DAME NELLIE MELBA

Otago Witness, Issue 3513, 12 July 1921, Page 37

DAME NELLIE MELBA

RETURNING To AUSTRALIA. STORIES OF lIER. CAREER. . , LONDON, May 13. Me.oa s farewell concert on the eve of her departure for Australia has been the occasion for recalling some of the stories relatuig- to her past achievements and experiences. She tolls how on her first arrival in London she had letter to Sir Arthur Sullivan, Randegger, and Wilhelm Ganz. 77 1 sang to Arthur Sullivan, who said: ’ Yes. yes ; very nice ; and if you study for a year i t"' o I may give you a part in The : Mikado!’ | “I sang to Randegger. He evidently j thought nothing of my voice at all, bei cause he said: ‘ I am very sorry. I have j no time to give you lessons.’ ; “I than sang- to Mr Wilhelm Ganz—- ; tnat sounds fine, now, doesn’t it —Wilhelm i Ganz. Evidently not a German! But, I ) sang his song. ‘Sing, Sweet Bird,’ and | when I had sung it he very kindly said: ‘ I j shall arrange for you to ring my song at a ] banquet, the Lord Mayor is giving.’ I | thanked him humbly, and sang ‘Sing, Sweet | Bird !’ And that was my first song in : public- in London 1 I “Sir Arthur and Randegger ancf I beI came g-rcat friends afterwards, and I used j to tease them both. Sullivan always j changed the conversation, and Randegger I said : ‘ I I was a fool. I could not ! have taught 1 you so well as Marchesi did.’ ENCOURAGING OTHERS. j At that early era the aspirant, to fame ! became depressed and convinced that she j was no good, and to her father she said : i “ If Marohesi thinks nothing of mo I promise you I shall go back to Australia, and ! never wish to bo a singer.” : “ My first meeting with Marchesi was i very wonderful. She heard me sing, and a bounded out of the room like a road j* woman. 1 thought I was a failure. But I she came back, and made me sing every- ! thing over aagain. She had gone out to i call her husband, who was upstairs, and | she called to him: ‘Como and hear this | voice ! At last I have a star!’ She said to ! me, after I liad sung again: ‘Can you ; stay with me for one year? If you can I stay with me for one year I shail make something extraordinary of you!’ And I tell this story to encourage other singers, especially if they arc tackling London for the first time. THE WRONG KEY. Mr Landou Ronald, who was the singer’s accompanist for 15 years, was at the conductor's desk at the farewell concert at the Albert Hall on Sunday. “Most certainly one of her leading virtues is that of loyal and true friendship,” is his comment. “I can confidently say that during the 27 years during which I have been associated with. Dame Melba artistically we have never had a single ‘ word.' ” “Ah, but there was one occasion.” Mr Ronald recalled this with a twinkle in his eye. “There was a certain big curl on the left side of my head,” he continued, “which it was my habit when conducting to twist—much in the manner a man twists his moustache. My unfortunate habit one day got upon Dame Nellie’s nerves. It was at Pittsburg and she had a tremendous reception. She completely lost her self-con-trol, arid threatened that if I didn’t stop ! twisting my hair she would walk light off | the platform ! “I could recall many instances of her ! personal popularity. At Blackpool, for ini stance, she had her usual enormous success. I At the last moment she decided to sing | ns an encore my ‘A Little Winding Road.’ | By a curious mistake I started the accompaniment in a key 7 which only a deep con- | traito could sing. She began the open- ! ing phrase—and immediately stopped. I hen in that carrying- voice of hers, she said, ‘My dear London,- you’re playing it in the ; wrong key!’ Of course, everyone in the audience heard her. I shall never forget i the wild scene of enthusiasm that littie : personal touch evoked.” KITCHENER IN TEARS. I Dame Nellie Melba has told The Times i that the greatest compliment ever paid to her as a singer was paid in perfect silence, i “When I was in Cairo a number of years j ago,” she said. “I had the good fortune to meet Lord Kitchener, with whom 1 have i always been on friendly 7 terms. I had dinner with him and two or three other dis- | tinguished people, and at the end of the ; dinner the inevitable happened. 1 was | pressed to sing! 1 was not feeling very well | at the time, and tried to excuse myself, but ; Lord Kitchener pleaded that I should sing ; ‘Home, Sweet Home.’ He said that he had ! been an exile for several years, and on that j account begged me to sing that song. 1 did so. When I was finished there was I perfect silence. Lord Kitchener did not say a word. He came up to me. bowed, and kissed by hand, and when he lifted his head 1 could see the tears rolling down j his checks.” A HUNDRED YEARS HENCE. “1 have recently had another dumb compliment. A special gramaphoue record was

taken of one of my songs. At the same time a record was taken of a song by Caruso. T hese two records were placed in a special receptacle and laid in a definite spot beneath the Opera in Paris. They are not to be taken out for 100 years. They will then be exhumed, and our descendants will have the opportunity of passing an entirely unbiassed judgment on the voices of two people who will then hive been dead for very many years.” “GET OUT!” To make sure that no trace was left of her recent severe illness on the Riviera, Melba consulted her throat doctor a few days ago. “Sir Milsom Rees roared with laughter after looking at my vocal cords.” she said, laughing at the recollection of the interview 7 . “’Get out. of my 7 room,* he said, ‘you don’t want me !’ “WHO IS MELBA?” On one occasion she found that there are limits to the conquering power of song. Taking some friends into an old church one 1 day, she sang Gounod’s “Ave Maria,” accompanying herself on the organ. Thai vicar, passing- by, asked the\sextou who was using the organ at that time of day. “Mjlba,” said the sexton. “And who is Melba?” snapped the vioar, as one whose authority has been slighted. A boy who had heard Melba on the gramaphone was rather sceptical as to whether the prima donna really sang ail the trills. To settle the question he wrote to her for a ticket for her last concert, and got it by return mail. The King and Queen and Princess Mary were present at the “a u revoir” concert. Members of the Australian community in London, with some of the Australian cricketers, assembled at the artists’ entrance, where they formed an impromptu “guard of honour.” A characteristics “cooee” welcome was. given on her arrival, and Melba entered under a shower of mimosa. Tosti’s “Good-bye” and “Home, Sweet Home” were the inevitable concluding items of a triumphant concert. Melba is going home through Canada, and then joining the. Niagara. '‘Once home,” she says, "I shall divide my time between my roses in my garden at Coombe and my Philanthropic Oonservatorium in Melbourne East, where 100 girls are taught singing.”