OPERA HOUSE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12629, 17 October 1905, Page 7

OPERA HOUSE.

THE JESSIE MACLAOHLAN CON-

CERT

A FAVOURITE WITH THE LATE

QUEEN VICTORIA

Til© box plan for the above concerts will open at Messrs H. I. Jones and Son, Limited, this morning, at 9 o'clock. The queue must be farmed outside the shop. Reserves ss. Shortly after Miss Maclachlan's arrival in Christchurch on Wednesday, she was waited on by a "chiel" intent on taking a, few notes, and although the singer was still somewhat wearied by the long journey from Dunedin, she received with the gracious courtesy of a true daughter of the Highlands. Miss Maclachlan is a native of Oban, in the Western Highlands, and was trained for the operatic stage, first by Holland, in London, and later in Paris, so that she has a very thorough acquaintance with the song music of other lands 'besides her own. The folk songs of Scotland, and particularly its ballads, are peculiarly dear to her, and to them she has devoted her art. Miss Maclachlan is proud of the fact that she- is the first professional singer to specialise in Scotch ballads and Gaelic song. These she has studied very closely, making herself a very priestess of the music of her native land, and when speaking of her art, the hearer is made to feel that it is indeed her life. Asked what kind of audience she prefers, Miss Maclachlan confessed to liking a cosmopolitan one best, as being more likely to criticise her on her merits as a singer, without being biassed by sentimental associations connected with certain songs. Miss Maclachlan was only fifteen when she made her first public appearance, and since then she has sung with great success in the capitals of Europe and in Great Britain, besides making four toil's through the United States. She has been commanded to sing at Balmoral on various occasions, and is particularly proud of the bracelet which Queen Victoria gave her on the occasion of her first visit to Balmoral in the year 1892. It is very handsomely set with rubies, sapphires and other stones, and was designed by the Princess Beatrice. A magnificent necklace of diamonds and emeralds presented by the city of Dublin is but one of many handsome offerings made 'by Miss Maclachlan's [ admirers, but the most valued of all is the gift of the Scottish people, the large silver, brooch of Tara, a replica of the famous brooch of St. Patrick. It is ornamented with Scotch pebbles and cairngorms, and is covered with exquisitely worked Gaelic symbols. Aeked whether she felt at home in New Zealand, Miss 'Maclachlan smiled, and owned that even if she had not, the fact that the very first words she heard !on reaching Invercargill were those of a welcome in Gaelic spoken by an old friend of her father's would have been sufficient to make heir feel on good terms with New Zealanders. But in addition to this, the rugged scenery had so many Highland characteristics, and her Dunedin welcome had been so hearty, that she felt quite ac if she was in her own land. ■"*"" Miss Maclachlan is at present in Auckland, and as usual doing enormous business