MADAME MELBA, AN INTERVIEW.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 491, 26 April 1909, Page 3

MADAME MELBA, AN INTERVIEW.

EER GREAT DISCOVERY OUT HERE. i A GLORIOUS NEW CONTRALTO. 1 It was a surpiiso to learn yesterday morn- j ing that Madam© Molba was in Wellington, , having arrived from the south by the morn- ] ing boat. Somehow, ono had not expected ' hor to arrivo bo quietly and informally, ; without warning and preparation or official ' welcome, and it was curious to think that tho peoplo on shore who bad watched that J boat coming swiftly up tho harbour had had no idea that tho greatest singer in all the world was on hoard. One recalled the stories of tho magnificent receptions accorded to other famoiis singers in Old World towns in tho days when people went wild with delight to meet a Jenny Lind, or a Malibran, and contrasted their triumphal entries with this. ,Madamo Melba, accompanied by Mr. Lemmone, her manager, and < her cousin, quietly walked up frqm tho ' wharf tp tho Grand Hotel along a deserted j street, and probably liked that way of do- '■ , ing it'. ' 1 Later on in tho day, a Dominion representative called on her at tho Grand Hotel, * ■ and found the prima donna dressed in warm J tweed outdoor costume, ready for a drivo 1 in the bitter wind. She was very gracious I and charming, an exceedingly interesting ] talker. L l "Here in New Zealand," said Madame < Molba, "I havo discovered tho mo3t mag- J uificcnt contralto voice I evor hoard in all J my life, a wonderful,.glorious voice! | Now, * isn't that exciting'" This statement came t at tho end of a delightful, interview, and it £ seomed in its importance to quite over- ' shadow all the other interesting things sho , ,had said. Exciting? Yes, indeed! That j Madamo Melba, who has heard every contralto siuger of note, either in the Old ] World, or the Now, should come to little, ' out-of-the-way New Zealand and discover the j very ,finest one' of all. Why 1! It adds to ' the romance of the discovery, that Miss Thompson, the owner of this glorious voice, T should como from Stewart Island, that ' lonely little paradise which so few people,- ' oven in Now Zealand, know anything about. ' There is in that island beauty, and magic, ] and mystery enough to develop.the soul of '. a genius, but ono oould hardly expect a j genius to arrivo among such'a. more hand- . ful of people, and, if she did appear, how ' little chanoe there would seem to bo of her ever making hcrsolf known. How fortunate j is Miss Thompson. _ ' "An old school-friend of mine told me | about her, and begged me as a porsonal < favour to hear her sing," said Madame j Melba, "so sho came, and I prepared to hoar the usual sort of lovely voice. But I ' can tell you that, as sho sang, I began to> j Jjpen mv eyes, wider and wider,'and at last I called Mr. Lemmone in, and said, 'Just listen to this.' I applied all sorts of tests, * tried her on long sustained notes, everything—and her voice was glorious. Isn't , it, Mr. Lemmone!"' , And Mr. Lemmone corroborates all that , Madamo Melba has to say about the beauty , of the voice, its richness, sweetness, and , sympathetic' quality. _ Miss Thompson, who , is, by fhs way, both' young and pretty, is ( quite- untrained, so Madamo Melba is ar- , ranging for her to go over to Melbourne , within a few weeks, and will theip herself ' give her lessons.' It is a dazzling prospect, that is held out to the eyes of that Stewart , Island, girl, and every other girl in New. ' Zealand will wish her all success. ' .' Madame Melba has a great ( desire to' bring out to Australia a grand opera company comprising some of tho very finest . European singers, and to give Italian, German, and French operas in Melbourne and Sydney. It is a fascinating scheme, and as Now Zealand has shared in many of Australia's good things, ono hoped that this might also bo shared. But no, says Madame, there ' would be no chance of that. "We could not ! possibly, take such a company as I dream ! of to other towns than Melbourne and Syd- , ney. We want to do tho thing perfectly, snd you have no halls largo enough hero. '' No, what we must do is arrange to run i cheap excursions from New Zealand to Aus- ■ tralia during the season. Sir James Mills ■ is execedirgly kind I anr sure ho would do his best 'to make some such arrangement. It is a splendid idea, and we will'thank Sir , James Mills 'in anticipation.'" Would the i, operas bo 'givon in English, as thoy have recently been at Covent Garden? No, • Madamo Melba hardly thinks so. Those [ operas were arranged to give English singers • a chance of singing in them, but sho would i bring with her first-class singers, French, ' Gorman, and Italian. Madamo is told about the wonderful poly- , glot production of "Faust" that was given ; hero some timo ago, 'and sho laughs merrily. I Slio will not havo any such mixture of lan- . guages in lier grand opera, and in other , respects