Incidentally, it was learned that dolls were tabooed by this prima-donna in pinafores.
"I hated dolls. My favorite toys were horses—wooden horses. One given to me by my father's secretary was almost an idol to me for years."
Recurring to the subject of music, Mme. Melba continued:
"I didn't sing much when a child; I only hummed. And by the way, a child's voice should be carefully guarded. I consider the ensemble singing in schools as ruinous to good voices. Each one tries to outdo the other, and the tender vocal cords are strained and tired. I, personally, did not seriously study singing until after my marriage at seventeen years of age."
The preparation required for Mme. Melba's career was neither very long nor arduous. She studied nine months with Marchese, then was ready to make her début in Brussels as a star.
All things came easy to her, because her voice never had to be "placed"; her tones were jewels already set.
"The first opera I ever heard was Rigoletto.' That was in Paris, when I was studying. What did I think of it? Well, I dare say my inexperience made me very bumptious, but I remember thinking I could do it better myself! In Australia I had no chance to hear operas. 'Lucia' I have never yet heard, tho that is perhaps the rôle most associated with my name."
"Lucia" has, indeed, become a Melba possession. The mad-scene alone, on a program with her name, would invariably crowd the house. It is a veritable frolic to hear her in this aria. She is pace-maker, as it were, to the flute, which repeats every phrase that she sings. It is the prettiest race ever run, and when at the finish the time-keeper brings down his baton, the audience cheers itself hoarse for the winner.
When asked her opinion of the new gramaphones and the wonderful records of her voice, Madame Melba spoke with enthusiasm.
"They are, indeed, a remarkable achievement. I am looking, however, for still greater improvements, and am keenly interested in every new development."