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Dame
Nellie Melba (for whom "Melba Toast" was named) was
once told by Puccini himself, "You don't sing my music. You
sing Melba-Puccini." Above her dressing room in Covent Garden
there was a sign which read: "QUIET! Melba needs her
concentration." At a Covent Garden curtain call, she shoved
tenor John McCormack out of the way and took a solo bow, justifying it
later with "In this house, nobody takes a bow with
Melba!" At a performance of La bohème, Melba (as Mimí)
upstaged Fritzi Scheff's Musetta (during "Musetta's Waltz," no
less) by holding her note louder and longer than was written in the
score. When Scheff stormed off-stage in tears, refusing to
sing the rest of the opera, Melba entertained the audience with a
performance of Lucia's mad scene. |
