A Singer's Jubilee.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 404, 21 September 1889, Page 3

A Singer's Jubilee.

The publication by Mr Sims Reeves of a volume in which he records his reminiscences of c Fifty Years of Artistic Life,' will serve to remind tho public once more of the exceptional length of time during which our great tenor has been before the public, as well as of the many triumphs which he has achieved in the course of that period. That Mr Reeves should have contrived to maintain during so many years his position as a vocalist is a remarkable testimony, not only to the enduring capacity of his voice, but to the excellence of the training to which it was subjected and the care which had been bestowed upon it by its possessor. It is understood that when he has finally retired from the platform Mr Reeves will devoto some, if not most, of liis time to the purposes of teaching. This is pleasant news, tor it is greatly to be desired that so admirable a method as Mr Reeves's should not disappear with him. He would probably be the fast to allow that much of his prolonged ascendancy among tenors has been owing to the style of his singing — a stylo -which husbanded while it displayed all the powers nnd beauty of the vooal organ. Mr Reeves has always maintained the dignity of his art, and has never played those tricks with the voice which less conscientious .artists have beer! willing to attempt at the demand and for the approbation of the groundlings. The vocal chords are not things to be dealt with lightly : they are quickly ruined by such a strain a« is placed upon them, for instance, in the Wagnerian music-dramas— a strain to which \oealists ought not to be called upon to submit. Mr Reeves has regarded his voice as a gift to be treasured, and he has had his reward in fifty years' of successful public service. The lef&on should nob be thrown away upon the rising generation of vocalists, be they tenors or baritones, sopranos or contraltos. Perfect your voice, and respect it likewise : that, in effect, ie Mr Recves's message to them.