Améliè de l’Enclos, French soprano, billed in London as ‘the vocal phenomenon’

Améliè de l’Enclos (active early 20th Century), French singer, billed as ‘the vocal phenomenon,’ who made United Kingdom appearances at the Tivoli, Stand, and other London and provincial music halls between about 1909 and 1911
(photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin, 1908/09; postcard no. 5779, published by The Rapid Photo Printing Co Ltd, London, circa 1909. This postcard, stamp and postmark missing, was sent by Mlle. De l’Enclos to Luigi Motto, 12 Foster Road, Chiswick, London, W. In the 1911 Census for that address, Luigi Motto (1894-1968) is recorded as a music student. He subsequently became a noted ‘cellist and sometime member of The Mozart Concert Party.)

The Tivoli music hall, London, week beginning Monday, 3 January 1910
‘The holiday programme at the Tivoli contains the names of several of the chief music-hall favourites. Miss Marie Lloyd, with her inimitable wink, Mr. Gus Elen, in excellent voice, Mr. George Formby, the Lancashire comedian, who becomes more of an artist the longer he sings, and last but not least (in one sense) Little Tich, all combine to keep the audience in the best of humours… . One of the newcomers to the Tivoli, Mlle. Améliè de l’Enclos, is described on the programme as a phenomenal soprano vocalist, and well deserves the title. She has, to begin with, quite a pleasant and well-trained voice. But over and beyond and far above it she produces some extraordinary vocal harmonics which reach to a positively dizzy height. They are much more like the notes of a flute than a human voice, and of course this part of her performance is merely a variety of trick-singing. But for all that it is not only astonishing, but also, which is a different thing, agreeable to listen to.’
(The Times, London, Tuesday, 4 January 1910, p. 11c)

‘Some Close-range Studies of Personalities of the Week [beginning Monday, 21 November 1910] …
‘A Marvellous Singer
‘Mlle. Amelie de l’Enclos, who is singing at the Tivoli, is able to reach C sharp in alt.’
(The Sphere, London, Saturday, 26 November 1910, p. 181)

* * * * *

‘FAMOUS SINGERS’ TOP NOTES.
‘What are the utmost limits of the human voice? Since, years ago, Mme. Patti reached G in altissimo, doctors of music have been asking themselves this question. As a matter of fact, no singer seems to have exceeded Mme. Patti’s range, although she herself seldom touched that not, her real top note being E flat. Since then, however, several singers have astonished the world by reaching G in alt. even more easily than Mme. Patti.
‘A few days ago a young singer, Miss Florence Macbeth, who has been hailed as ”a second Patti,” appeared at the Queen’s Hall and astounded the critics with her phenomenal voice, which ranges from low G sharp to the G in alt. – three octaves – which she can sing with a clear note.
‘Miss Macbeth was born in Minnesota, and is not the first American nightingale who has astonished the world. Miss [Ellen] Beach Yaw as one of the first to break all musical records on the other side of the Atlantic, and there is a passage in Mozart’s ”Magic Flute” which took her to F, but Miss Yaw demonstrated that she could sing a note higher than that – G.
‘Then there was Miss Editha Helena, a young American diva, who sang at the Empire, London, some time ago, and who claimed to have the greatest vocal register ever possessed by a woman. She could sing with perfect musical intonation (in addition to the two octaves of the ordinary good soprano) F in the altissimo, and even climb to the remote altitudes of the A above F. Besides, this, she could take the low G, and could thus, like Miss Macbeth, sing three octaves, a vocal achievement unprecedented in the whole history of music.
‘In 1910 Mlle. Camille Obar appears at the London Coliseum, and astounded the critics by raising her voice above the level of the C – that ”high C” which is commonly supposed to mark the limit of the ordinary soprano’s efforts in the ”top note” business. As one critic put it, ”The dictionaries of music contained no name for Mlle. Obar’s vocal sky-rockets.” In the same year another French lady, Miss Amelie de l’Enclos, appeared in London and showed that she could reach the four-line C and C sharp, her voice retaining its marvellous purity at this great range.
‘One of the most wonderful singers who ever appeared on the London stage is undoubtedly Miss Florence Smithson, whose song, ”Light is my Heart,” was one of the chief numbers of ”The Arcadians” at the Shaftesbury Theatre. When she first sang the song she set all musical London discussing the wonderful note – F in alt. – which she reached, and not only rendered with astonishing purity and sweetness and without apparent effort, but held with undiminished strength for 24 bars.
‘Naturally the question arises, How do these phenomenal voices compare with the great prima donne of to-day and yesterday? Tetrazzini‘s trill on E flat in alt. has been her greatest and most admired effort. Mme. Melba is credited with an F sharp, Nordica sings C sharp, Calve sings B flat, while Mme. Eames and Mme. Sembrich each easily attain E. Christine Nilsson was able to touch G, and Jenny Lind even an A – ranges, of course, which are phenomenal, and rarely to be found among concert singers.’
(The Advertiser, Adelaide, South Australia, Saturday, 19 July 1913, p. 6h)

