Description
Malvina Major was three years old when she made her first stage appearance. Her brothers and sisters were performing in Auckland when she gate-crashed on to the stage in the middle of their act and joined their song and dance routine. Audience approval was loud and immediate. For Malvina, a youthful enthusiasm for song in particular was to determine her life. Malvina is the account of that life, from its early years in Hamilton to the stages of the great opera houses of the world. Throughout its twists and turns we see the development of a unique talent, from Malvina’s first music training in Ngaruawahia and years of success at competitions, to voice training under Sister Mary Leo at Saint Mary’s College in Auckland, and to her career beyond. Following her success in the 1963 Mobil Song Quest and Melbourne Sun Aria competitions, Malvina took up a scholarship at the London Opera Centre before embarking on life as a professional opera singer in Europe. In 1970 she and her husband, Winston, returned to New Zealand and for the next 15 years singing engagements were mixed with raising a family and work on their Taranaki farm. From the mid 1980s Malvina Major resumed her career fulltime. In the years since, she has reached the heights of her profession as one of the world’s great opera singers, acclaimed wherever she appears. Author David Jillett has known Malvina Major since the late 1950s and has written music for a number of her television performances. His story of her life is one that reveals his subject’s determination – a determination mixed with a quick wit and ready good humour – to succeed and to add to life as much as she has received from it. Hardcover, 150 pages. First edition. In very good to excellent preloved condition with the exception of the remnants of a sticker mark on the front dust cover and a business stamp and reference notation on the first page.