nellie melba thomas-hamlet "mad scene of ophelia--des larmes de la nuit"
Part 1.
This is a small study of the pupils of german mezzo-soprano Mathilde Marchesi. Mathilde Marchesi was one the most important teachers in Germany and in Paris from 1861 to 1865 and from 1881. Dame Nellie Melba most notably was a pupil of this german mezzo.
I include hereunder texts from Wiki and other about Mathilde Marchesi and her pupils. As you can see from the list stated on Wiki, Ms.Marchesi held a significant and paramount position for the future of Sopranos, Mezzo's and others.
Marchesi was born in Frankfurt-am-Main (now in the German state of Hesse). In her adolescence her family fortunes failed, so she travelled at the age of 22 to Vienna to study voice. Thereafter she went to Paris and studied with Manuel García II, who was to have the foremost influence on her. Around the same time she married Italian baritone Salvatore Marchesi and had a short career in opera and recital. Her voice, however, was only adequate, so she moved to teaching....
Pupils
Among her pupils were[1]:
* Suzanne Adams
* Frances Alda
* Sigrid Arnoldson
* Blanche Arral
* Kate Bensberg
* Nadina Bulcioff
* Muriel Brunskill
* Emma Calvé
* Ilma Di Murska
* Marie Duma
* Emma Eames
* Rose Ettinger
* Antonietta Fricci
* Mary Garden
* Etelka Gerster
* Katharina Klafsky
* Gabrielle Krauss
* Selma Kurz
* Estelle Liebling
* Blanche Marchesi (her daughter),
* Dame Nellie Melba
* Louise Natali-Graham
* Emma Nevada
* Gina Oselio
* Ema Pukšec (known as Ilma de Murska)
* Regina Pacini
* Rosa Papier
* Marta Petrini
* Louise Rieger
* Caroline Salla
* Sybil Sanderson
* Frances Saville
* Nadina Slaviansky
* Maggie Stirling
* Florence Toronta
* Guillaume Tremelli
* Inez McCune Williamson
* Ellen Beach Yaw
* Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathilde_Marchesi
Dame Nellie Melba:
Dame Nellie Melba GBE (19 May 1861 23 February 1931), born Helen Porter Mitchell, was an Australian opera soprano and one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century. Melba was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical vocalist. She was also one of the first stage performers (along with Dame May Whitty) to be made a Dame of the Order of the British Empire.
Professional career
Melba Gramaphone ad.jpg
In 1886, she travelled to Europe with her family in an attempt to begin a musical career. With no success in London (although promised parts by Sir Arthur Sullivan), she continued to Paris where a prominent music teacher, Madame Mathilde Marchesi, agreed to tutor her. Melba's first starring role (as Gilda) was at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels and then she had great success in Paris in Hamlet by Thomas. No-one had sung Ophelie so well since Christine Nilsson premiered the role in the 1860s. Melba returned to London to Lady de Grey's patronage, ensuring her success with the aristocratic audience at Covent Garden...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dame_Nellie_Melba