Japan Catches It

Helen Traubel was warned before she went to Japan that the Japanese prefer instrumentalists to vocalists. Moreover, they could hardly be expected to understand the words of her Wagner and spirituals. But husky Soprano Traubel had full confidence in the effect of her big voice. An old baseball buff,* she answered that she would throw her voice "like DiMaggio throws a ball," and she was sure that the Japanese would "catch it." In 26 concerts in a dozen cities, Soprano Traubel had the Japanese fielding every note.

"Miss Traubel's wonderful voice." one critic wrote, "has helped to heal the wounds of seven unpleasant years." In Tokyo, Crown Prince Akihito attended, asked for the Brahms Lullaby and got it. In Osaka, a Japanese opera singer rushed up to thank her. announced with invincible Japanese courtesy: "Now I know what singing is. Hereafter I shall devote my time to painting." The Traubel personality got across too. Glowed a delighted Japanese woman: "She is so big and broad. It was such a wonderful sight."

* And a stockholder in the hapless St. Louis Browns (see SPORT).

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