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| [ a Page 8 THE OAKVILLE-TRAFALGAR JOURNAL Thursday, March 2, 195 | District Music Lovers Welcome Opera's Return To Queen City Opera lovers of Oakville and district this week welcomed the announcement of the one-week engagement of the San Carlo Opera Company at the luxurious Odeon Toronto theatre. The visit of this internation- ally-known grand opera organiza- tion, commencing March 23, marks not only the only appear- ance in Canada this season of the San Carlo Opera Company but the first stage attraction ever to be presented at the deluxe Odeon Toronto theatre. Direct from successful engage- ments from principal cities of the U.S, the famed San Carlo Opera Company will present eight of the world's most popular musi cal plays at that Toronto thea- miracle wall finish right over wallpaper PER INP. GAL, CONCENTRA PASTE FoaM re 4> ALL THESE ADVANTAGES 1. Covers mesteurfaces--wallpaper, od walls, plywood, brick interiers, 12. One cect really covers. 3S. Dries In ons hour. 4. One Imperial gallon does large reem. 5. Ne "painty" odour. 6. A durable, washable surface. 7. Apleasurs to put on. Ltd BUI Soar COMMUNITY HARDWARE PHONE 1288 64 Colborne E., Oakville YOUR Aen 0e DEALER FORTUNE GALLO tre which, with general approval, has been labelled by all as "the showplace of the nation." The company includes 125 artists, in- cluding the outstanding ballet and large symphony orchestra. The performances and dates are: 25, matinee--"Madame Butter- 25, evening--"Aida" 27--"Cavalleria Rusticana" & "I Pagliacci" 28 ~+"'Faust" 29, matinee-- 'Barber of Sel- ville" 29, evening-- Il Trovatore" The San Carlo Opera Company is the oldest permanent grand opera organization in the world, having been founded 39 years ago by Fortune Gallo, famous im- presario. In additional to trans- continental tours of the largest cities of North America during that period, the company has al- so created grand opera history in New York year after year with the annual appearance at the huge Centre Theatre in Rockefel- ler Radio City where, this season, more than 75,000 lovers of this combined spectacle of grand op- era, ballet and symphony attend- ed this famous Manhattan thea- tre. SINGER Sewing Machine Company Sales and Service car will be in the Town of Oak- ville on Tuesdays for a period of four weeks starting January 17. New machines now avail- able. Repairs to all makes. Free Estimates in advance. Work Guaranteed. Phone or write SINGER SEWING MACHINE CO. 39 Main St., Gait. Ph. 3165 and our man will call Sparkling TRADITIONAL . the ease of entry and exit through the big, wide-opening doors. ? aD )ALLQ = new Dodge for proof of outstanding seats. |. DE LUXE See the finest Dodge automobile ever built. You'll like their lower, wider appearance . . . their beautifully-proportioned lines. lost the luxurious interiors . performance . . . safety and comfort. For proof of Dodge Dependability ask any Dodge owner. THE NEW 1950 SPECIAL DE LUXE NEW BEAUTY DEPENDABILITY comfort of their big, roomy the comfort of knee-level ease of control . . . . CUSTOM Wm. Whitaker & Son Station Road -- Oakville -- Phone 141 MUSIC ALBUM BY IRVEN FELL ENRICO CARUSO 1873-1921 Recording is a story in itself. It is a marvellous thing when you stop to think about it. The trou- ble is that like a lot of other things these days we take it for granted because we hear record- ings on our machines nearly every day and nearly every one now has a recording ma- chine or an attachment for their radio. Several people in my ac- quaintance also have machines for recording their own voices and those of their friends. Not long ago I had, what to me was a unique experience of performing in a concert and immediately af- ter it, I heard a recording of the whole programme. Sure, I know it is commonplace, but being a simple person at heart I never cease to wonder at the marvel of these things. I think that is the only 'way we really appreciate these things. Those of us who have lived since the beginning of the cen- tury have lived in, what to me is the most marvellous period in the advancement of science in the long history of the world. We have seen the automobile and aeroplane, the radio, television, telephone, recording, atomic en- ergy, electricity and many other things. You can probably think of more. Try and think of some more, it will make you marvel at the age you have lived in. What started me on this line of thought is the fact T heard a re- cord of Caruso, and he has been dead since 1921. It was a wond- erful voice, sometimes called the greatest ever and never equalled. Who is to say? I am taking some of my notes from a book written by