Améliè de l’Enclos (active early 20th Century), French singer, billed as ‘the vocal phenomenon,’ who made United Kingdom appearances at the Tivoli, Stand, and other London and provincial music halls between about 1909 and 1911
(photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin, 1908/09; postcard no. 5779, published by The Rapid Photo Printing Co Ltd, London, circa 1909. This postcard, stamp and postmark missing, was sent by Mlle. De l’Enclos to Luigi Motto, 12 Foster Road, Chiswick, London, W. In the 1911 Census for that address, Luigi Motto (1894-1968) is recorded as a music student. He subsequently became a noted ‘cellist and sometime member of The Mozart Concert Party.)

The Tivoli music hall, London, week beginning Monday, 3 January 1910
‘The holiday programme at the Tivoli contains the names of several of the chief music-hall favourites. Miss Marie Lloyd, with her inimitable wink, Mr. Gus Elen, in excellent voice, Mr. George Formby, the Lancashire comedian, who becomes more of an artist the longer he sings, and last but not least (in one sense) Little Tich, all combine to keep the audience in the best of humours… . One of the newcomers to the Tivoli, Mlle. Améliè de l’Enclos, is described on the programme as a phenomenal soprano vocalist, and well deserves the title. She has, to begin with, quite a pleasant and well-trained voice. But over and beyond and far above it she produces some extraordinary vocal harmonics which reach to a positively dizzy height. They are much more like the notes of a flute than a human voice, and of course this part of her performance is merely a variety of trick-singing. But for all that it is not only astonishing, but also, which is a different thing, agreeable to listen to.’
(The Times, London, Tuesday, 4 January 1910, p. 11c)

‘Some Close-range Studies of Personalities of the Week [beginning Monday, 21 November 1910] …
‘A Marvellous Singer
‘Mlle. Amelie de l’Enclos, who is singing at the Tivoli, is able to reach C sharp in alt.’
(The Sphere, London, Saturday, 26 November 1910, p. 181)

