Melba (radio serial) explained
| Melba |
| Format: | drama serial |
| Runtime: | 30 mins |
| Start Time: | 7.30pm |
| End Time: | 8pm |
| Runtime Note: | inc. adverts |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Producer: | Hector Crawford
Dorothy Crawford |
| Record Location: | 3DB Melbourne |
| First Aired: | 3 February 1946[1] |
| Last Aired: | 25 January 1947[2] |
| Num Episodes: | 50 |
Melba is a 1946 Australian radio drama about the life of Nellie Melba.[3] and first broadcast by stations 3DB and 3LK 1946–1947 in fifty 30-minute episodes. It was produced by Hector Crawford, who knew Melba.[4] [5]
The scripting involved months of research.
Four actresses played Melba:[6]
- 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.[1]
- 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.[7]
- Stella Power — dubbed "the Little Melba" by Melba herself — sang the mature Melba.
- Patricia Kennedy played the speaking "Nellie Mitchell that scarifies you with the rough side of her tongue"[6] Melba, "a remarkable success", said the Adelaide Advertiser,[8] For continuity, Kennedy played ever stage of Melba's life.[1]
and many real-life friends and colleagues played themselves.[6]
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."
The Advocate said it was "very pleasant listening."[9]
Notes and References
- News: Melba's Life Story Comes to the Radio . . 17 . 49 . Tasmania, Australia . 26 January 1946 . 14 December 2023 . 9 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Advertising . . 31,327 . Victoria, Australia . 25 January 1947 . 14 December 2023 . 16 . National Library of Australia.
- Book: Philp, Peter. Eureka. 2016. Drama in Silent Rooms: A History of Radio Drama in Australia from 1920s to 1970s . 218–22o.
- News: Melba's Protege in Singing Role . Saturday Evening Express . 17 . 49 . Tasmania, Australia . 26 January 1946 . 14 December 2023 . 9 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Reviewing Serials is a Tough Job . Advocate . LXXIX . 4723 . Victoria, Australia . 6 February 1946 . 14 December 2023 . 18 . National Library of Australia.
- News: It Strikes Me . The Herald . 21,404 . Victoria, Australia . 24 December 1945 . 14 December 2023 . 5 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Singer Acclaimed as "Find" . . 2449 . New South Wales, Australia . 6 April 1949 . 14 December 2023 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Vivid Melba Portrayal . . 88 . 27266 . South Australia . 23 February 1946 . 14 December 2023 . 5 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Melba Show a Successful Radio Serial . Advocate . LXXIX . 4739 . Victoria, Australia . 29 May 1946 . 14 December 2023 . 26 . National Library of Australia.
