MDME. MELBA.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 279, 20 August 1889, Page 3

MDME. MELBA.

♦ , A Mornino Chat with the Aus•J J TF.ALIAN PBIMMA DoNNA. M A reporter of tho Pall Mall Budget ' called on Mdme. Melba (who sang 1 at Convent Garden a few nights ' ago), and had evidence that there had been a triumph for the Melbourne girl, in al the flowers that overflowing from her sitting room, made the ante-chamber fragrant with Jilae and a' undant roses. One j Icould have sat h^re for a long time with pleasure, but Madame does

not l-resp one waiting, and, in a bl ie peignoir, trimmed with white lace, makes a pleasant apparition amongst ihe liLic an^ the roses. Tall, elegaot, with ivi expressive face and more than noticeable eyes, it is a colonial , products of which the not.Kor-olunt'.'y may feel proud. " T herfe are the flowers," I Bay, "tbe 'horns ". x1 " There were none, or so few, thnt T clo not think of them." "You have been very successful, I suppose ?" ; :Yes, it was a petfect triumph, and.af te. the *f ourth' act I was. ye-, called three times, a compliment which, they say, has not been paid to a singer at tlie Grand Opera for thitty years." *' You are' very happy ?" '•Oh! intensely," ciied Madame Melba, andi think that bufc for the dignity that does hedge in a prima donna, "'bhe^waul^ girl-like, have cla|. ped her hands. "It is so very pleasant." " And has been from the beginning, lias it not? Mr Failon told me tHat yuu came, and sang and Conquered*" " Ye;**, I began to sing in public when I was sixteen. I theu perfumed as an amateur in con crts m Melbourne and was greatly apv ?-r,(\Q(t , At the same time I ' used to play the organ in Scott's church and the piano in many places. But ever since I was a baby I longed to go on the stage. . I dreamt of it and desired iff nil the years. I thought' I should die of chagrin when my mother told me I must not think of S.icha thing. I suppose I am a flower which can bli-ssom only in the warmh of t.e footlights. Ido not exaggerate when I say that 1 must be en the .stage or 1 must die. It "was my gre. it 'success at these con.d^s ii. Mcl ourne thafc decided me we always speak of the old C-untry as hon* e in Australia. So tnree years ago. I came over fco Paris accom pr. a ed by Mr 1). M tcliell, my father, and Mr -Armstrong, my husband. I went at once lo Mdme. Marehesi, who g.ve me immense eucour. gr-meut, ancl plating my.elf in her hands studied a year with her during wine! lirae I learned ten r les. My very fiirst debut was at a co K-erf, f.-uhe Salle Erard, wliich was gi c under the pa r.-nage of Gounod. a.d at which Messrs Lapisaida and i>uj put, the direc.ois of the Theatre de-la Monnaie in Brossels, were p?-esent. After hearingme sing they were delighted, and engaged meat oiict- ior tL eir theatre ar a salary ol £240 a month. Gounod has alway.1. een very Yn<\ about my voice. i>o j you notice that photograph of him j there on ihe mantelpiece, on which he has written, •' To the pretty Juliette, H.r wh-.m I lon?." At ih. ' tii-e of he p odnction of his' Pomeo and Juliet c,' Mr Gailhard wished o engage me lor the role of Juilette. I spent f-vxteen months in Brussels, aud in ihe mfnn wliile snng on occasion^in liondon-at Covent Garden and... els where. Some months ago the directors ofthe opera here asked me tn come and smg Ophelia in Thomas's 'Hamlet,' .nd being anxioi s of the trial of tho P.-ris 0,-era hon-o I c-anie and conqtn-red. " lhe Princess of Wales has been Viry cool to mo and I have special j? ■ t_oi s f j _• g-rativ-ulo to the Queen of l iio Belgians, v.ho was so Very kind io mv during my season in Brusse's. »:he rarelj" missed one of my 'innings until the death of Piinci R dolj h, and always used to S3nd f.r mo to come to the boyal box and talk to her. .- he is very good, and very clever about music I hear she is sending me a souvenir, which wa3 not ready at the time of my farewell evening at the Monnaie. That was a triumph. Fancy I received about sixty boquets." " Jewels qf which the world is so liberal when one has no need of its largesse ?" " I have handf vis," said Madame Melba opening a cupboard. '• See, here, pearls, rubies, diamonds." It is a curious fact that so firm in texture is the paper of a genuine Bank of England note that burqing-can bardly destroy it. T !. authorities have ia a little glazed iiame tie remnants of a note which was in lhe greai lire of Chicago. Though completely chaired, and black, the paper holds logether, and .ac note is sufficiently legible to establish its genuineness and to be ■.••.•..hed. It i. al.o a curious, fact that all Colonial note 3 are so (hrty aad greasy that nny lire will easily destroy them, and even ■.vithout burning they are hardly legible. The Mtfbqurne correspondent of the Dunedin /S.tar : writes on the 81st July :— Miss H. E FinndeJl a New Zealand soprano, made a successful (Übnt in Mel-bom-n*. on Saturday evening at the entertainment given by the Lynch. Family BeHlinfjevs atthe Athenaeum. Hall. A .cable message to the Montreal Gazette „n July 12th snys ihe -British Pos turns ter(r n*ral has sigued a contract wiih the Caripilian-Pacific Raihvay for a fastmon hlv China- Japc'.n service, guaranteeing Ko oo,ooo yparly. The Cmiipuuy's bonds are now bfi'n-7 floated, and ster.mers built to cr.irv mails and pfC?^^ft,]^ht?_isuniir,«oinjf'!»V.' t to Canadfan- Pacific I^iilway tp the I'aciiic oast and 'thence to China and Japan by tlie new IVaiiic line, instead of as formerly by nn American line, from Han Francisco. Steel sferaneis which can be converged in.o j war cruisers, if needed, will be used for tie ! service. The Jatter feature is considered j important, and is whisper-ed as hn'uvj ihe principal reason for tli^-Wganbsity-gianled, as it is much cheagiei. than Jkeeping worships at a great expense in the. Paeilic in case of I .roi^blc with 'EusL'ia. ( -An* un';t'oix>n t xprfces lin*. Will Tohhwlfrcon England zo Asia, and the time will be shortened by ;.liYe<; weeks. •1 vj»«*. i. ,**.' ■'■ *.*•-■•••■'«■ »■■ •