Harriet- te Brower first copyrighted in 1917. Here is a quote from it, "Not to have Caruso sing is to have missed something in life." Caruso was the youngest of nineteen children. His father was an engineer and he expected En- rico to follow in his footsteps and trained him for it. Like so many other world famous artists who entered some other profession, destiny decreed otherwise. Caru- so says, "I had always sung as far back as I can remember, just for the love of it. My voice was contralto and I sang in a church choir in Naples where I was born. Not knowing how to sing I suppose I shouted a good deal un- til at 18 years of age when I was doing my time in the army, an of- ficer heard me and told me I should stop shouting and take singing lessons." The next bit somewhat amuses me when I think of what a great artist he became. He was taken to a teacher by the name of Ver- gine, who after hearing Caruso said it would be hopless to make a singer out of him. "T was advis- ed to stick to the trade my fath- er had taught me at which I could earn probably forty cents a day," says Caruso, However, this same Vergine re- considered and took Caruso as a pupil and a period of rigid dis- cipline was started. Vergine told him he had been singing too loud and that he must sing every- thing softly. Skipping a little of the story, Caruso felt repressed, his expressive ability was nulli- field and he says that he felt he was in a straight jacket. Indeed when he was allowed to sing, people were sympathetic and shook their heads. They began calling him "The Broken Tenor." Through illness of a leading tenor who was to sing in "I Pur- itani" in the Salerno Opera House, because there was no one else to be had and Caruso knew role, he was allowed to sing the part. Before going on the stage however, he was given a good talking to by one, Lombardi, who insisted that he let himself go, not be stiff on the stage and act his role as well as sing it. "Something awoke in me that night and I was never called "The Broken Tenor," again. After this performance he received regular engagements at 2,000 lire per month and according to agree- ment with Vergine he paid him 25 percent of what he made, al- though Vergine insisted that he would lose his voice if he persis- ted in letting himself go. Some people have said that Caruso sang himself to death. After all he died at 48 and it could be that Vergine was right, only instead of losing his voice, he lost his life. Tf any budding vocalists read this column I would like them to note Caruso's own words. "The fact that I could secure an opera engagement made me realize that I had within me the making of an of myself, learn good habits and endeavored to cultivate my mind as well as my voice, To become a singer requires, work, work and again work. It need not be in any special corner of the earth; there is not one spot that will do more for you than any other. It does not matter where you are as long as you have intelligence good ear. Listen to yourself. you will only use your own intel- ligence you can correct your own faults." Caruso practiced what he preached. He was an incessant worker. Two or three hours prac- tice in the forenoon and later in nique, scales had a repertoire of seventy roles, some of them he could Sing in tw, were Severs] roles he had prepared but neve "Othello, languages. There sung. Among them, (Continued on Page 10) and a|the day, whenever possible. He If | never neglected daily vocal tech. and exercises. "Thu He I artist. But I must labor to such an end. I now began to take care disaster OIRIKES there is no time to take up a collection Wherever fires or floods, torna- does or epidemics, or any other major disasters cripple a com- munity, the Red Cross stands equipped and ready to rush aid. In such emergencies, your Red «Cross dollars provide food, shelter and medical aid, and render other assistance in every way possible without delay . . . saving lives and alleviating suffering. YOUR RED CROSS DOLLARS DO SO MUCH GOOD! OUTPOST HOSPITALS -- a chain of 78 Outpost Hospitals and Nursing Stations is maintained by the Red Cross on Canada's most isolated frontiers. VETERANS SERVICES -- Your dona- tion to the Red Cross is YOU . . . remembering the boys for whom V-E day did not bring "peace". BLOOD TRANSFUSION SERVICE -- To provide whole blood and plasma to any patient in need of transfu- sions . . . without charge, is the aim of the Canadian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service. AND IN ITS MANY OTHER SERVICES -- the Red Cross deserves your generous sup- port. WATCH 'FOR YOUR CANVASSER NEXT MONDAY NIGHT --space donated by-- A Group of Interested Citizens i -----. I {