A Kind of Wizardry!

Remembering Dame Nellie Melba’s Legendary Radio Broadcast from Chelmsford in June 1920

Among the things in Episode 1 of the recent series of ‘Barry’s Forgotten Masterpieces’ on BBC Radio 2 listeners heard how the Australian soprano took part in a ground-breaking broadcast on 15th June 1920, two years before the BBC was started up! Listen to whole series of 'Barry's Forgotten Musical Masterpieces' here on BBC Sounds.

Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931) was the first renowned international artist to make a radio broadcast and this event took place at the Marconi factory in Chelmsford. Afterwards, the great lady described the new technology as: “a kind of wizardry.” Should you desire a forensic level of detail of British broadcasting before the BBC, then the best book on the subject is: ‘2MT Writtle: The Birth of British Broadcasting’ by Tim Wander. On this event, he writes:

“Melba described the event as being the ‘most wonderful experience of my career.’ Taking a great personal pride at being the first singer to broadcast all over the world...”

Five years later, in 1925, Melba’s autobiography ‘Melodies and Memories’ was published (ghost written by Beverly Nichol*). I’m currently only on page 121, but looking in the Index, I can't see any reference to: ‘radio’, ‘wireless’, ‘Marconi’ or ‘Chelmsford’ at all. So, the revolutionary event on 15th June wasn’t considered worthy of even a passing mention by the great lady in her memoir. Tim Wander’s book ‘2MT Writtle’ again makes things clearer:

“…she [Melba] also very quickly realised that attendances at future paid concert performances might suffer if she was often heard on the radio, singing for free. She made no mention of the concert in her 1925 autobiography … and in typical Melba fashion, she never made a solo radio studio broadcast again…” (page 36).

I think it’s difficult for 21st century listeners to truly comprehend how famous the Australian soprano was in 1920, but this is perhaps best illustrated by the gargantuan fee she was paid for her revolutionary broadcast from Chelmsford that summer. A grand total of £1000 was deposited in Dame Nellie’s bank account for her half-hour performance on-air, an exceedingly large amount back then! Even today, stars are unlikely to be paid £1000 for a half an hour radio performance, which puts Melba's 1920 fee in some sort of context!

You can view a publicity image of Dame Nellie at the microphone via this link.

‘Melba’ was a stage name of course, inspired by the city of her birth and was adopted after Helen Mitchell, who by then was Mrs Armstrong (albeit divorced), was informed by her French singing teacher (Madame Marchesi) in Paris that the talented young soprano could not possibly consider performing at the world’s most famous Opera Houses with such an overtly urbane name!

Looking back, a few other clues to the soprano's level of fame include her Damehood from 1918, the fact that she was the first Australian to appear on the cover of ‘Time’ magazine (1927) and, even today, her name is still associated with four culinary dishes created by the celebrated French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935) at the Ritz, Savoy & Carlton:

• Peach Melba,

• Melba Sauce,

• Melba Toast,

• Melba Garniture.

Dame Nellie Melba and Barry Humphries have at least two things in common: they were both born in Melbourne and their fathers were both builders.

Barry Humphries and I spent the 102nd anniversary of Dame Nellie’s legendary wireless broadcast together, recording this sixth series of 'Barry's Forgotten Musical Masterpieces' from his home. It was a “high-tech” affair, as you can see, from the photo above. The acoustics of a professional studio were "replicated" by a king size duvet slung between two Lakeland cloths horses, held up by a mop handle and copious amounts of masking tape! The distant drilling up the street on that very hot June day in 2022 was thankfully inaudible on the recording!

The series, which celebrates 100 years of the BBC and the artists who made their name during the early days of British broadcasting, has garnered some nice reviews, including this one from the Telegraph:

Dame Nellie Melba described the experience of appearing on the radio in 1920 as “a kind of wizardry” and that’s how I feel about it too, 102 years later! I simply can't imagine life without a radio playing in the background. Can you?

Written by Clair Wordsworth, Producer of 'Barry's Forgotten Musical Masterpieces' is a Strauss House Production for BBC Radio 2.

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* After Melba’s death, Nichol wrote a novel entitled ‘Evensong’ in 1932, which is supposedly based on aspects of the Australian soprano’s life. It was not a flattering portrait! The 1934 film adaptation starring Evelyn Laye was for a time banned in Australia. Fifty-five years after the Soprano’s death, it eventually became known, Dame Nellie Melba had died of septicaemia in connection with a failed face-lift operation, carried out somewhere in Europe. At the time of her death (1931) the media had suppressed the exact cause of the soprano’s death, out of respect. The truth was revealed when a new edition of ‘The Australian Dictionary of Biography’ was published and the Editor, Geoffrey Serle (1922-1998), a respected Melbourne Historian, wanted the publication to be accurate, so included the real cause of death for the first time.