Melisande Headdress and Veil
WearerWorn by
Mary Garden
(Aberdeen, Scotland, 1874 - 1967)
Date1908
Object NameHeaddress
Mediumvelvet and chiffon
ClassificationsFashion and Dress
AcquisitionPresented in 1989.
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDMS014771
Keywords
The full length flowing dress is made from pale apple green sateen with large swirls of stencilled pinky-lilac, outlined in piping cord for dramatic effect on stage. Emerald green mercerised cotton knit sleeves are worked with a lattice pattern of large emerald coloured beads. The two floating panels of chiffon drapery are echoed in the head-dress. Mary Garden also wore the grey suede lace-up boots and carried the fabric flower garland. The complete ensemble would have created a dramatic stage presence as Mary Garden moved and sang.
Unfortunately the dress is in a very fragile condition, as like most stage costumes it has suffered from wear under hot lights. It is believed to be the only stage costume still in existence as Mary Garden instructed her maid to destroy her stage wardrobe shortly before her death. This costume was stored in a black travelling case and due to an oversight it survived.
Mary Garden created the role of Mélisande when the opera was first produced at the Opéra Comique in Paris in 1902 and repeated the role six years later when the work had its American debut at the Manhattan Opera House. The Chicago Tribune commented after its opening night at The Chicago Grand Opera Company in 1910:
"Almost everything we have heard about this great artist is contradicted. We have been told that she is a remarkable actress, but that she cannot sing. She can act wonderfully, but there is none of the hysterical display that one expects when the acting of a singer is praised. And her voice is as wonderful as acting so far as its power to reach the sympathy of her hearers is concerned".
The role was one which Mary Garden made her own. When the production opened in America she told the NewYork Globe:
To me [Mélisande] embodies poetry, romance, sorrow, a gentle victim of human passion. I think the scene in the third act, where her husband brutalises her is one of the most dramatic scenes in all operas.
