Gertrude Johnson
Encyclopedia
Gertrude Emily Johnson OBE (13 September 1894 – 28 March 1973) was an Australia
n coloratura
soprano
and founder of the National Theatre
in Melbourne
.
, Melbourne. She was the second child of George and Emily Johnson. George was a professor of music and both parents had been born in Victoria. Gertrude was educated at Presentation Convent, Windsor. On the advice of Nellie Melba
, Johnson enrolled at the age of 17 in the University of Melbourne
Conservatorium of Music as a student of Anne Williams. In 1915 she followed Williams to Melba's new women's singing school at the Albert Street Conservatorium, East Melbourne
(later the Melba Memorial Conservatorium). Johnson was accepted into Melba's classes, and the relationship developed to the point where Melba gave Johnson her own personal cadenza
s, a valuable professional asset. The director of Albert Street, Fritz Hart, had a particular interest in Mozart
ian opera
and was responsible for introducing Johnson to what was to be the core of her repertoire.
Queensland
and New South Wales
in 1917 with Count Ercole Filippini's troupe, and in 1919 to Melbourne, Sydney
, Adelaide
and New Zealand
with the Rigo Grand Opera Company. By 1921 she had sailed to London
and started singing with the British National Opera Company
. Soon she was singing roles such as Micaela in Carmen
, Marguerite in Faust
and the Princess in Holst
's The Perfect Fool
at Convent Garden
. She also had an extensive recording career with Columbia Records
.
and ballet
school. The National Theatre company grew rapidly, and protected from international competition during World War II
, managed to produce 15 operas through this period. After the war the company continued to tour nationally, and in 1954 gave a Royal Command Performance
at Melbourne's Princess Theatre
in front of Queen Elizabeth II
. The success of the performance and subsequent season led to the founding of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
, which in turn ironically led to the decline of the National Theatre as a performing company. In an effort to stem the decline, a building fund for the National Theatre was established. Two fires in premises occupied by the National Theatre sapped morale, until finally a permanent home was found in the former Victory Cinema in St Kilda. The new premises finally opened in 1974.
for her work as Director of the National Theatre.
. Her estate, valued at $117,000, was put towards scholarships for students at the National Theatre schools.
She was such a charismatic and inspirational character that she has become the central character in a novel. Vissi d'arte was written by Joanna Stephen-Ward and the character Harriet Sahw is based on Gerturde Johnson, although Gertrude was a far kinder person than Harriet Shaw. The rest of the characters are fictional. Vissi d'arte is set in Melbourne and many of the scenes take place in The National Theatre in St Kilda.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n coloratura
Coloratura
Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...
soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
and founder of the National Theatre
National Theatre, Melbourne
The National Theatre is a 783 seat Australian theatre and theatrical arts school located in the Melbourne bayside suburb of St Kilda, on the corner of Barkly and Carlisle Streets...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
.
Early life
Johnson was born in 1894 at PrahranPrahran, Victoria
Prahran , also known colloquially as "Pran", is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Prahran had a population of 10,651. It is a part of Melbourne with...
, Melbourne. She was the second child of George and Emily Johnson. George was a professor of music and both parents had been born in Victoria. Gertrude was educated at Presentation Convent, Windsor. On the advice of Nellie Melba
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
, Johnson enrolled at the age of 17 in the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
Conservatorium of Music as a student of Anne Williams. In 1915 she followed Williams to Melba's new women's singing school at the Albert Street Conservatorium, East Melbourne
East Melbourne, Victoria
East Melbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, adjacent to Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, East Melbourne had a population of 4,330....
(later the Melba Memorial Conservatorium). Johnson was accepted into Melba's classes, and the relationship developed to the point where Melba gave Johnson her own personal cadenza
Cadenza
In music, a cadenza is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display....
s, a valuable professional asset. The director of Albert Street, Fritz Hart, had a particular interest in Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
ian opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and was responsible for introducing Johnson to what was to be the core of her repertoire.
Singing career
Through introductions from Melba, Johnson begun touring outbackOutback
The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
in 1917 with Count Ercole Filippini's troupe, and in 1919 to Melbourne, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
with the Rigo Grand Opera Company. By 1921 she had sailed to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and started singing with the British National Opera Company
British National Opera Company
The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham Opera Company , which was disbanded when financial problems over...
. Soon she was singing roles such as Micaela in Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, Marguerite in Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
and the Princess in Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
's The Perfect Fool
The Perfect Fool
The Perfect Fool is an opera in one act with music and libretto by the English composer Gustav Holst. Holst composed the work over the period of 1918 to 1922. The opera received its premiere at the Covent Garden Theatre, London on 14 May 1923...
at Convent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
. She also had an extensive recording career with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
.
National Theatre
Johnson returned to Melbourne in 1935, a woman of independent means, and retired from singing. Distressed at the lack of training opportunities in Australia for upcoming artists, she founded the National Theatre. Included was an opera, dramaDrama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
and ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
school. The National Theatre company grew rapidly, and protected from international competition during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, managed to produce 15 operas through this period. After the war the company continued to tour nationally, and in 1954 gave a Royal Command Performance
Royal Command Performance
For the annual Royal Variety Performance performed in Britain for the benefit of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, see Royal Variety Performance...
at Melbourne's Princess Theatre
Princess Theatre, Melbourne
The Princess Theatre is a 1488-seat theatre in Melbourne, Australia.It is listed by the National Trust of Australia and is on the Victorian Heritage Register.-History:...
in front of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. The success of the performance and subsequent season led to the founding of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust was set up in September 1954 under the guidance of H. C. ‘Nugget’ Coombs, Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, Sir Charles Moses General Manager, Australian Broadcasting Commission and John Douglas Pringle, Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. It aimed to...
, which in turn ironically led to the decline of the National Theatre as a performing company. In an effort to stem the decline, a building fund for the National Theatre was established. Two fires in premises occupied by the National Theatre sapped morale, until finally a permanent home was found in the former Victory Cinema in St Kilda. The new premises finally opened in 1974.
Honours
In 1951 Gertrude Johnson was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for her work as Director of the National Theatre.
Death
Gertrude Johnson died on 28 March 1973 at MalvernMalvern, Victoria
Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...
. Her estate, valued at $117,000, was put towards scholarships for students at the National Theatre schools.
She was such a charismatic and inspirational character that she has become the central character in a novel. Vissi d'arte was written by Joanna Stephen-Ward and the character Harriet Sahw is based on Gerturde Johnson, although Gertrude was a far kinder person than Harriet Shaw. The rest of the characters are fictional. Vissi d'arte is set in Melbourne and many of the scenes take place in The National Theatre in St Kilda.
External links
- Entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography
- Gertrude Johnson Collection in the Performing Arts Collection, the Arts Centre, Melbourne (correspondence, music books, objects, photographs, programmes etc.)