Alvary spent a whole year in
learning this role, availing himself of the hints given him by Herr
Seidl, who has the Wagnerian traditions by heart; and to-day he might,
if he felt so inclined, amass wealth and win honor by travelling about
Europe and singing nothing but this one role. Vienna and Brussels made
strenuous efforts to entice him away from New York after his great
success as _Siegfried_.
This success is the more gratifying and encouraging because,
previously, he had been only a second-rate singer. It was his
conscientious and prolonged study of the German vocal style that
enabled him to win his present lucrative and honorable position. If
there were a few more young singers like him the operatic problem might
be considered solved, for it is the rarity of well-trained singers that
causes all the financial embarrassment in our opera-houses. They are so
scarce, that as soon as one is discovered he is hurried on the stage,
after a year's hasty preparation, and if his untrained voice soon gives
out--as it must under the circumstances--the blame is laid on Wagner's
shoulders.
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