* * * * *

‘FAMOUS SINGERS’ TOP NOTES.
‘What are the utmost limits of the human voice? Since, years ago, Mme. Patti reached G in altissimo, doctors of music have been asking themselves this question. As a matter of fact, no singer seems to have exceeded Mme. Patti’s range, although she herself seldom touched that not, her real top note being E flat. Since then, however, several singers have astonished the world by reaching G in alt. even more easily than Mme. Patti.
‘A few days ago a young singer, Miss Florence Macbeth, who has been hailed as “a second Patti,” appeared at the Queen’s Hall and astounded the critics with her phenomenal voice, which ranges from low G sharp to the G in alt. – three octaves – which she can sing with a clear note.
‘Miss Macbeth was born in Minnesota, and is not the first American nightingale who has astonished the world. Miss [Ellen] Beach Yaw as one of the first to break all musical records on the other side of the Atlantic, and there is a passage in Mozart’s “Magic Flute” which took her to F, but Miss Yaw demonstrated that she could sing a note higher than that – G.
‘Then there was Miss Editha Helena, a young American diva, who sang at the Empire, London, some time ago, and who claimed to have the greatest vocal register ever possessed by a woman. She could sing with perfect musical intonation (in addition to the two octaves of the ordinary good soprano) F in the altissimo, and even climb to the remote altitudes of the A above F. Besides, this, she could take the low G, and could thus, like Miss Macbeth, sing three octaves, a vocal achievement unprecedented in the whole history of music.
‘In 1910 Mlle. Camille Obar appears at the London Coliseum, and astounded the critics by raising her voice above the level of the C – that “high C” which is commonly supposed to mark the limit of the ordinary soprano’s efforts in the “top note” business. As one critic put it, “The dictionaries of music contained no name for Mlle. Obar’s vocal sky-rockets.” In the same year another French lady, Miss Amelie de l’Enclos, appeared in London and showed that she could reach the four-line C and C sharp, her voice retaining its marvellous purity at this great range.
‘One of the most wonderful singers who ever appeared on the London stage is undoubtedly Miss Florence Smithson, whose song, “Light is my Heart,” was one of the chief numbers of “The Arcadians” at the Shaftesbury Theatre. When she first sang the song she set all musical London discussing the wonderful note – F in alt. – which she reached, and not only rendered with astonishing purity and sweetness and without apparent effort, but held with undiminished strength for 24 bars.
‘Naturally the question arises, How do these phenomenal voices compare with the great prima donne of to-day and yesterday? Tetrazzini’s trill on E flat in alt. has been her greatest and most admired effort. Mme. Melba is credited with an F sharp, Nordica sings C sharp, Calve sings B flat, while Mme. Eames and Mme. Sembrich each easily attain E. Christine Nilsson was able to touch G, and Jenny Lind even an A – ranges, of course, which are phenomenal, and rarely to be found among concert singers.’
(The Advertiser, Adelaide, South Australia, Saturday, 19 July 1913, p. 6h)

Tivoli music hall, Strand, London, week beginning Monday, 28 December 1908

programme cover of the Tivoli music hall, Strand, London, for the week beginning Monday, 28 December 1908

1. Overture – ‘La part du Diable’ Auber
2. Orpheus – Instrumentalist
3. Miss Minnie Mace – Comedienne & Dancer
4. The San Remo Girls – Speciality Dancers
5. Miss Hilda Jacobsen – Contralto Vocalist
6. Desroches & Bianca – French Comedy Act
7. Mr. Charles Whittle – Comedian
8. Henri de Vries & Company (Henri de Vries, Dorothy Drake and Arthur Stanley) in A Modern Othello by Ina L. Cassilis and Auguste Van Biene
9. Jordan & Harvey – Hebrew Dialect Comedians
10. Les Marbas – Acrobatic Dancers
11. Mr. T.E. Dunville – With new song ‘The Territorial Soldier’
12. Selection – ‘The Gold Mine,’ on Popular Melodies Warwick Williams
13. Mr. Alfred Lester – In a Screamingly Funny Burlesque Skit entitled A Restaurant Episode Supported by Miss Gwen Howard
14. Miss May Moore Duprez – The Jolly Dutch Girl
15. Miss Marie Lloyd – Queen of Comediennes
16. Mr. George Formby – A real Lancashire Comedian
17. Courtice Pounds & Co (Courtice Pounds, Blanche Gaston Murray, Pearl Keats and J. Cooke Beresford) – In Musical Sketch Charles, His Friend by Keble Howard, music by Howard Samuel and Hermann Finck
18. Little Tich – The One and Only
19. Cole & Rags – Eccentric Jugglers
20. Russell’s Imperial Bioscope.

