Australian Artistes in Song and Symphony

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 6, 10 February 1909, Page 30

Australian Artistes in Song and Symphony

Being Brief Extracts from an Article in " Cassell’s Magizine,” by

F. Mather Burton

SOMEONE. tea-ing an Australian, on a invent vi*it to London, said. “Your violet* have no perfume, and your birds no notes like those of our night ingale.” ’’True.” she replied. “we have no feathered song-tei to equal your rara. avis, but on. human nightingale* are world-famous, and have the advantage of ’wing more frequently heard than \oiir much vaunted nightingale.” \tistralia ha* indeed furnish* d many celebrated Vocalist*. and each season *onie fresh claimant for laurel* is heard on the London concert platform. Mad.ime Melba, the renowned prima donna, i* facile princeps in the long !i*t of *ingeis from the Sunny South land. Mr*. Armstrong took her name “Melba" from her native city Midbourne. Richmond, a few miles out of the town, ha* the hommr of being her birthplace. Both her parents were musical people of Scotch family. Very wisely Mr. ami Mr*. Mitchell gave their daughter Nellie the advantages of a good education, at the lTe*li\ tel iail College. Melbourne, where her talent*. mu*ical and otherwise, were soon recognised. Later she studied singing under Madame Marchesi in Paris; her debut wa* as Hilda in Rigoletto al the Theatre de la Monnaic. Brussel*. Oct <dier. ISS?. In London she was first heard in Lucia di l.ainnieimoor an I was much admired, but it was in Romeo and Juliet that she first took London by *to.m. Then. and ever since, as we all

know. Europe and America have been enraptured b\ her voire. \t the farewell performance in Ameri •a last year. Madame \7eii»a wa* recalled no fewer than fort\ times. The audi-en-e remained alter the opera La Bohvmv wa* concluded. Ihe mad seme from Lm ia gem rou*ly given a- an encore, th 1 |wople crowded aomnd the platform an 1 threw tlowei *. etc. Madame Melba cam ■ down to them. *a\ing. •’ D<» go home." With one voir.-, the reply came. “We won’: go home." So. gracioiish accepting the -ituation. *lm <a t down to the piano and -ang. ami played to her ei) t hu-ia*t ic admirer*. Madame Melba ha* be. n d< orated with various honour* fro ti the King of the Belgian*, the Em prior of \u*tiia. and from King Edwaid \ IL has ii eived the Order <>l '*ciein . . Art ami Li eratuie. she ha*

sung before nearly all the crowned heads of Europe. and appeared at all gala and State functions given by the late Queen Victoria ami the present King. As is usually the case with the really great

one* of the world, she is singularly unostentatious. <he makes no special en try. l>ut comes on with the whole company. MADAME ADA CROSSLEY. Madame Ada Cro«sley. a native of Gippsland. Australia, is related on her

mother’s side to the family of the poet Cowley, and made her first appearance in Melbourne at a Philharmonic Convert in 1892. and at Queen's Hall in 1595. Since then she has been a reigning fa vourite. The Sydney people *ay that they “discovered” Ada Crossley, and they gave her quite an ovation before she started for England, where she soon gained admiration and popularity from Queen Victoria downwards. Ou one occasion the singer was suffering severely from a sprained ankle, but rather than disappoint the audience she came on with the injured member in a bedroom slipper, ami endeavoured to sing ’’Home. Sweet Home.” but the pain was so great that she was unable to continue. whereupon the audience sang to her. and the words were. “She's a jolly good fellow, and *o say all of us!'” Ada

Crossley is now Mrs. Francis Muecke in private life, for she married Dr. Muecke. a South Australian by birth and a throat specialist by profession. He is naturally specially interested in the throats of great singers, and it was in the practice of his profession he had the pleasure of meeting his wife.

MISS ALICE HOLLANDER. Mi*s Alice Hollander is also a promi nent and popular singer from Australia.

where she was born and spent many years of early life. Her mot In . is English and her father came from Buda Pest.

She does not advertise herself as Austinhan. because as she says. “There have been so many Australian

