A PRIMA DONNA'S TOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18342, 7 March 1923, Page 11

A PRIMA DONNA'S TOUR.

MISS BUCKMAN'S VISIT.

PLEASANT TIME IN DOMINION.

It is seldom that a prima donna at the height of her fame leaves the musical centres of the world for a long and leisurely tour of her native land, when the latter happens to be a remote spot at the far ends of the earth, but that is what Miss Rosina Buckman, New Zealand's premiere songster, has been doing since last May. She spent a few months of the time in Australia, but it was New Zealand that drew her, and New Zealand that has claimed her, and of her 10 months' tour she will remember the time spent in her beautiful homeland as holding the greatest joy and happiest associations.

With her husband, Mr. Maurice D'Oisley, the noted tenor, Miss Buckman is now on her way back to London, leaving to-day by the Niagara. Mr. D'Oisley fully shares his wife's enthusiasm for New Zealand, and describes their tour as the happiest and most successful they have yet' undertaken. "We have tried to see as much of the countrv as possible," said Miss Buckman, "and have made a point of visiting all the beauty-places we could. We have l>een able to see the Otira and Buller Gorges, the wonderful Franz Joseph glacier, where we spent four days, Lake Mapourika, the Picton Sounds, and one of the most enjoyable experiences of all, the motor drive from Rotorua to Gisborne. We arranged our concerts so that we would be able really to see the country, and have travelled from Whangarei to Invercargill, from the East Coast to the West, taking our time and making the very most of it."' Most New Zealanders will have heard of Miss Buckman's purchase of a farm near Piopio. At present it is being run by her brother, and carries some pedigree Jersey stock. "Shall I tell you why i bought it?" asked the prima donna with a smile. "Well, it was so that I could feel that although I have to live so far away, I actually do own a bit of New Zealand! I may do some stock-raising there later on—l don't know; the main thing is that I now have a real 'stake' in my own country." Miss Buckman could not speak with any certainty of her future arrangements. She is going direct to New York to discuss the matter of an American tour. She will make her first appearance in London at the Albert Hall, where she was given a splendid farewell last year. An appearance at La Scala op era in Milan may follow this season or tne next, and 'there is the possibility of a concert tour in Stockholm, which country the prima donna has not yet visited.