I have been told that
since the revival of German opera in New York, the Italian teachers in
the city have lost many of their pupils. Obviously, if they wish to
regain them they will have to adopt the best features of the German
method, just as the Germans have adopted all that is good in the
Italian method. It cannot be denied that the pupils turned out by the
average vocal teachers are quite unable to sing a Franz or even a
Schubert song correctly and with proper emotional expression. Now, it
is evident, as Ehlert says, that "that art of singing which abides
with the _bel canto_ and is unable to sing Bach, Beethoven, and
Schumann, has not attained to the height of their period. It becomes
its task to adapt itself to these new circumstances, to renounce the
comfortable solfeggios and acquire the poetic expression that they
accept."
The famous tenor Vogl, a contemporary of Schubert, wrote in his diary
the following significant words: "Nothing shows so plainly the want of
a good school of singing as Schubert's songs. Otherwise, what an
enormous and universal effect must have been produced throughout the
world, wherever the German language is understood, by these truly
divine inspirations, these utterances of a musical clairvoyance! How
many would have comprehended, probably for the first time, the meaning
of such expressions as 'Speech and Poetry in Music,' 'Words in
Harmony,' 'ideas clothed in music,' etc.
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