Soprano Nellie Melba: HAMLET ~ Mad Scene / Distance Test & Full Studio Recording (1910)

[rupepill]

Reportedly, a fellow Australian enthusiastically described her voice as being, "strong as a bullocky's" - a reference to the power needed by a driver to catch the attention of draft bullocks.. The attendant problem for sound engineers with recording such a robust voice was its likelihood to cause blasting/damage to the groove walls. So, for Melba, it was always a case of compromise; in mind, her artistic Mother Mathilde, urging a ringing, even when soft tone, while engineers pleaded otherwise.

[minacciosa]

She would be a giant even today.

[genia106]

Douglasio,

A most beautiful voice....Nellie is marvelous, I can just visualize the scene as she falls deeper and deeper into maddness and the music is just wonderful.

Merci......

[AulicExclusiva]

No one ever sang the soft legato phrases of the ballade ("Pâle et blonde, dort sous l'eau profonde") like Melba, with that moonbeam purity and perfect, seamless silver tone. The last phrase, "...sous les eaux du lac bleu" with that heart-wrenching sudden chest tone in lac always sends a chill down my spine. In some ways, she is the supreme vocalist on records.

Also, let's admit it, this is gorgeous music.

[meltzerboy]

My exact feelings. What also strikes me is the slower tempo Melba takes for the legato phrases you mention compared to the recordings of Galli-Curci (haunting legato here as well), Tetrazzini, Callas (beautiful phrasing throughout), Sutherland, Sills, and Dessay. It is in these phrases that I believe Sutherland falls short, although the rest of her performance is a peerless florid display (particularly her earlier versions). Verlet and Scotney also made excellent recordings of the scena.

[AulicExclusiva]

Tetrazzini's hurried performance, in an ill-fitting Italian translation, is far from one of her better records. Galli Curci's certainly is: her dreamy, almost trance-like tone in the ballade is one of her best moments on recording. She just lacks the depth of timbre, of impasto, that Melba had. Callas, Sutherland and Sills simply couldn't provide the clear, steady tone the music calls for, even if Callas colours hers admirably.

[AulicExclusiva]

Robin and Doria at least phrase with sure verbal shapeliness, though neither can provide the tonal poise that Norena does. Dessay, in her early recital disk, is good. But I must confess a weakness for the voice of June Anderson.

[meltzerboy]

Anderson can be a delightful singer but--similar to Callas, in a way--is so variable. More than with most singers, I find that whether I like her singing or not really depends on the specific performance and the specific year, the earlier the better (as with Dessay).

[vstasov]

Wonderful archiving - many thanks for this historically important recording.

[CurzonRoad]

Thank you, Stasov, indeed very, VERY much! Doug --

[Kievest]

One of the most astounding interpreta- tions of madness or psychological rock bottom I have had the privilege to hear! Melba employs her astonishing vocal technique in service to Ophelia's stream of deranged consciousness. She fashions wistful threads of sound, unholy barks, exquisite lyricism and poignancy into a spellbinding tour de force! The score by Thomas is the bedrock of this brilliant recording. Thank you for honoring us with this treasure!

[CurzonRoad]

Dear Kievest: WOW! Thank YOU very, very, V-E-R-Y much!

[vstasov]

Kievest, you leave such erudite comments, art in themselves.

[CurzonRoad]

I second this comment.... truly art in themselves!

[spannerworks1]

Doug my friend,

A very strong voice from your great recording. She died in 1931 by the look at the related videos.

Regards

Richard

[andyrawn]

DOUG ~

While he still alive & healthy, Walter Matthau would often take his dog walking in a neighborhood near mine and we would sometimes pause & exchange opera tidbits.

One day, he left a recording on my answering machine of one his all-time favorite singers, and ~ though it was not Melba ~ it was another "perfect" soprano: Claudia Muzio.

Appreciate your update re: my small but valuable collection of Fonotipias ~ I would welcome a collector's optimistic offer!

~ANDY

[genia106]

I am so impressed that Walter Mathau was a opera buff and I have heard Claudia Muzio on jozefsterkens channel and she is Magnificent! Merci.

[rupepill]

@andyrawn

All three of these people - Melba, Muzio and Matthau - interest me greatly, for various reasons. Would you mention which Muzio recording Mr Matthau left on your answering machine, plase? Thank you.

[65attila]

Doug this is interestring and fortunately I have this excerpt of a Naxos CD.

From listening to several CDs , she seem to have had a very large voice.

Her legato singing is amazing and trill is beautiful. It took me @ 40 years to get use to her timbre but I am now hooked on her..

Thank you-John

[paulostroff99]

Melba is Melba! Need we say more! TY Doug.

[CurzonRoad]

Hi Paul: Yes, you are MOST correct ! ITEM: But can you imagine getting on her bad side ?! :-D THANK YOU! Cheers, etc. Doug --

[paulostroff99]

CurzonRoad-As Dwayne Bobick comes to mind-not her bad side nor her bedside!!!!! Ha,ha.

[meltzerboy]

I've heard the distance test for this recording before, but only with the trill and arpeggio. I wonder why it was published, or was it found in the vault? The kind of full-bodied tone Melba produced--combined with the power and resonance of her voice--made it particularly liable to blast, I suppose. This performance is not considered as great as the famous 1904 recording, in which Melba's silvery tone and perfect legato are matchless. She sang the aria as late as 1913 and received rave reviews.

[CurzonRoad]

Hi Nate: Pretty sure the test was published many decades later. Perhaps someone knew it was in the vault? or the result of a happy accident? THANK YOU! Doug --

[Bivolari]

Endlessly fascinating. She, like most of her time, had a technique that projected the sound, forte or piano to the last row of the balcony. It does not sound well in the close quarters of acoustical recording. In the distance test, the farther away she is from the horn the softer the tone gets. The tone in front of the horn is hard. I think the distant sound would probably be what we would have heard in the theater. But, absolutely fearless singing and supreme confidence in her own worth.

[CurzonRoad]

Many thanks, Steve! All Best. Cheers, etc. Doug --