Superstar!

by Jane Smith

  When Nellie finished, applause broke out again. The audience rose and clapped and threw flowers at the stage – so many that the stage started to look like a garden in springtime. Carly, Dora and Simone stood and clapped along with the rest of the crowd. It was a struggle to see over the heads of the cheering mob, but now and then Carly caught sight of Nellie’s face. She was smiling, and clearly overcome with emotion. She clutched her hands to her chest and blew kisses to the audience. Carly couldn’t be sure – for the stage was so far away – but she wondered if there was a tear in Nellie’s eye.

  When at last the crowd had settled, Nellie bowed to the audience and then strode to the piano and sat. She put her hands on the keys and started to play and sing.

  ‘Home, sweet home,’ she sang, making the crowd roar with love once again.

  Carly, Dora and Simone sat and settled down to enjoy the entire concert.

  CHAPTER 12

  When the concert was over, Carly’s hands were red and sore from clapping. She was also tired and worn out, for listening to Nellie singing was an emotional rollercoaster; she could make your feelings swing from joy to sadness to excitement and back again all in the space of minutes. Carly and Dora had never heard anything like it. It even made Simone quiet and thoughtful.

  They looked at the crowd trying to squeeze its way out of the exits, and decided that the easiest way to get out of the hall would be to remove their shawls and lace ribbon and return to the present. They quietly counted to three, took off their magical items and tumbled forward in time.

  They found themselves back at the concert hall with Ms Carrigan and the school choir. Ms Carrigan was clapping furiously and grinning from ear to ear. She was so excited that her hair was almost standing on end.

  ‘I think we missed the concert,’ Dora whispered.

  ‘But we went to a better one,’ Simone replied.

  When the clapping had finished, they all rose and filed out politely. There was no cheering or flower-throwing or weeping with joy, but there were plenty of happy faces.

  ‘It’s not quite the rock concert that Nellie’s show was,’ Carly said to Dora, who nodded in reply.

  ‘What a treat!’ Ms Carrigan said when they gathered out in the foyer. ‘And here’s another treat for you. We’re going next door to the restaurant for dessert!’

  This was good news indeed! The choir members followed Ms Carrigan out of the concert hall and into the restaurant, where they settled themselves around a big table.

  As they waited to be served, Ms Carrigan talked about the show. ‘Remember, we talked about the opera singer Nellie Melba?’ she said. Carly, Dora and Simone pricked up their ears. ‘Well,’ Ms Carrigan went on. ‘The lead role in La bohème was one she often used to play. How I would have loved to see that!’

  Carly and Dora shared a secret smile.

  ‘The few recordings we have of her singing today don’t do her justice,’ Ms Carrigan went on. ‘But they say Melba sang like a bird.’

  ‘Why did she change her name?’ Simone asked. ‘She was Nellie Mitchell as a girl, and then Nellie Armstrong when she married. Where did “Melba” come from?’

  ‘I suppose she wanted a stage name that people would notice and remember. Besides, her marriage was unhappy and didn’t last long – she probably didn’t want to be known by her married name. “Melba” comes from “Melbourne”. She had to leave Australia to become famous, but she loved Australia. She always wanted people to know where she came from.’

  A waiter appeared, carrying a tray full of dishes.

  ‘I pre-ordered desserts for everyone, to save time,’ Ms Carrigan said.

  The waiter placed the desserts on the table: vanilla ice cream and poached peaches, smothered with raspberry sauce.

  ‘Yum,’ said Carly.

  The waiter smiled. ‘Today’s opera special,’ he said. ‘Created by a French chef at London’s Savoy Hotel and named to honour the famous Australia soprano. It’s called Peaches Melba.’

  HISTORICAL NOTE

  Nellie Melba was one of the most famous singers in the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

  Nellie was born as Helen Porter Mitchell in Melbourne on 19 May 1861. She was the eldest of her parents’ seven surviving children. Nellie went to school in Melbourne, spending a little time at boarding school just as she did in this book, and then attending the Presbyterian Ladies College as a day student.