Lady Dunlo (Belle Bilton)

a cabinet photograph of Lady Dunlo, the former Belle Bilton (1867-1906) of the Sisters Bilton, who, upon the death of her father-in-law in 1891 became the Countess of Clancarty
(photo: Bassano, London, circa 1890)

The Babes in the Wood, pantomime, produced at the Prince’s Theatre, Manchester on 21 December 1889,
with Lady Dunlo and Flo Bilton (formerly the Sisters Bilton), Little Tich, Jennie M’Nulty and Phoebe Carlo, et al

‘THE BABES IN THE WOOD AT THE PRINCE’S
‘Great efforts are being put forth to make the forthcoming pantomime of The Babes in the Wood, at the Prince’s Theatre, Manchester, even more than worthy of the reputation of that house. it promises, above all things, to be pantomime of surpassing beauty. The majority of the dresses and their fair wearers are likely to be of a high degree of attractiveness. Scenery, by K.J. M’Lennan and others, of great brilliance, has been prepared and the company of actors and actresses – and specially the latter – it would be difficult to eclipse. Mr. George Dance has written the book, and the interpolated lyrics and local references are the work of Mr. W. Richardson. The music of the pantomime is under the capable care of Mr. Alfred Haines.

a cabinet photograph of Flo Bilton (b. 1872), formerly with her sister Belle (Lady Dunlo) as the Sisters Bilton, English music hall singer and dancer
(photo: LPSCo, probably London, early 1890s)

‘The principal characters and their representatives will be: The Baron, Mr. Arnold Bell (who is stage manager of the pantomime); the Baroness, Miss Lydia Lillian; the Baron’s Page, Little Tich; Willie and Teddy (the Babes), Miss Jennie M’Nulty and Miss Phoebe Carlo; Tabitha (the schoolmistress), Mr. Tom Bass; Dorcas (the pupil teacher), Miss Nannie Harding; the ruffians, Mr. Louis Kellagher and Mr. Witty Watty Walton; Robin Hood, Miss Florence Bilton; Little John, Miss Clara Bernhardt; Will Scarlet, Miss Madge Mildren; Allan-a-Dale, Miss Florence Dene; Mat the Miller, Mr. Villiers; Maid Marion, Lady Dunlo; Hubert and Lionel, the miller’s sons, Miss Lily Edmonds and Miss Denny Fitzherbert; the miller’s men, the Avolos; Peter Pinder (the innkeeper), Mr. A. Bolton; Margery and Patience, villagers, Miss Mabel Love and Miss Daisy Ashton; Friar Tuck, Mr. Walter Wright; Sergeant O’Neill, Mr. Alfred Sakee; Corporal O’Branigan, Mr. Walter Lonnen; Captain Peveril, Miss Ada Blanche; the Archdruid (the demon), Mr. John Henry Dew; the Fairy Queen, Miss Ruth d’Aunton. The first performances will take place on the 21st December.’
(The Manchester Weekly Times, Manchester, England, Saturday, 14 December 1889, p. 2h)

a cabinet photograph of Madge Mildren (fl. late 1880s/early 1890s), English actress, as Will Scarlett in Babes in the Wood, Prince’s Theatre, Manchester, 21 December 1889. Miss Mildren was subsequently connected with the Gaiety Theatre, London, where she appeared in Carmen-Up-To-Data (photo: The London Stereoscopic & Photographic Co Ltd, London, 1889)

