NORA D'ARGEL
(DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND, 1880 - ?)
She was born Nora May Lawrence Long in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1880,
the daughter of Charles Long. Her grandmother, Mrs. Mary Lawrence, lived in
Manly from 1902 to 1914. Mrs. Lawrence had ten children, among them Nurse Alice
Hatton and Mr. W. D. Jackson, who also resided in Manly.
Nora Long was educated at the Wellington Convent, where her voice was
trained. Her talent was recognized by the singer and impresario Philip Newbury,
who engaged her as a member of his company. After moving to Sydney around 1900,
she began performing regularly with the Newbury Company at concerts in
Centenary Hall. Her Sydney debut took place in July 1902. At the time, she was
living in Manly, where her mother, Mrs. Long, ran a guesthouse on North Steyne.
Nora Long gave several performances in Manly. At a concert organized
by Mr. W. H. Whiddon in aid of the victims of the Kembla Disaster in 1902, she
sang one of her signature pieces, “The Banks of Allan Water.” At another
concert held in Victoria Hall on 22 September 1903, she performed Schubert’s Ave Maria.
Nellie Melba encouraged her to pursue a career in Europe, and in 1906
she was engaged by the Nice Opera House, where she achieved great success under
the stage name Nora D’Argel.
Following her success on the Continent, she appeared in The Tales of Hoffmann at the
Shaftesbury Theatre in London in 1910, performing the dual roles of Antonia and
Olympia. She also made several gramophone recordings for HMV. In 1914, she
traveled to New York aboard the Caronia
and likely gave performances in the United States.
She continued to appear in radio broadcasts into the 1930s. She lived
in London throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The most recent reference found to
her was in 1938, when she was living under her stage name, D’Argel, at 199b
Belsize Road, London NW6, near Kilburn High Road tube station.
TRACKLIST
Contes
d'Hoffmann (Offenbach) Antonia's song 2-3118 Ho1494ab HMV, London 1915-05-20
La
Villanella (dell'Acqua) 03437 Ho816ac HMV, London 1915-05-20
Rigoletto
(Verdi) Dear child, recall not (w. Samuell) 04140 Ho1154ac HMV, London
1915-10-25
Rigoletto
(Verdi) Gilda, Gilda, my daughter (w. Samuell) 04141 Ho1155ac HMV, London
1915-10-25
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