Soprano Nellie Melba ~ O Lovely Night (1910)

Australian soprano Nellie Melba (1861-1931) / O Lovely Night (Landon Ronald) / Recorded: August 26, 1910 --

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Australian
• Soprano
• Nellie
• Melba
• Landon
• Ronald
• Acoustic
• 78
• rpm
• CurzonRoad

[65attila]

Doug - her legato is smooth as silk and the tone is is like the finest crystal.

Thank you-John

[meltzerboy]

And if Melba's tone sounds so phenomenal on these early acoustic recordings, what in the world (or out of it) might she have sounded like in the opera house when in her prime, or on modern recording equipment? Her electric discs and live farewell recordings may give some idea, but she was way past her prime then. A critic once remarked that he wished he could bottle up Melba's tones and preserve them for future generations.

[musicloversingable]

The Melba recordings provide so many matchless examples of beauty. I love this performance. It is haunting.

[mayatatyana1]

Doug, incredibly beautiful voice! Lovely photo. Thank you. Maya

[Kievest]

Melba has some rapturous moments in

this lovely song. Her singing has an after-

glow effect for me--she creates a rarefied

ether punctuated by little explosions of

refined passion. Melba's voice is like

Chablis not red wine! Truly marvelous

photo of the singer, Doug! THANK YOU!

[CurzonRoad]

Hi Ginny: Just as you say.... THANK YOU! Doug --

[AulicExclusiva]

The haunting beauty of her middle voice at moderate volume is simply incomparable. It gives her sustained legato phrasing an indescribable expressivity. There is no other singer like her.

[paulostroff99]

Lends meaning and substance to her craft. TY.

[meltzerboy]

One other point about Melba's singing that critics of her day (notably GB Shaw) always mentioned: her uncanny ability to hit the notes dead center--without a heavy attack--rather than merely avoid the pitfalls of singing out of tune. That quality is very apparent in her recordings of songs such as this. Tetrazzini was also praised for her excellent intonation, so that even the slightest departure from perfect pitch was immediately noticeable.

[meltzerboy]

No other vocalist, except McCormack and Butt, can come close to Melba when singing in English. Actually, I prefer her performances of British and Scottish songs to her operatic recordings. The pure legato, silvery tone, and golden resonance are incomparable. Thanks so much, Doug, for posting this one.