‘THE BABES IN THE WOOD AT THE PRINCE’S
‘The Babes in the Wood is a very luxurious pantomime; yet this exceeding richness is a sort of chastened luxury which will commend itself to the most refined tastes. The pictures within the frame of the proscenium are one after another magnificent, displaying resources, inventiveness, and above all, taste, on the part of Mr. T.W. Charles. Mr. George Dance’s book is more or less responsible for this; but the main credit due to him is that of telling a straightforward story in such a manner as to give opportunity to clever performers, rhyming with more than ordinary neatness and being careful always to measure his lines with one common foot rule. The first scene is a large picture – probably of Stonehenge – called the ”Hemlock Stone,” where long-bearded druids hold converse. In this weird region we behold burlesque on the incantation scene in Macbeth. Mr. John H. Dew’s singing of the Druid King is a hit, and so is the ludicrous Highland fling of the venerable Druids. Then, with tinklings from the orchestra and a blaze of silvery light from the flies, Titania and the fairies come rustling on. The net dramatic result of scene 1. is that the Druids vow vengeance against Robin Hood, whom Titania and the fairies protect. Green moonlight vanishes, hoary boulders collapse, and in an instant the village of Bumblebee, radiant as an August sun can make it, bursts upon the sight. The theatre rings with applause, and on the first night, Mr. M’Lennan, the scenic artist, was called and bowed again and again. Shepherds and shepherdesses and village beauties come trooping in by the score, until the whole stage is a swaying garden of infinite colour. These revels are held in honour of the wedding of the Bad Baron (Mr. Arnold Bell). The new Baroness (Miss Lydia Lillian) is a professional beauty, with a temper which enables her to hold her own anywhere. The Baron has a footman of the name of Bantam, which appropriately describes the most remarkable performer in the pantomime. Little Tich – for that is his name – is a young gentleman who cannot be much more than three feet high. The audience quickly recognises in him a consummate comedian. At his every gesture the audience roar with delight. Then two more funny people come on – Mr. Witty Watty Walton and Mr. Louis Kellagher, the ruffians of the play – and when Robin Hood (Miss Florence Bilton) and his merry-men, who have all the time been amusing themselves with the village beauties, have been proclaimed outlaws by a regiment of comic soldiers, the scene closes with a lively chorus. Here it may be mentioned that the village beauties, presonated by Miss Mabel Love, Miss Mary Marden, Miss Edith Milton, and Miss Daisy Ashton, are all very well worthy of the name. We are next introduced to Bumblebee Board School, where Miss Tabitha Bluestocking (Mr. Tom Bass) and Dorcas (Miss Nannie Harding) are teaching the young ideal how to shoot under great difficulties. Among the obstreperous pupils are the Baron’s nephew and niece, Willie and Tillie – not the tiny babes of the picture books, but two charming adults, Miss Jennie M’Nulty and Miss Phoebe Carlo. Gag’em and Scrag’em, the ruffians, disguised as schoolboys, arrive here and lure the Babes away. ”The Road to the Forest” – a beautifully painted scene showing a receding tunnel of russet foliage – is lowered, and when it rises ”Robin Hood’s Glen” is disclosed. This scene is admirable for its distance, a sunlit gorge with brown cliffs rising from the depths high above the trees. When the evolutions of green-dressed foresters are finished, Maid Marion strolls in in the person of Lady Dunlo. It is at once seen that her ladyship’s photographs only do her bare justice. Lack of spirit characterises both her acting and her singing, but her dancing and her costume are charming. A couple of soldier spies (Mr. Alfred Saker and Mr. Walter Lonnen) are dragged in, and Robin Hood, finding he is in peril, departs with his merry men to find the enemy. Then we come to ”The Depths of the Wood” and the famous fight between the ruffians. The next scene is ”The Fairies’ Home in Dreamland.” It serves as a suitable background for an exquisite ballet, called ”The Wedding of the Months and flowers.” In ”Friar Lawrence’s Cell” we are treated to some very comical lovemaking between the Friar (Mr. Walter Wright) and the schoolmistress, and to some wonderful dulcimer playing by the Avolos. Scene 9, ”The Windmill” – a glimpse far up over sparkling cascades to the head of a wooded glen – is perhaps the finest of all Mr. M’Lennan’s efforts. A spirited clog dance by a white-dressed ballet opens the action. Then comes the irresistible Little Tich in a pair of boots nearly as big as himself, and he indulges in antics which throw the audience into prolonged convulsions. Other scenes are given before dramatic matters are put straight. The vanquished villain returns, the Baron repents, and the Babes are restored to their rights, and the customary patriotic song closes the scene. Altogether Mr. Charles is to be congratulated on a pantomime which is not likely to be surpassed for constant exuberant fun, and which it would be difficult to equal for the beauty and splendour of its scenes.’
(The Manchester Weekly Times, Manchester, England, Saturday, 28 December 1889, p. 2d)

a cabinet photograph of Mabel Love (1874-1953), English actress and dancer
(photo: The London Stereoscopic & Photographic Co Ltd, London, late 1880s)

