Singers of the Century [antikvár]

Foreword All of the singers included here are in some way special. The quality of voice, the art of its usage, the character behind it: these, or any one of them, may be sufficient to account for the specialness. It may also have to do with the taste of the times, associations of repertoire, composers, other singers, publicity or perhaps sheer good luck. All, at any rate, have made a mark, whether upon the affection of their own audiences, the wider public that knows them through their recordings, or (as is usually the case) both. To seek out what is special in each of them has been the main purpose of these essays. Or perhaps there is a larger purpose also, namely to help keep the voices, the names and the circumstances of these remarkable people's lives in circulation. Sometimes, meeting enthusiasts with expert knowledge and huge collections on disc, tape and video, one feels that the survival of such interests is assured; but equally it happens that indifference and ignorance (even in what one might think of as high places) seem endemic, and the incomparable inheritance of recorded sound and available knowledge languishes unused. In common with most lovers of singing, I view the current state of the art with mixed feelings, often rejoicing, often regretful and apprehensive about trends that surely work against its best interests. As in most things, awareness of the past is so very important for the understanding of what we hold in our hands in the present. Knowledge and appreciation should follow, but simple awareness has to come first. The most urgent wish a writer on such a subject as this can have is that in however limited a way his work may help to promote it. The chapters here comprise the first fifty articles in a continuing series published monthly in Opera Now. Reassembling them in book form has involved thought about the advantages of chronological and alphabetical arrangement, or of sorting into categories by voice, repertoire or nationality. In the end we have settled to retain the original order: it has, for one thing, the merit of surprise. As the reader will have observed, one singer follows another in an arbitrary sort of way, Emma Calvé after Richard Tauber, while Tito Gobbi precedes Dame Nellie Melba. From the writer's point of view there was much to be said for this freedom of choice, and I shall be ever grateful to the enlightened Editor who presented me with a vii