Emotion and feeling are seated in our heart and soul, never in our head. The American singer Emma Thursby makes the striking observation:
We really sing with that which leaves the body after death. It is in the cultivation of this mys- tery of mysteries, the soul, that most singers fail. The mental ideal is, after all, that which makes the singer. Patti possessed this ideal as a child, and with it the wonderful bodily qual- ifications that made her immortal.18
Thursby assures us that our vocal shortcomings can be overcome by ceaseless work, like Patti, who as a child worked and thought continuously how to elevate herself to the highest artistic interpretation of a certain passage.
Historical pianist Mark Hambourg deplores the fact that the recording technique requiring faultless technical playing has taken its toll on expression. The pianists seem to play just the same in the concert hall as in the recording studio, with the result of generating little pleasure through a lifeless performance, making the music amount to no more than many notes played in the accorded time “as the keys are manipulated on a speedy typewriter, but the soul is not there.”19 Jenny Lind’s singing seems to have
been the expression of the soul, as many other sources than Grillparzer testify:
Her Art, with all its perfection, is but the outward interpretation of an inspiring Spirit ... a visible touch of heaven. In the words of the Address [an honor presented to her by the Swedish people]: “It is the beauty of the Soul that finds its expression through the medium of Song.” It is the world beyond death, “of which, in Music’s language, she has been the messen- ger to us.” ...Whenever they spoke of her effect, they found themselves using terms that belonged to religion.20
great a master is the heart.” He urges singers to confess that they would not have reached the summit of their profession if they had not been its pupils. “Own that in a few les- sons from it you learned the most beautiful expressions, the most refined taste, the most noble action, and the most exquisite graces.” He even goes so far as to convince us that the heart “corrects the defects of nature, since it softens a voice that’s harsh, betters an indifferent one, and perfects a good one.” And now he comes to the most important point, saying that “when the heart sings you cannot dissemble nor has truth a greater power of persuading.”21We are told that Malibran possessed this gift of communica-
tion to the highest degree. “Her impassioned soul, by some irresistible power of sym- pathy, communicated to others the sentiments which she so well experienced and expressed. Talent alone, whatever be its degree of superiority, is incapable of produc- ing this magical effect: true feeling is the secret spell. That which emanates from the heart has alone the power to reach the hearts of others.”22
Crescentini approaches the heart from music itself saying:
Music reveals the heart and mind of those who perform her; consequently in order to attain perfection and execute a tender, religious, joyful, expressive or passionate piece well, the singer needs a sensitive heart, a penetrating mind and a sound intelligence: without those qualities he will never be able to execute the different sorts of music, running the risk of pre- senting just the opposite, insupportable in art in general and specially in music.23
Tosi and Crescentini stress the crucial role of the heart in singing that has been overshadowed in the 20th century through the practice and popularity of an intellec- tual approach to singing. This approach has now culminated in a kind of pseudo- expression persuading those listeners who listen intellectually to believe it to be genuine. Verdi formulated his advice to advanced students of composition as follows: “Now put your hand on your heart and write.”24We have seen in the Introduction that Rach-
maninov also believed in this advice. The ideas Verdi put forth on the instruction of singing are to combine study of the past with modern declamation. It appears that Verdi wanted singers, who, like the students of composition could put their hand on their heart and sing. He pointed out clearly how they should be trained to attain this: “For singing I should like the students to have a wide knowledge of music; exercises in voice production; very long courses in solfeggi, as in the past; exercises for singing and speaking with clear and perfect enunciation.” Having acquired a good singing tech- nique and a sound knowledge of music, Verdi wished the student “to sing, guided only by his own feelings. This will be singing, not of such- and- such a school, but of inspi- ration. The artist will be an individual. He will be himself, or, better still, he will be the character he has to represent in the opera.”25We see that Verdi definitely wanted
singers to be individuals “who have something to say.” Verdi wanted singers who can sing with the technique of the Old Italian School, but he wanted more than just “vocal finesse.” He knew very well that only the perfect mastery of the voice allows the singer to sing with true feeling and emotion — in other words, with heart and soul. A fervent admirer of Patti, he praised her powers of expression: “Perfect equilibrium between singer and actress, a born artist in every sense of the word.... In the recitative preced-
ing the quartet in Rigoletto, when her father points out her lover in the tavern and says ‘And you still love him?’ and she replies, ‘I love him.’ I cannot describe the sublime effect of those words as she sang them.”26Knowing that Verdi very rarely praised a singer
makes this comment all the more special.