The Company also tried to promote the birth of an English Opera School of Composition, encouraging composers of the day such as Stanford, Goring Thomas, McCunn, Mackenzie, Corder and Macfarren. Premières in Britain of other works, always performed in English, included: in 1882, Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust in 1885, Hamish McCunn’s Jeannie Deans, produced in Edinburgh in 1894 and Humper- dinck’s Hansel and Gretel at Daly’s Theatre, Leicester Square, London at Christmas time in 1894. La Bohème had premiered in Turin in 1896 and the following year was performed in English by the Royal Carl Rosa Company, in , with Puccini, its composer, sitting in the stalls. By this time the Company had been granted a Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria, for whom it gave command performances at Bal- moral Castle. The Royal Carl Rosa Company was at the cutting edge of musi- cal performances in Britain when the new century was born and had seen a performance given by them in Bristol, in 1907, of Verdi’s Il Trovatore, which had changed her life, so it seemed natural that her first port of call, on leaving the Academy, would be to audition for that company. Sir Alexander C Mackenzie would certainly have known someone to whom she could apply for an audition, since he had conducted for them and had his own compositions performed by them.

Eva Turner on Tour with the Royal Carl Rosa Company Walter van Noorden and his brother Alfred, with the helpful presence of the second Mrs Rosa, had taken over the Company by this time, 1915, and were steering it in an altogether safer direc- tion than it had been taking in recent years. Walter, who now devoted his entire life to this company, was the chief conductor, managing and directing it on tour and Alfred, whose business interests were in the City but who was also fascinated by opera, was his chief advisor. It was for Walter van Noorden that Eva Turner auditioned: ‘Walter van Noorden said of me when I auditioned that I had no stage experience and therefore he couldn’t give me a principal’s contract and I was to sing in the chorus for a year! Actually I was a little bit disillusioned and thought that maybe I should have done that before going to the , but I have been grateful ever since because it gave me a certain freedom of movement. I made up my mind, even though I was in the chorus, I was going to

1915 -1924 The Royal 35 be seen AND heard! (Laughter) My first solos were The Page in “Tan- nhäuser”, the choir in “Cavalleria Rusticana”, and Kate Pinkerton in “” and for that I got half a crown which I banked because in those days when we had time out, we were not paid as we are today... Glad and I used to go to the Post Office together and bank our earnings... I began my career with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, and I have very happy memories of those hardworking days, even of early Sunday train calls on draughty platforms, when ourselves and the milk churns often seemed to be the only trav- The second Mrs Rosa and Eva Turner ellers, and of Monday morning rehearsals in dreary dust-sheeted theatres. Touring was no bed of roses for a singer, but it was a grand life and I loved every moment of it.’ Eva Turner’s first Carl Rosa contract, sent to her on May 18th, 1915 during the First World War, was for the period starting Sep- tember 6th that year. The contract was for ‘Soprano Chorister’ at a salary of £2 a week and was signed by Alfred van Noorden. She waited, eagerly, for an opportunity to arise which would allow her to step out of the chorus and this happened very early on when she was asked to learn Papagena at twenty-four hours notice to save the show. She was also given the small part of The Page in Tannhäuser, a part known in the company as ‘one and six tights’ Walter van Noorden since 1/- extra was paid to sing it and the young Eva had to wear tights with 6 pennies stitched in the top to keep them up. The scene in the chorus dressing room must have been a moment filled with laughter, as she got ready for this small role, being ribbed by her colleagues perhaps about her rather big, ‘sit-me- down’ or somewhat solid, short little legs. As she stepped on to the stage, however, she did her job with commitment and delight, as this was her firstWagner role and she was surrounded by expe- rienced performers of this repertoire whom she could ‘listen and learn’ from. She was twenty three years old, a single woman with a burning desire to be a great singer and she used every opportu- nity this job gave her to lay the foundations for her life and career.

Alfred van Noorden

36 Dame Eva Turner A Life on the High Cs