ETHEL OSBORN,

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19461, 22 April 1925, Page 5

ETHEL OSBORN,

THE AUSTRALIAN NIGHTINGALE. A musical event of unusual interest will take place at Burns Hall on Tuesday evening when, when the famous Australian prima donna,* Ethel Osborn, will make her lirst apearance in Dunedin. The coming of this artist—she is described as the Australian nightingale—will satisfy musical people, for her fame and extraordinary voice have preceded her, and it indeed should prove a treat to hear a brilliant soprano of youth and charm who has, with little heralding, written her name on the scroll of fame. From her first appearance in Brisbane only a very few years ago, up to the present her tours have been a triumphant success. After her first concert in Brisbane so great was the sensation she made that the Exhibition Buildings were engaged, and although they have rarely been filled she packed them to the very doors, and patrons willingly paid to stand in the corridors to hear her. Of one of her Auckland concerts ' the New Zealand Herald says: “A wonderful voice, a charming personality, and above all an enviable capacity for pleasing her hearers as w'ell as positively dazzling them by the brilliance of her vocal endowments.” Of the same occasion the Auckland Star says : ‘‘She took the hearts of the audience by storm; seldom his such applause been heard in the Town Hall.” These are only a couple of excerpts from hundreds cf laudatory notices, but they are striking evidence of the great appeal of this singer. Miss Osborn is always commended for the excellent taste of her programmes. They are chosen for everybody, not for the few, and the programmes to be presented on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings will in•lude operatic arias, new songs by British, Russian,- and American composers, together with popular numbers, and a series of bird songs, in which she specialises, and which can only be attempted by an artist with purity of voice and exceptional range. Support artists will also contribute to the programme. and the box plans will be opened at the Bristol to-morrow* morning.