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From the Carlton Restaurant

(The Little Surprise)

The Band of the 1st Battalion The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)
(By kind permission of Lt.-Col. F.H.B. Wellesley and Officers)
Bandmaster, Edwin Ovington
Relayed from the Institution Gardens, Bath

The tragic story of Verdi's opera, La Traviata, one of the most popular of all his tuneful works, was made for him from Dumas' play, The Lady of the Cornelius. It is interesting to recall, in view of the warm affection in which the opera and its melodies are held all over the world, that it was not very enthusiastically welcomed on its first appearance. For one thing, the characters appeared in modern dress, which was a rather startling break with opera traditions, in 1853, when it was first given in Venice. And there is another difficulty which is not always easily overcome. Violetta, the heroine, is a pale, delicate, creature, who dies, in the end, of consumption. But, at the first performance, the Prima Donna, who took the role was an extremely healthy looking lady of distinctly generous proportions, and her untimely death from a wasting disease seemed to the audience so unlikely that the singer came in for a good deal of chaff. Italian audiences, were, and indeed still are, inclined to be free in their comments, even during a performance. More than one distinguished singer since then who has been successful in the vocal side of the part, has found it difficult to wear the frail and delicate look which it demands. Singing is a healthy exercise, as the looks of singers frequently proclaim.

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