Our guest speaker (and singer), Martin Clare was so entertaining and funny at Applecross Rotary Club on 17th March I forgot to take any notes or even a photo until he was halfway through.Martin is now 87 but has been singing since he was a boy soprano at the age of 11. When he tried to join the Colchester Essex Choir, the choirmaster told his mother that they had 40 boys already and were full. She begged him to listen to Martin, he auditioned and the choirmaster exclaimed: “We’ve found our lead soprano!”
Of course boys’ soprano voices don’t last forever and Martin’s voice broke at 13. Luckily, he took recordings of himself before that happened and we were able to hear his beautiful clear singing voice of that era.
Martin didn’t sing again for another 18 years but when he emigrated to Perth, someone suggested he should appear on Perth New Faces. Harry Bluck recommended that he receive training with the WA State Opera as it was known then. He trained with the opera’s director, Giuseppe, who lived in Mt Pleasant, which led to Martin performing for 13 years with the WA Opera Company and Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
At the time, Martin worked with Telstra and was given a job which required him to travel around WA, so his singing career was on hold in the city, but he entertained many community groups and at hotels in the country.
Martin was a good friend of David Helfgott, who used to accompany him on piano at the Mundaring Weir Hotel on Sundays. Martin had to tell David quite firmly that David should stick to playing the piano and not try to sing along too!
He attributes his fine singing voice to good genes inherited from his mother and to never having smoked cigarettes, so is a big hit with teachers when he has been asked about his success and singing longevity by students in the classroom.
Martin sang La Donna Mobile by Rigoletto in Italian and La Serenata by Tosti, and received generous applause from members. President Margaret thanked Martin and said his presentation and singing was a delight.