• stars, and people might say ‘lt hat yet another!’” Nevertheless, she is one of some magnitude.. Miss Alice Hollander came to England before she was twentyone, and had the advantage of being under the guardianship of Madame Patti, with whom she toured all over England, fireland, and Scotland in that great Singer’s special luxurious railway compartment which represents the poetry of motion Miss Hollander also toured .with Kubelik. At first, ballad singing engrossed her attention, then she tried American “turns” with equally good success; her rendering was most characteristic, and she was frequently taken for an American. She generally appeared at the chief halls, for about eight minutes each evening, where she was engaged and paid by the minute. Unfortunately for herpelf, her manager and the American public, she was unable to fulfil her engagement in New York last year, for during the voyage across—one of the roughest ton record —she slipped on the deck of the Oceanic and so seriously injured the ligaments of one leg that on arrival she had to be carried straight to New York Hospital for treatment until she was sufficiently recovered to return to London. Soon after her arrival Mr. Seymour {Hicks asked her to take a principal part in “My Darling,” in which, it will be remembered, she was heard to advantage in her fine songs. Miss Hollander had previously appeared in comedy in “Serjeant Brue,” in which she took the part at a few days’ notice and made it a complete success. Miss Hollander amuses herself with a little snapshotting when touring, and has many quaint and pretty photos of notable people and interesting places, Such as the Cabbage Market in Ireland, groups of queer little Lap children, scenes in Norway, and boating at Henley. MISS AMY CASTLES. Miss Amy Castles is another young Australian, whose voice, a rich soprano, will carry her far. Nine years ago she Was a little girl in a convent school in (Victoria, who was chosen to sing the customary “Ave” at evensong. The wife of one of England's best-known Colonial Governors was present and remarked, ‘‘That girl has a gold-mine in her throat,” the idea being probably suggested by the districts of Bendigo and Ballarat being so famous for mines of that description. Miss Amy Castles has Worked her “gold mine’’ with study and training, and tire yield is a voice of singular purity of tone and breadth of power. She is frequently called the present day Jenny Lind, whose style she is said to resemble. This season Miss Amy Castles has been singing chiefly in Germany at musical festivals, in Cologne and elsewhere, with considerable distinction and success. MR PERCY GRAINGER. In the realm of instrumental music Mr Pedcy Grainger, a young man in the early twenties, takes a conspicuous place. He is a native of Melbourne, His another, an accomplished musician, was his first teacher, and so successful was her instruction that at ten years of age he gave such excellent musical recitals that Australian experts advised Continental study, and he was then placed with the famous Professor James Kwast for five years, afterwards going to Busoni, whose style he caught so fully that his interpretation of Bach has often been compared to this master’s. When sixteen he gave recitals in Germany, then toured Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In Great Britain he has taken part in many of the principal concerts and festivals, and the critics have compared him to Liszt, Rubenstein, Von Bulow, and Teresa Carreno. Percy Grainger makes a hobby of his gift in the study of languages. He speaks Norwegian well, and his fluent Danish was attractive to the late king of Denmark, from whom he received “'commands" for Court performances. Another hobby is the collecting of folk-songs. His settings of English and Scandinavian folk songs are well known and appreciated. It is also well known that he was an intimate friend of the late Edward Greig, a great student of his music, and the Chosen performer at the Greig la Memo-

riam Concerts in Norway, and at Queen’s Hall, London. Miss Irene Ainsley is another sweet singer from the Sunny South. She possesses a- very fine contralto voice, with so extensive a range that many consider it mezzo-soprano. Some years ago she sang before Madame Melba in New Zealand, and since then she has had the good fortune to be a protegee of hers. In New Zealand Miss Ainsley was a pupil of Mr. Arthur Boult, but since coming to Europe she has had further advantages and study. “Madame Melba,” she says, “sent me to Madame Marches! in Paris, where I stayed for a year.” Not long ago Madame Melba organised a concert to introduce her at the Bechstein Hall. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales were present, and she had the honour of singing the following week at Marlborough House, and being presented with a handsome initial brooch. She has sung with Madame Melba in Plymouth and elsewhere, but studied in Paris from time to time, and has lately been giving attention to dramatic matters, and had lessons from some of the Grand Opera teachers, for Covent Garden is Miss Irene Ainsley’s ambition. She says, “Madame Melba helped me a greot deal with my singing, and I enjoy nothing more than a lesson from her. She lias been my ‘fairy godmother.’ ” MADAME MARY CONLY. A soprano vocalist of considerable distinction is Madame Mary Conly, from Eitzroy, Melbourne, Australia, in which city she made her first appearance in the Royal Metropolitan Liedertafel and later took the gold medal at Queen's Festival. Since coming to England she has become deservedly popular by her rendering of dramatic solos at the Crystal Palace, Queen's Hall, and Royal Albert Hall, and has also made a name for herself in ballad singing and in oratorio work in the principal provinces. She sang in Stabat Mater with the Royal Choral Society in London last January. MISS ELYDA RUSSELL. Miss Elyda Russell, who has been singing a good deal in London during the present season, is a native of Sydney, Australia, but is also of Scottish descent. The violin was her special study until Professor Lauterbach heard her sing and persuaded her to turn her attention to the cultivation of her voice, as ho foresaw the possibilities that have since been realised in it. She studied first in Milan, and then under Marches!. Miss Elyda Russell has the gift of language as well as song; she sings in several, being acquainted with six, including Swedish and Norwegian, and it was after she had sung some folksongs in these languages that a curious incident occurred. A lady—evidently unfamiliar with the brevity of such, songs —came up and expressed the pleasure she had experienced in hearing them, but said what a pity it was that she had stopped short in so many from nervousness; which was the more amusing as Miss Russell is not the least troubled with that tiresome characteristic. Miss Elyda Russell’s knowledge of Swedish was of use to her when at Stockholm she sang before Prince Gustavus Adolphus and Princess Margaret of Sweden, who received her with great kindness and marked appreciation. The foregoing in no way exhausts the tale of singers and musicians from the Sunny South. Madame Miranda, who has already won some brilliant triumphs in opera, Miss Francis Saville, Miss Regina Nagel, Miss Elsie Hall, -And many others could be mentioned if space permitted- Australia is rightly proud of them.