MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1824, 9 August 1913, Page 9

MUSIC.

rßx Teeble Clef.l "Elijah." Lovers of oratorio are promised an exceptional treat in tho pcrformaiico on Tuesday evening at tho Town ILsll of "Elijah" by tho Koyal Wellington Choral Society. We have alrea'dy had tho pleasure of hearing Madame Mary Corny in oratorio, and, with hundreds of others, are anticipating further happiness in hearing that artist in music that will more effectively display her splendid vocal equipment, Mr. John Prouse will sing onco luoro tho music of "Elijah," a role in which he has always excelled, and tho appearance of Madamo Brainsby in oratorio lends an interest to tha performance, Mr. H. Phipps will sing tho tenor music. The chorus may bo relied upon, ami if Mr. Christian liellemann's orchestra play as well as it' did in "Tho Creation," "a thoroughly enjoyable, pcrformaiico may be looked for.

The Youngest Prima Donna. Felico Lyne, the young prima donna who is coming to Australia with the Quinlnn Company, attributes her success to what might bo considered a strange reason—sho was poor. She was born in Kansas City, U.S.A. An American pupil of Madame Marchesi heard her sing, and advised her mother to tako her to Paris, This the.mother did, and, when the famous teacher heard her sing, sho declared that sho had the four great essentials for a grand opera star—voice, intelligence, dramatic ability, and personality. Felice Lyne worked hard. Her mother 6tayed with her, and her father practised osteopathy at home. For five years she worked incessantly. "No girl," sho herself says, "ever succceded on tho operatic stago unless sho had to do so. If I had been rioh I should have given up tho struggle long ago." Her father and mother staked all they had on tho girl's success, and sho knew that if she won it meant everything. to them. No girl ever had a greater inducement to work hard and succeed. The result was that at twenty, when sho mado her appearance at the London Opera House, under tho .management of Oscar Hammerstein, sho-exacted from the public, praiso such as no foreign singer has had sineo tho days of Calve. Sho is the youngest'prima donna on tho operatic stago today.

John M'Cormack's Career, John M'C'onnuck, , who is commencing a tour of Australia ill a few weeks' time, is a- native of Atlilone, County West.mfath, Ireland, and his early education was in the hands of the Marist Brothers in that quaint old town. Later iu iifo he went to ttligo College, where his lovo for music was .shown ,by his winning a scholarship worth -.£l2O. At that time, however/it was liis intention to embrace an cccl-esiastioal career, but when, in 1000, he iron another scholarship worth -,£GO. ho decided to becomo a singer for goad and all. Ho mado liis first appearance in tho Town Ha LI, Sligo, about twelve years ago, and subsequently trained under, Sebatini, tho well-known teacher at Milan'. He made his first appearanco in opera nt Milan in "L'Amico Pritz" in 1905, 'and first sang at Covent Garden two years later. Ho has thus becomo worldfamous after only six years' experience on tho operatic stage.

Looking for Another Melba. Mrs, Hugh Ward, herself a very beau-tiful-singer, with-a- passion for the art, and ono who takes a keen delight in fostering promising vocal talent, is looking lor another Melba in tho bud, to to speak. "Yes," sho said to a recent interviewer, "I have been searching for some time now for a girl whom I can train in the preliminary stages of her work, and then send' her forth into tho world to study .muter'on© of tho great masters, so that sho may bo fit to perpetuate tho name that Madame Melba has given to Australia ill the musical world; but I am soirv to say that uip to tlio present time all my efforts have been in vain. I find that some of my pupils show a tremendous amount of talent, and can easily ba taught to sing up to a certain point, but t'hero it ends; they have not a sufficiently large amount of intelligence to cany them any further along the stony path they must tread before they can reach the goal of a famous prima donna. I could give you countless cases where I have had 1 the 'most severe disappointments— casfs which I really thought had ended my search, but wh'ich, when tested beyond a ccrtain point, failed dismally. "I think perhaps tho most intelligent pupil I ever had was littlo Dorothy Brunton, but her voice, unfortunately, was not as big os her l>ra.in. . However, I am hoping that as she grows older lier organ may become stronger', and that I shall vet bo able to realise the ambitions that I hold for her. Of course, the work she is doing now will help to develop her singing voice to a certain extent, but tho amount of speaking she is called upon to do in' comic opera must at tho same timo tend to spoil the timbre of it. Still, sho lias amply repaid the pains I took with her education already, and I l'eol very proiul of her. "At prevent I have a pupil who lias a most glorious' voice, but it is quits untrained, and lias been rather spoilt by too much singing in tho wrong way. I am devoting most of my energies now to eradicating (he damage that has been done, and hove been extremely successful. It will, remain to be wen whether sho is equal to tho task before, her, but if sho is, I think I have found the girl for; whom I have been looking so Ion?. It is too early yet to say more than that in voice and appearance sho 'comes up to. all requirements. "I am always doubtful aliou-t a girl who oomcfl to me with a big reputation as a singer from the country. -You seo, if she can siing, everybody for miles around knows it, and the consequence is that sho goes all over 'tho placo,- performing at amateur concerts and social entertainments, and straining her organ by too liurh us?; and. worse still, through not bring proiierlv trained, producing it in a manner that soon tears all timbre and 6W- oo lues3 out of it. "This question of amateur singing was a very sore uoint with my master, the irreat'Julius Stoekliausen. It used to send hitn info a terrible raj.-e when he discovered a voice that had been snoilt in this fashion. Like most Continental leachers, lie iw:-:l to bully his pupils terribly, but T think that he ma-rte « great mistake in this; I know that I mado many errors .llirougli fear that I sho-uM not have done other"-!--?.

Notes. Mr. 11. Faulkner Smith, the Australian eimeert manager, intends to include New Zealand in tho itinerary of future concert tours under his control. He has of la too been 'handling Miulamo Mary Conly'-s Australian tour, which is to bo resumed shortly, and afterwards will bring that arlisl through the Dominion. Mr. Smith has Mr. Peter Dawson, tho fine baritone, un'der his caro, and is in treaty with Madame Blanche Marchcsi for au Australasian tour. Madame Marv Conly is to sing in Coleridge Taylor's "iliawatlio." * Rossini's "Stabal Maler," and "The Messiah" with tho Sydney Philharmonic during the Dreamt year,.