The Hardest Audience to Sing B fore.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 7 August 1914, Page 2

The Hardest Audience to Sing B fore.

It is well known that the grand opera stars make a great deal of money singing into the talking machines of various concerns in order that these companies may manufacture the records for sale, but the fact that almost without exception a grand opera star would much rather sing before the most critical audience than before a talkingmachine is by no means generally known. In the first place, it is .rather uncanny, standing in a big empty room before a mammoth horn protruding from between curtains, with the conductor away up where he will not interrupt the sound waves, and the "orchestra" often composed of weird-lot!.ang instruments made especially for this work. The singer stands on a little wooden platform at the mouth of the receiving trumpet. A signal is flashed, and the queer little orchestra gets to work. Then at the crucial moment the artist has to sing to this strange littlo assembly with tho samo zest he would under the inspiration of brilliant lights, beautiful clothes, splendid settings, and an applauding audience. It is an ordeal, because he has to sing with far greater care in front of the talking machine than is required when an audience is to be pleased. The slightest variation means a start over ns?..U'n : a slight clearing of the throat. ;\ .ie«p !>re;ith or slight shuffle of the sVet—-unl the revolving discs record every one of these faults—and the record is spoiled. But these faults are all criticised by an experienced recorddirector, and it is his business to see that nothing- short o? Ihe perfect records are produced — because from these first moulds are made all of the thoxisands of records that go into so many homes. When the artist has finished, the' record is played over, and the imperfections criticised. The weak spots are rehearsed, and the whole tryingbusiness commenced over again. j And so it is acknowledged by many of the theatrical and musichall stars that to produce a record of pure and distinct tone is far harder than to make their way successfully though a whole operatic score. It iS a tremendous ■'■ task to get a set of the perfect records from the opera favourites. It has been said that Caruso has been forced to spend over four hours of untiring work before he was able to perfect his "Ridi Pagliacci" and in that time was forced to make over thirty fresh starts before a disc of pure and distinct was obtained.