139.—CONSCIENTIOUS ACTING AND SINGING.
The public does not realize the nervous and mental strain the great actors and singers undergo when on the stage, portraying the characters they represent for the pleasure and entertainment of their auditors. Of course, in many cases, the action becomes mechanical and the emotion a cut-and-dried counterfeit. But on this score it may be said that it is the highest art to present emotions from an intellectual standpoint, without being subject to the uncertain whim of the moment.
It is the highest art to conceal art.
Per contra, another school declares an actor should always feel the full extent of the emotion he portrays.
Be that as it may, the proper presentation of the composer's ideas and emotions is a serious study with the conscientious actor. He may study for weeks and months without being able to embody in action his own or the composer's ideas to his satisfaction.
A good example of this is given us in the words of one of the most dramatic singers of Beethoven's time, Madam Schroder-Devrient. This talented woman was the first to fill the rôle of "Leonora" in Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio. She describes her efforts to adequately present the composer's intentions in the following words:
"When I was studying the character of 'Leonora,' at Vienna, I could not attain that which appeared to me to be the desired and natural expression at the moment when Leonora, throwing herself before her husband, holds out a pistol at the governor with the words, 'kill first his wife.' I studied and studied in vain, though I did all I could to place myself mentally in the situation of Leonora. I had pictured to myself the situation, but I felt that it was incomplete, without knowing why or wherefore.
"Well, the evening arrived. The audience knows not
