Melba (radio serial)
| Genre | drama serial |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 mins[1] (7:30 pm – 8:00 pm)inc. adverts |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| Written by | John Ormiston Reid |
| Produced by | Hector Crawford Dorothy Crawford |
| Recording studio | 3DB Melbourne |
| Original release | 3 February 1946[2] – 25 January 1947[3] |
| No. of episodes | 50 |
Melba is a 1946 Australian radio drama about the life of Nellie Melba.[4] and first broadcast by stations 3DB and 3LK 1946–1947 in fifty 30-minute episodes. It was produced by Hector Crawford, who knew Melba.[5][6][7]
The scripting involved months of research.[8]
Four actresses played Melba:[9]
- Eight-year-old Kareen Wilson spoke and sang the young Melba — "Comin' Thro' the Rye" and "See Me Dance the Polka" in the Richmond Town Hall. She was the daughter of baritone Ernest Wilson and soprano Freda Northcote.[2]
- Glenda Raymond, a coloratura soprano from Melbourne, sang all the arias of Melba in her emerging years, in the original key and hitting the same notes. She was a relative unknown, but had a subsequent career in opera, notably as Etain in Rutland Boughton's The Immortal Hour.[10]
- Stella Power — dubbed "the Little Melba" by Melba herself[11] — sang the mature Melba.
- Patricia Kennedy played the speaking "Nellie Mitchell that scarifies you with the rough side of her tongue"[9] Melba, "a remarkable success", said the Adelaide Advertiser,[12] For continuity, Kennedy played ever stage of Melba's life.[2]
and many real-life friends and colleagues played themselves.[9]
ABC Weekly said "The woven story is interesting and the music-dialogue balance nicely placed, with the story itself built on factual references to Melba’s career."[13]
The Advocate said it was "very pleasant listening."[14]
References[edit]
- ^ "Melba's Great Triumph", ABC Weekly, 8 (18), Sydney, 18 May 1946, retrieved 14 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ a b c "Melba's Life Story Comes to the Radio". Saturday Evening Express. Vol. 17, no. 49. Tasmania, Australia. 26 January 1946. p. 9. Retrieved 14 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Advertising". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 31, 327. Victoria, Australia. 25 January 1947. p. 16. Retrieved 14 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Philp, Peter (2016). Drama in Silent Rooms: A History of Radio Drama in Australia from 1920s to 1970s. Eureka. pp. 218–22o.
- ^ "Melba's Protege in Singing Role". Saturday Evening Express. Vol. 17, no. 49. Tasmania, Australia. 26 January 1946. p. 9. Retrieved 14 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Melba Lives Again", ABC Weekly, 8 (41), Sydney, 26 October 1946, retrieved 14 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Reviewing Serials is a Tough Job". Advocate. Vol. LXXIX, no. 4723. Victoria, Australia. 6 February 1946. p. 18. Retrieved 14 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "National Programme News: Melba's Life as Dramatic Serial", ABC Weekly, 8 (4), Sydney, 9 February 1946, retrieved 14 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ a b c "It Strikes Me". The Herald. No. 21, 404. Victoria, Australia. 24 December 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 14 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Singer Acclaimed as "Find"". Daily Mirror (Sydney). No. 2449. New South Wales, Australia. 6 April 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 14 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Dunbar-Hall, Peter, "Power, Stella (1896–1977)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 29 June 2021
- ^ "Vivid Melba Portrayal". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. 88, no. 27266. South Australia. 23 February 1946. p. 5. Retrieved 14 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Listening post", ABC Weekly, 8 (21), Sydney, 8 June 1946, retrieved 14 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Melba Show a Successful Radio Serial". Advocate. Vol. LXXIX, no. 4739. Victoria, Australia. 29 May 1946. p. 26. Retrieved 14 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.