CAMILLA URSO.

Southern Cross, Volume 9, Issue 51, 8 March 1902, Page 11

CAMILLA URSO.

Camilla Urso, who died in New York on Jan. 21 after a brief illness, was one of the best known of woman ■violinists, and had a long and successful career, though her last jears were not so fortunate, and for a time she was compelled, against her inclinations, to leave the concert stage for vaudeville. In recent times younger player with a more modern equipment have made her work seem old-fashioned, but she was long the chief woman violinist in America. He playing (remarks the Springfield Republican) was never big or exciting, but it was characterised by neatness and elegance, and her tone was sweet and pure. She was specially fond of the classical school, but also played much Paganini. Camilla Urso, who in private life was Mrs Frederic Luero, was born at Nantes, France, in 1842, her father, Salvator Urso, being a musician and the son of a musician. Camilla began to study the violin at the age of six, and soon after the family came to New York in 1852, she appeared in concerts, so that her career has lasted half a century. Before this her father had abandoned his position in Nantes and taken her to Paris, where she entered the conservatoire, and was put under the instruction of Massart, one of the greatest of French teachers. She was the first girl ever accepted as a pupil in the conservatoire. She made her first appearance in Boston in 1852. For three years she travelled through the United States, and then she retired for rest and study, resuming her career in 1862, when she began to play much, both in the United States and in Paris, where she was treated almost as a prima donna. One dramatic little incident in her career occurred in Boston, where, about 1870, she was playing a Mozart concerto, when an alarm of fire threatened to cause a panic. The plucky violinist kept on unmoved, and when the audience had taken courage from her example, she played the movement through from the beginning. It is said that Camilla Urso has travelled more on concert tours than any other woman violinist. She visited Invercargill on several occasions.