DAME MELBA PASSES

Hawera Star, Volume L, 24 February 1931, Page 5

DAME MELBA PASSES

AUSTRALIA’S QUEEN OF SONG . END COURAGEOUSLY MET LYRICt SOPRANO' OF CENTURY. (United Breen Association—By fc.icct.no leiegioK*. ( vJopyriKUi.j SYDNEY, Feb. 23. .Dame Nellie Meliba passed! away at live o'clock this afternoon at St. Vin- j cent’s private hospital. The cause of j deutii was apparently a germ she is ( believed to have caught in Cairo a y<?ai j ago. German, Trench and. English r doctors were unable to diagnose the ] trouble, but advised a sea trip, and she -\ accordingly came to Australia. By her death Australia loses her most prominent representative daughter, and a world singer who followed Adelina Patti as the reigning operatic soprano of her generation arid her century in < Europe. The golden voice which m- : spired the world, the picturesque per- < sonality that charmed thousands, have passed away. Her passing was as courageous and as fine as lier puohc life. Her condition last night was extremely low and ' towards morning the dying diva, who ’ had previously refused to see a nun- • is ter, tmuminred gently, “Get me a cieiynLan. J J Canon Lea, of S.t. Mark s, liar ling Point, was summoned, and ! stayed some time, praying with her. By 10 a.m. she was beyond speech. Her pulse became 'more feeble, and she waved her farewells. Outside the quiet ■ room John Leminone, the flautist who ' had been her faithful friend and business manager for nearly 50 years, waited patientlv for the end. Dame Nellie Melba, (Helen Porter Armstrong, nee Mitchell) was born at _ Burn-lev, near Melbourne, ou May 19, 1861, and attendee]) for a time at the Presbyterian Tadics’ College, Mel- . bourne. She developed musical leanings at a very early age but was uncertain of their direction. At first she took lessons in .pianforte playing from Madame Charibonnet-Eeilermann (the mother of Annette Kellermann, the swimmer). Ait her school she was taught singing in the supposition that she was a eontra-lto. Butt Pietro Cecohi, who instructed her from 1879 to 1886, decided that she was a soprano and cultivated her voice on those lines. In 1882 she married Charles Armstrong, son of a Queensland squatter, -and' soon afterwards—against the wishes of her family—took up singing at concerts and toured eastern Au.stralia_ with Charles H-uenerbein. She met with little success-. OPERA DEBUT IN BRUSSELS She left Australia for Paris in 18S6 and, in the city, Maurice Strakosch was struck -by the quality of her voice and helped: her obtain tuition from Madame Mathilde Marchesi, then the foremost vocal teacher of western Europe. At the Theatre de fa Mounae ni Brussels “Nellie Melba,” an adaptation of the name of her birth -place, made her debut in the October of 1887, taking the r-ole of Gilda in the opera “Rigoletto.” In May of the next year she appeared under the direction of Sir Augustus Harris at Covent Garden as Lucia in “Lucia di Lammermoor. ” During the season she sang the roles of Juliet (“Romeo et J-uliette”), Elsa (“Lohengrin”), and Marguerite in “Faust,” and, 'by the end of it, had 1 established herself as a great singer, though her acting was considered “cold.” 'The Paris Opera House in 1889 saw her repeat her success, and again in 1890 at La Sea la, Milam, she was again eminently successful. After that she toured! Holland and Scandinavia. Between 1891 and 1894 she appeared in Russia and Italy, and toured the United States. During these years Dame Nellie was still experimenting with her voice, attempting both Italian and Wagnerian parts, but her appearance in Wagner operas were rarely successful. From 1894 she wisely restricted herself to Ivrio roles. The year 1902 saw her revisit Australia and give a. series of concerts which suffered a good deal from her extraordinary tempcramentalism. Her voice, however, wits at its best and her reception when -she sang was thoroughly appreciative. Returning to Europe she achieved triumph after triumph, being reckoned) the undoubted queen of the lyric stage. An arrangement was made with J. C. Williamson and Company in 1911 to take to Australia a grand opera com-

pany which included Melba in its personnel. Crowded houses in the capital

greeted] this company. During the war s'h© raised by concerts and other means over £IOO,OOO for Died Cross purposes. This money was collected in the United States, Canada and Australia. At the end of the war she returned to Covent Garden and. in spite of a serious illness in 1922, brought a second opera company to Australia in 1924. Late in the year 1921 she bade farewell to the operatic stage in Australia at a gala performance of “La Bobeme” in Melbourne. Her farewell to Covent Garden audi-

ences took place before the King and Queen on June 8, 1926, when her items included the balcony scene from 1 “Romeo et Juliet.” with Charles Hackett as Romeo.

Melba’s father, David Mitchell, was a dogged old North Country Scotsman who came out to Australia in ,1807. * He was a poor man, hut he died a] millionaire in 1916 at the age of 87. SYMPATHETIC GENEROSITY A forceful character and, notwitli-. standing her artist’s temperament, an excellent woman of business, Melba was rather the pride than the darling of the Australian public. Where her sympathy was aroused she could be generous and she had! no fear of constituted authority. When Melbourne University dismissed a brilliant professor of music i.ecause of his unorthodox views, it was Melba who helped him to found a rival eonservatorium, and she remained his staunch friend until death, which occurred shortly after his re-appointment to the university many years later Jt was Melba’s war work that so greatly increased her popularity among the non-musical Australian community. They knew she was a great singer, but they knew, too, she had been prodigal in her efforts for Red Cross work among the diggers. In private lilo_she was known to have given more than one aspirant, to concert fame financial help in ’ obtaining advice or instruction though her support was often given ioi reasons that were more personal than musical. Of her work as an artist there is no question. She had her limitations and was wise enough to respect them, yoi the rest, she triumphed wherever singing could be really appreciated. She did not mind adapting her concert programmes to the tastes of her audiences, particularly in later years, and whatever her failings she placed Australia on the map so far as musical artistry was concerned. She fought her way uf through many difficulties, and if genne : s the faculty of taking, pains Melba deserved! to he classed with those whc have it, for to the gifts of Nature slit added long years of work, and overcame many a disappointment.