Mathilde Marchesi - Bel Canto: A Theoretical and Practical Vocal Method

Mathilde Marchesi

with a new introduction by

PHILIP L. MILLER

FORMER CHIEF OF THE MUSIC DIVISION, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

Dover Publications, Inc., New York

Copyright 1970 by Dover Publications, Inc.

All rights reserved.

This Dover edition, first published in 1970, is an unabridged republication of the work originally published by Enoch & Sons, Ltd., London, n.d. A new introduction has been written for the present edition by Philip L. Miller.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 79-116817

International Standard Book Number

ISBN-13: 978-0-486-17286-6

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation

22315918

www.doverpublications.com

One day in 1886 a young Australian named Mrs. Mitchell made an appointment to sing for the great Mme. Marchesi in Paris. She had come up to London not long before, had given a recital in Princes Hall, which the critic Herman Klein later remembered as decidedly amateurish and mediocre/ and had sung for Sir Arthur Sullivan, whose best encouragement was that after a years study he might be able to offer her a role in The Mikado. Marchesis reaction was different. Salvatore! she called to her husband, at last I have found a star. She then assured the young woman, If you are serious and can study with me for one year, I can make something extraordinary of you. As everyone knows, the debut of Nellie Melba in Rigoletto at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, 12 October 1887, was indeed extraordinary, for it launched one of the most sensational musical careers of all time. Melbas studies with Marchesi did not stop with her debut; she never lost contact until the end of the teachers life. By that time her own name was a long established household word. Her career finally reached its end in a historic farewell at Covent Garden, 8 June 1926. She was then just past her sixty-fifth birthdayor her sixty-seventh, according to which biographical dictionary you read.

The reason for recalling this is to point out one of the differences between the life and longevity of a prima donna over the turn of the century and at the present time. In Melbas day one year was an unusually short time to spend preparing for a debut, which fact indicates that her voice must have been naturally produced to begin with. It was normal for an aspirant to go to a master and stay until he was pronounced ready, were it two years or six. Nowadays, with our accelerated way of life, our rapid travel and our eagerness to live while we are young, it is a rare singer who has that kind of patience. At the same time, audiences are less tolerant of ungainly figures on the stage; in this day of the producer, opera must be credible drama, unfortunately often first and foremost.

There never was a time when connoisseurs of singing did not lament the passing of a golden age, a period when vocalists really knew how to sing. Today we have recordings to demonstrate the ways in which older singers differed from those now active, though we should never forget (as many enthusiasts do) that the art and science of recording in 1906 was a very different thing from what we know today. There are those who praise the past to the extent that they can concede nothing good to the present; and there are those who can hear nothing but scratch in the old recordings.

Until the introduction of the microphone into the studio in 1925, that is, until the advent of electrical recording, singers were divided into two classesthose who took well and those who did not. Singing into the huge acoustical horn was an ordeal at best. Some could accustom themselves to it, some could not. But of one thing we can always be sure: if a singer sounds well on an acoustic record, we know he must have sounded even better in real life. And we can hear enough, even in the more primitive old discs, to recognize schools and methods of singing. There is something common to the recorded voices of Melba, Calve, Eames and Aldaall Marchesi pupilsindeed, we can hear this something even in the very early (and very rare) discs of Frances Saville. They all have a solidity, a sure technical mastery, an even scale with no register break. Their trills are strong, even and secure, their coloratura masterly. It is an oversimplification to say they sang instrumentally: Calve was renowned for her coloring of the words she sang, and we can detect something of this approach in the records of Eames.

It will be noted in the story of Melbas audition that Mme. Marchesi not only knew how to develop a voice; she could spot exceptional talent when she came on it. If she had not chosen her pupils with the greatest care it is doubtful that she would have had so many great singers to her credit. She taught only women, and mostly sopranosthough the Australian contralto Ada Crossley (whose records are very early and rare) came to her after she had already had some experience.

Mme. Marchesi was born Mathilde Graumann in Frankfurt am Main 24 March 1821. It was only after the failure of the family fortunes that she went, at the age of twenty-two, to Vienna for study with Nicolai, later journeying to Paris to work with the younger Manuel Garcia. She remained with him four years. For a time she served as his assistant, and during a period when he was incapacitated she took over his classes. Thus she laid the foundations of her own lifework. In 1852 she married Salvatore Marchesi, himself a baritone and a teacher, with whom she had something of an opera and concert career. After a period in London she returned to Vienna as professor at the conservatory, then back to Paris, to Cologne and Vienna, finally settling in Paris in 1881. She died in London 17 November 1913.

It has been said that the Marchesi Method,, died with its founder; certainly the most assiduous study of her writings and her vocalises will not reveal all the secrets of her teaching. But with the present-day interest in the bel canto operas of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini and the ever growing public enthusiasm for the Mozart masterpieces, there is a need for great vocalism. The serious artist will not be satisfied with instant methods and general corner-cutting. And so we turn to the exercises, the precepts and the recordings of an earlier day.

Mme. Marchesis ground rules are simple enough. She insisted on the analytical method of study; exercises and scales must never be sung mechanically. The pupil, she says, should, from the very first lesson, cultivate a habit of analysing, or mentally preparing, the exercises &c, before commencing to sing them. She used to tell her students to listen to the orchestra and approximate the sound of each instrument as it accompanied the voice. She believed in the importance of correct breathing: Normal respiration, or the natural breathing of a healthy person, is diaphragmatic or abdominal. She described the stroke of the glottis as a natural movement of the vocal organs, and declared that the pupil has only to bring under the control of the will this spontaneous action which has been developing since the first cry at the moment of birth. She warned against too much practice: The least excess in practising causes exhaustion. The beginning pupil should limit himself to five or ten consecutive minutes, but such periods may be repeated three or four times a day. Gradually the five minutes may be increased to a half hour. At this point it may be of interest to recall a statement by Melba: During the development of the average voice, scales and solfeggios and vocalization over its entire range are absolutely essential to its proper growth; but once the period of vocal maturity is reached, I am sure all students who sing in public will be wise to reserve their voices as much as possible in private.