e.5
Melba sang for 38 years, retiring from pbli" singing at the age of =2 after
gi*ing her farewell performan"e at )ondon,s 'o*ent @arden on (ne 8,
192=. The re"ordings made of her at the time of her retirement still
demonstrate a *oi"e of seemingly effortless power and beaty.
! reading of The Melba Method for *oi"e training and singing demonstrates
wisdom whi"h today,s singers wold find *ery helpfl. 1he writes in The
Melba Method that a singer shold 5sing easily, for it is one of the parado%es
of song that easy singing is good singing, and diffi"lt singing is bad
singing.5
Sing )a""ily and Naturally
&%panding on this idea,
Ahen the *oi"e is badly sed yo are ma0ing "ompli"ated mo*ements
of the throat ms"les, and many diffi"lties of yor own ma0ing ha*e
to be srmonted before the *oi"e "an be prod"ed ot at all. Natre
does not as0 for that. 1he as0s yo to sing, not 5try5 to sing. To sing
happily li0e the birds, as natrally as yo spea0.
1he reminds singers that they are "ommni"ating a message to the listeners9
Thin0 of them. 1pea0 to them, telling them the story "ontained in the
song or aria yo are singing. +f the singer really thin0s of what she
has to say, and of the person to whom she is saying it, she will ha*e
*ery little time in whi"h to thin0 of herself, or of whether she "an hit
this or that noteC . . .
Ahen anyone as0s yo to gi*e them something, there are three
"orses to be ta0en6 yo "an refse to gi*e it and "lt"h it to yorself6
yo "an fling it at the other with for"e and rdeness6 yo "an gi*e it
gra"iosly and willingly. +n these three ways may the *oi"e be sed.
+t may be held in, it may be for"ed ot, it may be gi*en to the adi.
en"e easily and gra"iosly. Ahi"h do yo do, and whi"h wold yo
prefer to doD 1ing for lo*e, not merely be"ase yo ha*e a *oi"e
whi"h someone says will ma0e yor fortne. !lways treat the words
and msi" with respe"t, for they are not yors. Eo are merely the
*ehi"le for presenting them to the adien"e.
Res"ect the Com"oser
Melba was insistent that the singer "ommni"ate what the "omposer
intended in the msi". 1he tells the singer to 5show respe"t to the "omposer
down to the last doble dotted demi.semi:a*er6 by paying attention to, and
"arrying ot, all mar0s of e%pression6 by stdying the shape of ea"h phrase
and by handling yor *oi"e so as to bring ot that shape6 and by stdying
the relation of ea"h phrase to the whole.5
Melba stdied *ery "losely with many of the great "omposers of opera. +n
her writings she dis"sses the sitability of the *oi"es of *arios singers to
the roles of *arios "hara"ters, and how they ha*e to be "ast a""ordingly.
1he states in her 5!d*i"e on the !rt of 1inging59
Ahen possible, + always stdy my role with the "omposer. . . . +f +
"annot rea"h the "omposer, + stdy what the msi" says to me of the
meaning of the libretto. + do not go to the s"ene of the story, stdy the
"lass of people of whi"h the "hara"ters belong, or e*en read of it from
boo0s. + try to get the "omposer,s meaning, rather than to ma0e a
"on"eption of my own of what the part oght to be. + wor0 this ot in
my own mind, not from obser*ation of s"ene or people.
+n his arti"le "ited abo*e, )a8o"he, des"ribing the prpose of all "lassi"al
art to be the perfe"tion of man,s se of natral beaty, writes,
!ll "lassi"al art, as a whole, and in ea"h of the plasti" and non.plasti"
aspe"ts of art as a whole, has a dire"ted "hara"ter. The dire"tion, is
the perfe"tion of man,s se of natral beaty. The reslt of progress
is, that the greater perfe"tion so a"hie*ed be"omes a higher standard
for natral beaty,s e%pression as art. The dis"o*eries whi"h ha*e
established this higher standard persist as artisti" beaty for genera.
tions to "ome6 the en?oyment of s"h wor0s is the a"t of reli*ing the
pro"ess of dis"o*ery, and is ths of the "hara"ter of drable artisti"
beaty on that a""ont. !t the same time, what is pro*en to ha*e been
a *alid dis"o*ery in the prod"tion of artisti" beaty, be"omes a
prin"iple of natral beaty thereafter.
Melba, in The Melba Method, des"ribes the eternal tas0 of songFthat it "an
ne*er be "ompleted in a lifetime.
That is the beaty and fas"ination of the art. Gn"e yo begin to phrase
finely, yo will feel more ?oy in the beatifl finish of a beatifl phrase
than that "ased by the lodest applase of an immense adien"e. The
latter e%"ites for a moment6 the former endres fore*er.
Musical *ducation
Melba was a great proponent of sing one,s mind. 1he was "onstantly
reprimanding the singer to se her mind9 5Thin0 the note, and allow it to
"ome.5 1he said that stdying the song before a"tally singing it 5shold
e%tend o*er se*eral hors daily. First of all, the real meaning of the words
mst be nderstood and, if it is a foreign langage whi"h yo do not spea0,
m"h time mst be spent in translating the words so yo 0now their mean.
ing. The a""ompaniment mst also be stdied, and e*ery phrase of the *oi"e
part played o*er time and again before attempting to sing it.5
1he re"ommends for "hildren that they be ta0en to hear great singers, sin"e,
althogh a great deal will be forgotten, 5the better part will be n"ons"iosly
stowed away in the sb"ons"ios mind, to brst forth later in beatifl song
throgh no different pro"ess than that by whi"h the little birds stow away the
song of the older birds.5 1he stresses the importan"e of a thorogh msi"al
ed"ation and notes that her parents insisted that she stdy piano, organ, and
harmoni" "omposition. Melba re"ommends msi" of the older +talian
"omposers, who 5demand first of all the dl"et tones and limpid flen"y, for
newer singers.5 1he herself was trained on the pianoforte, *iolin, organ, and
harp. 1he "old play any s"ore throgh and learned operas by herself so that
she "old form her own interpretation.
The late !ssistant Manager of the Metropolitan Gpera, Fran"is 8obinson,
wrote in the !meri"an edition of Herthington,s biography Melba9
The :ality of msi"al tone "annot ade:ately be des"ribed. +t has
been "alled sil*ery, bt what does that signifyD There is one :ality
whi"h it had and whi"h may be "omprehended e*en by those who did
not hear her6 it had splendor. The tones glowed with a star.li0e
brillian"e. They flamed with a white flame. There is one re"ording
whi"h bears all this ot, a re"ord made three years before her first
"ommer"ial re"ording. . . . These pri"eless "ylinders IwereJ bried for
a generation, ntil a letter from @eraldine Farrar made them a*ailable
to Ailliam H. 1eltsam of the +nternational 8e"ord 'olle"tor,s
'lb. . . .
Aith infinite patien"e Mr. 1eltsam transferred them to dis"s. The
ngodly whee#e and thmp of Mapleson,s prehistori" ma"hine are still
there, bt so are Melba,s o"ta*e ?mps, leaping throgh the mr0 and
fog li0e a shower of meteors in a winter s0y. There is a roar of
applase at the end, and more than e*er yo 0now why the toast, the
ri"h dessert, a "igar, a lipsti"0, theaters in 4allas, Te%as and a nmber
of other "ities, and :ite a few little girls born arond 191$, were
named Melba. +t is the thrill, the lmp in the throat, that a "hampion
and only a "hampion, "an gi*e yo.