MADAME ELSA STRALIA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 213, 8 September 1945, Page 4

MADAME ELSA STRALIA

DEATH IN MELBOURNE ANNOUNCED SANG IN WANGANUI IN J»88. The death has occurred in Melbourne of Madame Elsa Stralia, the well-known Australian singer, who, in Srivate life was Mrs. A. T. Christensen, luring 25 years of her career, she was associated with many celebrities. Among them was the famous American singer, Richard Crooks, who made his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera, Madame Stralia appearing in the same programme. Madame Stralia is remembered in Wanganui when she sang in the Opera House in 1933 at a concert in aid of the unemployed. Daughter of a baritone, HugoFischer, Madame Stralia was born in Adelaile. After winning several Australian scholarships, she studied first in Milan and then in London and appeared at Covent Garden in 1913. Later, she appeared at leading European opera houses. She toured Australia in 1925 and again 10 years later. During a concert tour of New Zealand, Madame Stralia met Mr. A. T. Christensen, of Palea, to whom she was married later in Sydney. With her husband she returned to Auckland, where Mr. Christensen died. She lived in Auckland for about nine years, and returned to Australia last year. Her death, at 64, occured after a long illness.