Leading Soprano A Member Of A Musical Family

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31678, 14 May 1968, Page 2

Leading Soprano A Member Of A Musical Family

Mattiwilda Dobbs, the world renowned Negro soprano, is a member of a large, talented and closely united family with its origins in Atlanta, Georgia. Her father, a self-educated railway mail clerk, inspired his six daughters to make the most of the opportunities that he had missed. All the girls obtained university masters’ degrees and

with the exception of Mattiwilda, the fifth daughter, all became teachers. Her eldest sister has taken a doctorate in French and her youngest sister, who is married to a psychiatrist in New York, is completing her doctorate. Teaching would also have been her chosen career if her voice training lessons had not indicated she had a potential career as a concert soprano. Miss Dobbs said in Christchurch yesterday. Her parents insisted that Miss Dobbs and her sisters all took piano lessons from the age of six and these were continued for 10 years. She is most grateful to them. “When I found 1 had a singing voice I already had a long musical training. If I had had no training when my voice was discovered, it might have been too late to start,” she said. Her eldest sister, who was the brightest in the academic field was also the most talented pianist She has occasionally accompanied Miss Dobbs at her recitals. Family Reunions Her father lived to see her win world renown in her chosen field and when she made her debut In Europe the family travelled to see her Her mother, who is still alive, once attended a Royal Command performance in Covent Garden, and whenever she appears in the Metropolitan Opera in New York her family, now scattered throughout America, are always in the audience.

Although she is now based in Stockholm, with her Swedish husband, Miss Dobbs visits America for one month each year and she sees as much of her family as the others do of each other, she said. All her sisters are married with families and Miss Dobbs has 20 nieces and nephews, the first of which was born when she herself was only nine years old.

Because she has no children of her own (one of the disappointments of her life) Miss Dobbs takes a great interest in her nieces and nephews and has watched closely for any sign of outstanding musical ability.

“Not one of the 20 has a singing voice,” she said. One of her nieces showed early promise but this faded. Her twin nephews play in a rock and roll quartet in Atlanta and another nephew is deeply interested in classical music.

“If children are to get to love classical music they must

be exposed to It when they are very young, otherwise it is too hard for it to compete with popular music. “This nephew was born towards the end of the war and he lived with us until he was almost four. My sisters and 1 were teenagers, playing the piano and gathering records of symphonies and operas. He just loved the music he had around him and he could pick out some symphonies on the radio when he was only two years old.” One of her sisters (the mother of the twin rock and roll musicians) accompanied Miss Dobbs for a fortnight on her present tour. She took a month’s leave of absence from her Atlanta teaching job, travelled to India, Thailand, Hong Kong and spent one night in Sydney and one night in Auckland. Her husband, a former Swedish journalist, Bengt Janzon, now in charge of public relations for the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Sweden, has been an enormous boost to her career, said Miss Dobbs. “A woman cannot work at being a singer unless she has a husband who understands. ' When she met her husband he was in charge of the public relations for the opera in Stockholm and he was appointed to arrange her publicity. Majorca Villa For the first seven years of her marriage her husband travelled with her acting as her

public relations agent Now that he has returned to a permanent public relations job he has settled in Stockholm, where Miss Dobbs also spends much of her time. They spend their spare time together in a villa in Majorca It is from her husbands' side of the family that the next musician may come. “My husband has been married before and he has a daughter, now aged 20, who has a very good voice. I have not heard her but I know 1 could help her if she wants to make music her career.” When she is at home, Miss Dobba enjoys the luxury of home life. “I love cooking and entertaining. 1 have help with the serving but not with the cooking.” Keen Swimmer Swimming is another of her hobbies and because she thought her husband was spending too much time at the golf course she recently took up that sport herself. When asked if she had a handicap she said:—“Handicap! 1 am a handicap.” How ever, she enjoys the exercise and looks forward to steady improvement When told she looked very young for her age, which could be only guessed at by her vast experience as an international concert singer, Miss Dobbs laughed. “I never tell journalists my age. My husband is the only journalist that knows my age and I didn’t tell him the truth right away.”