“ONLY ONCE IN A CENTURY”

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31530, 18 November 1967, Page 4

“ONLY ONCE IN A CENTURY”

Melba. A biography by John Hetherington. Faber and Faber. 290 pp. John Hetherington presents us with a life-size portrait of the flamboyant prima donna who reigned in the Golden Age of Opera. Born Helen Mitchell in 1861, Melba was later to take her stage name from her home town, Melbourne. She was convinced of her musical genius long before others were aware of it, although her early singing career was not spectacular, and was interrupted by her marriage to an Englishman fanning in Queensland. George Armstrong was a finelooking, outdoor man who was not interested in music, and the self-sufficient Melba soon became a frustrated housewife. After a strong battle of wills, she travelled with her husband and young son (her only child) and various members of her large family to England to continue her musical career. Her relationship with her husband continued to deteriorate and the marriage later ended in divorce.

London dazzled Melba, who at this stage showed humility, and on hearing Patti sing she said, “I shall try to do as well as that” A perfectionist Melba studied diligently in Paris with Madame Marches!, a teacher with a wizardry for imparting her rare knowledge of the human voice. Melba's goal was Covent Garden, which she took by storm. Her “choirboy” voice was compared with “a flower unfolding” and “a moonbeam dancing.” From then on rite dominated the operatic scene and she fought tooth and nail to rule the roost Never one to suffer fools gladly, her rivals received the full treatment of withering scorn or tart, blunt language often forcefully interspersed with colourful

oaths. Although she often sang with Caruso, she did not like him (her favourite tenor was Jean de Reszke) and she never forgave Caruso for soulfully singing “Your Tiny Hand is Frozen” and at the same time pressing a hot sausage in her hand causing her to yelp and fling the sausage across the stage in an undignified manner. A tomboy at heart, she liked practical jokes, too, but not on the receiving end. . Melba almost ruined her voice trying to sing the heavy soprano rotes she loved, and had to content herself with singing Ughter parts. Her powers of characterisation must have been great to convince an audience that she was the consumptive Mimi or the nymph-like Gilda long after her figure had settled into the ample proportions which are revealed in the many fine photographs in the book.

Each opera season was noted for its quarrels and upheavals which often moved around Melba. Her affair with the Duke of Orleans caused a great scandal, and the enemies she inevitably made in her career found her vain, inconsiderate, and stingy. Her meanness was more a healthy respect for money’she inherited from her resourceful Scottish father, and her enemies were inclined to overlook the warm generosity and the loyalty she showed her friends. She always helped struggling artists and gave away large sums of money to personal appeals for help, but she was very shrewd in distinguishing the bogus from the genuine. During the war years she gave many charity concerts and worked untiringly for the Red Cross, and was created Dame of the British Empire. Always good company, Melba had a cosmopolitan taste

in friends and could surround herself at will with gay, brilliant people. She did things in a grand manner and travelled like a minor potentate—on a tour of Australia she took'two grand pianos, and always Insisted on sleeping between her own monogrammed sheets. She was greeted with unparalleled enthusiasm in Australia because she had given the Australians the recognition they craved. Melba declared Australia to be “a nest of singing birds,” and opened a school for singers in Melbourne.

Melba’s realistic approach - to life was probably the secret i of her success. She knew her - failings and her capabilities. • Her own words are a fitting i epitaph to her acknowledged I genius. “It is no use having ; a perfect voice unless you • have brains, personality, mag- ; netism, great will-power, • health, strength, and detennin- : ation. If they are to find a i woman to take my place, she must have all these qualities ' and such women come only ■ once in a century.” They do indeed.