Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

237-8

text excerpt

Then, on the 24th, was given "Lucia di Lammermoor," for the debut at Covent Garden of a new light soprano who had been winning laurels at the Brussels Monnaie. This was Mme. Melba. For months we had been reading wonderful accounts of Mme. Marchesi’s Australian pupil, and curiosity concerning her vocal powers had been roused to a high pitch. It was not actually her first appearance before a London audience. She had sung two years before, under her own name of Mrs. Nellie Armstrong, at a concert at Prince's Hall (now the Prince's Restaurant in Piccadilly) ; but, beyond admiring the quality of her voice, I had not been much impressed by her efforts on that occasion. Augustus Harris also heard her in 1886 at the annual dinner of the Royal General Theatrical Fund, at which he presided. She had been introduced by Mr. Wilhelm Ganz, and sang, of course without fee, the “Ave Maria" of Gounod. But it was not until nearly a year later that Harris was preparing his Drury Lane season, and then, naturally, he gave no thought to "Mrs. Armstrong," who was working hard with Marchesi in Paris. Mme. Melba's initial success at Covent Garden was not wholly unequivocal. The audience, truly, ^ went into raptures and gave her an enthusiastic reception. But in the light of calmer judgment the critics took exception to certain “mannerisms” of style; and I, for one, while noting the extraordinary beauty of her timbre and her exceedingly brilliant vocalization, was fain to declare that her singing was “to an extent deficient in that indescribable something which we call charm”; that “her accents lacked the ring of true pathos"; and that, despite admirable intelligence, "the gift of spontaneous feeling had been more or less denied her." As an actress she still had everything to learn. In point of fact, it was not during this season that Melba began to build up the pyramid of her real London triumphs. The raising of that structure commenced only after another twelve-months of hard study and practical stage experience.   

excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 237-8 (349 words)

1438425910414:

1438425910414