AFTER ARMISTICE
After the Armistice of November 11, 1918, Kiwi soldiers stationed overseas found themselves at a loose end. Ships to bring them home were in short supply. To keep them peacefully occupied, the Army granted generous leaves.
As one of these servicemen, my father mostly spent his leaves in the London theatres.
On his list of must-sees was Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde.
He noted appreciatively in his diary that as this was a ‘‘very heavy opera’’, the soloists had to be ‘‘of the best’’.
Who should be the best of the best – the soprano singing the part of Isolde – but fellow Kiwi Rosina Buckman?
While Buckman’s success on the London stage is a familiar story, accounts of her early years remain hazy.
The ‘‘back issues’’ of New Zealand and Australian newspapers help us fill these gaps. Also useful is Ivan George’s account, drawn from members of Buckman’s family, in his centennial booklet ‘‘Ā piti: Where is that?’’ (1986).
Buckman, born in Waiharakeke (Blenheim) in 1881, was the daughter of John Buckman, carpenter and amateur singer, and Henrietta Matilda Buckman ne´ e Chuck, pianist and organist.
In 1885, John and his brothers George and Joseph crossed Raukawa Moana (Cook Strait) to the lower North Island, starting with work in Petone and proceeding in short hops to Waikanae, Ō taki, Awahou (Foxton), Pā mutana (Palmerston North) and finally Ā piti.
Arriving there in 1893, John leased land for a farm. The brothers were also active in sawmilling, building and the flax industry, but John had persistent problems with creditors.
By age 12, with Henrietta as her music teacher, Rosina was singing at gatherings of church, Sunday school and temperance groups. It didn’t matter which denomination of church, Rosina would support it.
From Ā piti she spread her wings to Kimbolton (then known as Birmingham), Kiwitea, Feilding and finally Palmerston North.
There she received further tuition from James Grace, partner in a boot-making business in The Square but also choirmaster at Cuba Street Methodist Church.
While not a professional musician, Grace knew how to make things happen – anything from a performance of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah in the Opera House through to an evening’s entertainment in the woolshed of Turitea Valley farmer John Forster-Pratt.
Altogether, Buckman had plenty of opportunities to shine.
At the time Grace was expanding his boot business so as to take in musical instruments, knitting machines and much else. His ambitions did not stop there but extended to Buckman.
He formed a bold plan whereby she would accompany himself and family on a voyage to England. Mrs Grace would stay on to shepherd Buckman through her musical training at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Arriving in England in 1898, Grace plunged into acquiring an agency for the Harrison knitting machine. Also top of his agenda was finding a singing teacher for Buckman.
The professor he tried in London liked her voice but was giving up teaching. A second attempt in Manchester got no further.
As a man of English Midlands origins, Grace knew that Birmingham was a good solid place and there he found Buckman her teacher.
Her reputation steadily built, despite her diffidence in accepting performance invitations. Early engagements at Birmingham and further north provided her with a small income and earned favourable reviews. But in 1903 she fell ill and her parents prevailed on her to return home.
Fresh off the boat, she formed the Rosina Buckman Concert Company – a bold move for a 23-year-old. She recruited renowned African-American baritone Moses Hamilton Hodges, along with other soloists, including her sister Clarice, then aged 12.
The newly minted company toured throughout Aotearoa. The Manawatū
Standard of April 20, 1904, reports her performance at Birmingham town hall (this being Kimbolton, of course, not the ‘‘other Birmingham’’).
Almost a year later, still on tour with her company, she was singing at the Feilding drill hall.
On the back of that success, Buckman gained the starring role of Zara in Alfred Hill’s comic opera A Moorish Maid. This operatic hit toured the entire country, playing at the Palmerston North Opera House on September 20-21, 1905.
By 1906 it had crossed the Tasman, a very important stepping stone for Buckman. The Sydney Morning Herald advertised her voice as ‘‘one in a million’’, while the Hobart Mercury of June 23, 1906, claimed she was ‘‘just out’’ from Berlin. Perhaps the Mercury meant Birmingham.
Another opportunity to play both sides of the Tasman came when Buckman signed a contract with Leslie Harris, a celebrated British singer, pianist and raconteur (perhaps the Dudley Moore of his day). While Harris was undoubtedly the star attraction, Buckman gained praise from the reviewers and calls for encores from the audience.
A reporter for the Feilding Star of September 15, 1906, wrote: ‘‘To those who have watched her grow up from childhood, the gradual evolution of her great vocal gifts is a delightful experience to remember.’’
Stints in Australia between 1908 and 1910 with George Musgrove’s Opera
Company, the
Wren National Opera Company and the J C Williamson touring company put Buckman in contact with Dame Nellie Melba, the greatest operatic star of her generation. In 1911, Melba invited her to join the Melba Grand Opera Company. In 1912, Melba and her leading tenor, John McCormack, prevailed on her to try her luck at Covent Garden.
In 1915 came an invitation from impresario and conductor Mr (later Sir) Thomas Beecham to join his opera company, singing the lead female roles in works by Puccini, Bizet and Wagner.
At Beecham’s behest, she learnt the part of Isolde in 27 days. She became one of the greatest divas of her era. She was the Carmen, the Madame Butterfly, the Isolde.
Thus, it was that my father witnessed Rosina Buckman on stage as Isolde in 1919. A semi-professional musician himself, from a provincial centre in Aotearoa, he may have had some inkling of the determination, stamina and sheer talent, along with the generous support of family and friends, that won Buckman her place in the limelight.