‘A second edition of the pantomime, The Babes in the Wood, was performed for the first time at the Prince’s, Manchester, on Monday evening. New music, new songs, and other novel features were freely introduced. Little Tich proved a host in himself, his eccentricities of movement being the most distinctly humorous feature of the pantomime. Lady Dunlo and Miss Florence Bilton introduced a pretty new dance, which they executed admirably.’
(Manchester Times, Manchester, England, Saturday, 22 February 1890, p. 6c)

Madge Rockingham (fl. late 19^th Century), English actress manageress, singer and pantomime principal boy and principal girl(photo: unknown, UK, probably 1890s)

This real photograph cigarette card of Madge Rockingham was issued about 1900 in England in one of Ogden’s Guinea Gold series. It shows her in the title role of Robinson Crusoe, a pantomime in which she took the lead at the Theatre Royal, Halifax (Christmas, 1894) and at the New Theatre, Kilburn (Christmas, 1895)

New Theatre, Kilburn.

‘But the bright particular star and success of the production is Miss M.R. as Crusoe, one of the best principal boys on the stage. Why this lady is not heard more of in London we cannot understand. Now, Mr. George Edwardes, keep your eye on this. A lady with a fine presence, pretty face and figure, grand mezzo=soprano voice, and can use it, and, what is more, an actress. Bravo! Dick Mansell [manager of the New Theatre, Kilburn], for being the first in the field in London with such a valuable article.’ (from The Encore, London, 3 January 1896, reprinted in The Era, London, Saturday, 11 January 1896, p. 12a)

‘Miss Madge Rockingham is a native of Sheffield, where Mr Edgar Ward, the theatrical manager and musical director, heard her sing at a concert in the Albert Hall. He engaged her for Fairy Queen in the pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, 1883, and so she made her first appearance on the stage. Subsequently, Miss Rockingham played Germaine throughout five tours of Les Cloches de Corneville, the last with Mr Shiel Barry. She appeared on tour in La Fille du Tambour Major, Les Manteaux Noirs, and The Princess of Trebizonde. Miss Rockingham played principal girl in Randolph the Reckless (with Mr Victor Stevens, Miss Alice Brookes, and Miss Alice Cooke); in Miss Esmeralda, with Maggie Duggan and Little Tich; and in Cartouche and Company, with Miss Vesta Tilley. Miss Rockingham also toured as Thames Darrell, in Little Jack Sheppard, with Miss Fanny Robina and Mr J.J. Dallas. For three years she was in management on her own account, the ”Madge Rockingham company” appearing in the Gaiety version of Miss Esmeralda, also in a musical comedy, specially written by Mr Arthur Shirley and Mr Benjamin Landeck, entitled A Fight for Freedom. Miss Rockingham’s pantomime engagements include the following: – Principal girl – Alexandra Theatre, Liverpool; Theatre Royal, Sheffield; Theatre Royal, Bath; Avenue Theatre, Sunderland; and two Easter pantomimes at York; principal boy – Opera Comique, London; Theatre Royal, Brighton; Alexandra Theatre, Liverpool; Theatre Royal, Reading; and Theatre Royal, Kilburn. Next Christmas Miss Rockingham plays Aladdin at the West London Theatre. Meanwhile she is appearing as Madame Montesquieu with Miss Cissy Grahame’s All Abroad company.’ (The Era, London, Saturday, 17 October 1896, p. 13d)