MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1913, 22 November 1913, Page 9

MUSIC.

. —$ ——. ■ fßr TreULE Clef.l Felice ILyne—Fighter. Miss Felico Lyric, the baby prima donna of the Quinlan Opera - Company, lias discovered' since coming 'to Sydney : a relationship between lief family and . tho late Sir William Lyue. Tho prima donna recently received a call from Lady tiyne, who informed her of the interest Sir William Lyue had taken in lier meteoric- rise in the operatic iirinaiuciit during the last few years of his life. ' Tho young singer had, it seems, always known that sho had relatives in Australia. Her father was always interested in family history, and had traced tho branches of his iwn,genealogical tree with great patience-* Sir William Lyue had the same hobby. AVhen Miss Lyne, therefore, made her sensational success, and the fame of the Kansas City girl was known throughout the world. Sir William Lyue had liti'o difficulty in. fixing- her identity. There is more' than more idle curiosity and sentiment in tho interest the various branches of the Lyne family tat© in tracing relationships. A sum amounting to £3,000,000 is in Chancery awaiting a rightful claimant. The missing Lyue was one Thomas by baptism. His lineal descendant lias only to prove such to be the case and go along and get tho money. "My father's namo was Thomas," Miss Felice Lyue states. "His father's name was Thomas, too* so it looks as if I'm the one. If I get that three million pounds, I'll Mm grand opera myself. I- think Fd make a dandy man- . . Having already had quite a considerable experience of law. Miss Lyne is looked to by the family as the one to fight the case. ■' According to her fighting record, she has already put Hammefstein ill liis place twicr, oiiee in a physical encounter and again in the Jaw Courts. ■ ■ The legal fight with the impresario is recorded in the U.S.A.' law reports. The point threshed out in the proceedings was one of domicile. Oscar I-lam-morstein sued Sfiss Lyne for a : share of her concert receipt's in America, and he had to prove that She was domiciled in America. He found it difficult to prove tliat she was. domiciled anywhere. In ■the witness-staftd Miss Lyi.io said that • home to her was where her trunks were. She had trunks stored in Paris, and other boxes were in London. That was NG.t, however, sufficient for the Fedoral Court Judge. Anyway," Miss Lyne successful}' contended that as she had left the United States before she was of ago* and had not lived there since, she was a non-resident of America. Miss Perceval: Alleti. Jiliss Pereevai Allen, in accordance with every tradition concerning prima donnas, is large and gracious. She is now delighting Sydney audiences with her interpretation of the roles of Brtiiuiliilde, Sftnta, and Isolde, with tholJui.n--lau Opera Company. Miss Allen studied entirely in England with Mr. ShakeS'pea.re. Sho was trained in the dramatic reading of her Wagnerian roles by M.iss Agnes Piatt. She, thinks that there are just as competent teachers in England as in Europe, and that Covent Garden is the finest opera house in the world, English people, sho says, are wonderfuly musical, and can now hold their own with any other musical nation. Miss Alien made her first appearance in opera about five years ago,' when she appeared in a Covent Garden production of "Gotterdammeruhg." s "I was horribly nervous," she said, "and three times before the night of the pcrformiuific I refused to do it. It was a horrible ordeal to have- to make my first appearance ill such a big part. Yet it was .also a tremendous honour, as Herr Riehter chose the artists himself. Ho said I was tho only one capable of filling the role, and insisted on my appearing, Riehter was one of the most fascinating men I ever met. lie was always so kind and gracious to anyone lie bad anything to do with, and evoryoiMj loved him—you couldn't help it. He'ahvavs.conducted very f|.uietlv; sometimes, if you were sitting in • the stalls, yon ivoiikl not see him cottdtiet.ing. 1 went through all my Wagnerian roles .with hiiii, and it mis cpiito'marvellous the way lie would get rip and Mtiß and act any part—soprano, baritone, tenor, or bass, it was all the same to him ; he knew Wagner by heart. "Tho only effect singing a heavy part has on mo is that I cannot sleep. After my first performance of 'Gotterdainnierun;:' I invited a .number of friends to my flat, and before the m-ening finished I sang thorn sixteen. songs. Quite mad, of course, but I Was so worked up I. had to sing."

Praise for Mr. John Coates. At the Leeds Festival, this year the advoiit of Nikisoh .and. tlio J.o.nriirfeiMe influcnco lie has exercised both over choir and orchestra are considered by one writer as furnishing the most dominating of all tho impressions that linger. A wonderfully wcll-hakncod and moHfliv-voicpxl choir cojnes liext, wliilo the third place, he thiuks, may not irn* justly be awarded to t;he consistently iine woik accomplished by Mr. John Coates. "Mr. Coates," he writes, "has for ninny years now been regarded as an artist in the 'highest sense of the term, but it has remained for tlw° Leeds Festival to reveal tho full extent of his interpretative gifts. Verdi, Elgar, Wagner, Strauss came alike to hi.ni, awl there was never a moment when ho felt that the singer was 'being placed before tiio song." An aiimsiitg story of Mr. Coates - at tho Leeds Festival is'boins told. A fervent- enthusiast; who attended every concert addressed him thus after the perfornmircc of Verdi's "11cqniuni," in which he had bee-ii olio of the soloists:—"Mon, it wrts just Wonderful ; it was magnificent. B'ut you .should have beard 'Gerontins' yesterday, it.,was awful. Wern you there?" Tlie point is that Mr. Coates had strap! the role of GeronUus more beautifully than ever fccbutt l ;