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6 DRAMATIC AND LYRIC INTERPRETATION
On one of his last visits to Paris, Verdi came to my house. We were speaking of interpretation. I asked him to explain to me why he had composed in "La Traviata," for the supper scene, the spirit of which was so sentimental, such a vivacious music almost in a tempo of waltz. "You see," replied Verdi, "if we had on the operatic stage singers of songs such as you are, we would write music appropriate to the words; but we have only more or less beautiful voices for arias, and we write music for arias, arias to make shine the soprano, arias for the contralto, arias for the tenor, etc."
You hear these authoritative lips confirm the idea that there is a difference between the operatic singer and the singer of songs.
And there is a difference between the vocal technique of a singer of songs and the vocal technique of an opera singer.
The singer of songs has to break the uniformity of his register. He will acquire it by learning first to speak, by speaking with "color," by reciting.
He will become accustomed to place his voice "on the lips," in the masque, as we say in French, and not in the nose or in the throat.
His speaking voice will be in turn sweet or deep, full of nuances (shades) and he will be
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