  Nellie’s mother died when Nellie was only twenty. A little while later, Nellie moved with her father to Mackay, where she met Charlie Armstrong. They married and had a son – George – but Nellie and Charlie were unhappy together. Her husband did not want her to have a life on the stage. Neither did Nellie’s father, David Mitchell; like many people of his time, he thought it was not a respectable career for a woman.

  But Nellie refused to give up. She really did persuade her father to take her to Europe in 1886, just as she did in this book. She had already taken singing lessons with some very good teachers in Australia – including Pietro Cecchi, who recognised her talent just as he did in this story – and in Europe, she continued her lessons with the best teachers in the world. By the time she came back to Australia for a tour in 1902, she was a world-famous superstar who had performed for royalty and was mobbed by fans wherever she went.

  During World War I, Nellie Melba held concerts to raise funds for charities to support the war effort. For this, in 1918 she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1927 she was awarded an even higher honour: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. These were both very important awards that recognised her enormous contribution to the arts.

  Nellie showed a talent for singing from a very young age. She really did sing Comin’ Through the Rye at a Sunday-school concert as a six-year-old – and she really did get teased by a girl who said she could see her ‘drawers’.

  Nellie was well known for her high spirits and her sense of fun. As a girl, she loved playing pranks on people. She really did blow air up her father’s trousers with bellows, wag Latin class to practise the organ, and ride off in a horse-drawn bus, just as she did in this book. Although she sometimes clashed with her father, she loved him very much.

  Her personal life was not always happy, though; her husband divorced her and took her son away from her for many years, which caused her great sorrow. Some people criticised Nellie for being competitive and unkind, but most people she knew loved and admired her. She had many fans and friends, who saw her as a strong, lively, generous woman. And just as Nellie predicted in this book, her father eventually came to be proud of her achievements.

  In Nellie’s day, it was even harder than it is today for anyone – male or female – to have a career in the arts in Australia. People like Nellie had to travel to Europe to look for opportunities to train and perform. By becoming such a big international success, Nellie made the whole world aware that Australians were just as capable of making real art as anyone. And by showing the world that there was nothing wrong with a woman having a career on the stage, she made it easier for other women to do the same. She also helped to promote the musical careers of others by helping them to get work and by teaching singing at a conservatorium in Melbourne.

  Although she was often overseas, Nellie was proud to be Australian. In fact, she chose the stage name ‘Melba’ as a shortened form of her home town, Melbourne.

  After her 1902 Australian tour, Nellie went back to Europe, but she returned to Australia a few times. In 1930 she retired from the stage and came back to Australia for the last time. She died in Sydney the next year, at the age of 69.

  If you’re lucky enough to have a $100 note, look at the picture on it. You’ll see Dame Nellie Melba’s face.

  What do you think about your father’s idea that opera is not a respectable career for a woman?

  I would have thought my opinion on that was obvious. It’s nonsense, of course. My father was a wonderful man – don’t get me wrong. But no-one
is going to tell me what career is respectable or not. Anyway, my dad came around to my way of thinking in the end. He was very proud of my career.

  What was it like touring Australia after all those years in Europe?

  It was magical! To see how the people loved me! It was very emotional. When I came back in 1909, I called it a ‘sentimental tour’ because that’s what it felt like.

  What do you say to the people who say you are cruel and competitive and jealous of other performers?

  Ugh! There will always be some people trying to bring successful people down. I have no reason to be jealous. Competitive – yes; you have to be competitive in my line of work. Ask some of the younger singers I’ve helped in their careers; they’ll tell you what I’m really like.

  How does it feel to have a dessert named after you?

  Delicious!

  ‘Art is not national. It is international. Music is not written in red, white and blue. It is written in the heart’s blood of the composer.’

  ‘If you wish to understand me at all (and to write an autobiography is only to open a window into one’s heart) you must understand first and foremost, that I am an Australian.’

  Jane Smith likes books, history, chocolate and cats. She is grateful to the heroic women in the Carly Mills books who helped make the world a better place.