all will bo harmony. Then comes ; a curious bit of information. French artists i can sing Italian and German music, but , Italians sing only Italian. They can seldom I manage the French tongue, and German is . to them impossible. Covent Gardon' singers i havo to bo prepared' to sing ,in many dif- . t'oront languages. They would be of no use F unless they were well acquainted with the ; chief languages of opera, i From singers, it is easy to glide off into f talk of opera houses in different countries. . "London, and New York are now tho great centres'of grand opera," says Madame Molba, "above all' New York. All the great , singers go there, and while in European capitals the season of grand opera extends over only a few weeks, in Now- York it will ', last for five months, and even then two stars will sometimes be shining at once at \ different opera houses, and night after night J those houses will ,bo packed. Of l course no money is 'spared in tho production; the op- \ eras are magnificently staged, and enormous i salaiios aro paid to tho singers.' No wonder every European artist is delighted to gb j to New York, and no wonder that you havo . to go to New York, or London, to hear first- . opera! . j; ';VMadam'o''Melba ha 3 no opinion;.at al} of r the'Paris;Opera .House.. '; "It As .rotten,". -'. sho 'says '■ decidedly,"quite rotten, , and no ... wonder, for they won't pay for great artists. !■. They: get-thcir': singers from 'the. .Conservator-. . '.; ium, and: pay thoni: small ,sums, and., tho ■'; result 'is,disastrous.. Yes, there is, a rule ?., that, the winners of:tho Grand Prix at'the ": Conservatorium -must be .put on. the staff of I' the"Opera'House,'but that is no!reason why '; they .should'.also, take'-on pupils'who have '' not secured that prize.:; The. Opera Houso'is r living on' its .'reputation/, and, the:: trouble'is. £ that so ,'many, ::tourists f pass through'-Paris 7 who' : are; anxious ~to, see ; the: magnificent "'■ 'building, who; havo heard of its glorious' tra- ®. 'dition3, .that the house .is. always well-filled, ?■ and the management do not havo to trouble !?•. hvihe'-least about; raising the, stylo:of .the : s , performance, -You-seo thoso visitors want " ; see the grand foyer, the! splendid.; galp leries, and.;the,staging, .and the.performance S'vj itself is'■' only of .very, small. importance, to ';■ them.,' InVßerlin also ,:the, opera: has .fallen : from its;high' estate, and though: there are •j oxceljent-productions at La'Scala in Milan, ■ •'. .r.doh't'know, any other town in Italy l where fv 'there:jis what you would call ; a first-class ; ' opera house.. Perhaps the finest opera house >s . in all Europe,"; continued Madame, "is at ?:' St,;.P ( etersburg|.and it is. owing to the. inl. : ttujstico' ; and: tho interest of : the' Court :that it • '" .maintains;;its high- standard. Then comes '-.'; Vienna;, and fperha'ps ;third I-should place "••.' the little opera house at Brussels. : But I *"; do.'think that;visitors from'.the.colonies .who £ go::to;;Paris. should ,-thoroughly understand y. when'they, visit-the .Opera'; House, that -its,p glory has departed, and.that they are look- £'■ 'ing-at.'.an.'.exceedingly. indifferent: performh- ance."- ::'":• ; ,:.-'"; : -'I;'■.-. '■ ■'.-"•'■ ' .Tho Christchurch people, ignoring, in charS astoristic,'fashion,' tho fact that they have !?; nearly iall, been almost drowned within the : past few weeks,; have been'trying. 0 p,,,.. ' suade',Madame Molba that it -always blows '■& in Wellington;'and harrowing wero the tales ys they told. .'For her'own part,, sho'. knows i- that we occasionally' have earthquakes, ..and or sho' pleasantly supposes some day ?; we shall.be crumbled .up in one. Likely il enough,' but we nvill hope it. will not be nt during Madame's stay, and sho touches wood ; I to ;avert any ill-luck hovering about. B.v

tho way, Madame. Mclba knew Messina well, and she tells of the desolation and destruction she saw from the'deck of her ship as slowly they passed along close to the shore. It was somo time after the earthquake, but there wore still lirea blazing in the ruined city, and, as they passed, they saw two or three broken houses languidly collapse. .It had been arranged for Madame Melba to: give a concert at Naples in aid of the survivors, but a mistake was made about the dates, and the mail-boat carried the great singer away on< the - night that had been wrongly iixed. Madame Melba quotes her dates for future travels that have been arranged, and finds that'they do not come to! an end till after she . has yisited ,Canad,a in September, 1910. Between that date and this, there is so much travelling to be. ; done, that—well, 1 Madame must have already beaten any other prima donna's record for travelling, and she will finish by setting a standard impossible for them to- attain. New Zealand has reason to feel thankful that this roving spirit has brought her back once more.