Nellie Melba

Dame Nellie Melba was born Helen Porter Mitchell on 19 May 1861 in Richmond, Victoria, and died on 23 February 1931 in Australia. She was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. Melba became a major star in the late Victorian era and early 1900s, and she was the first Australian classical musician to gain worldwide fame. Her stage name came from Melbourne, her hometown.

She learned to sing in Melbourne and had some modest local success. After a short, unhappy marriage, she left for Europe to build a career. London did not offer her work in 1886, so she went to Paris to study. There, and soon after in Brussels, she achieved great success.

London, Paris and New York debuts

Returning to London, she became the top lyric soprano at Covent Garden from 1888. She then found further success in Paris, elsewhere in Europe, and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she first performed in 1893. Her repertoire was limited; over her entire career she sang only 25 roles and was strongly associated with just 10 of them. She was famous for French and Italian opera but rarely sang German works.

Twentieth century

During World War I, Melba raised large sums for wartime charities. She visited Australia often in the 1900s, performing in opera and concerts, and had a house built near Melbourne. She taught singing at the Melbourne Conservatorium.

Early years

She kept singing until the final months of her life and gave many "farewell" performances. Her death was reported across the English-speaking world, and her funeral was a major national event. Her image appears on the Australian $100 note. Melba was the eldest of seven children born to builder David Mitchell and his wife Isabella Ann.

Her father emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1852 and became a successful builder. She learned piano and first sang in public at about age six. She attended a local boarding school and later the Presbyterian Ladies' College. She studied singing with Mary Ellen Christian, a former pupil of Manuel García, and with Italian tenor Pietro Cecchi, a respected Melbourne teacher.

As a teenager, she performed in amateur concerts around Melbourne and played the church organ. Her father supported her musical studies but strongly opposed a singing career. Her mother died suddenly in 1881. Her father moved the family to Mackay, Queensland, to build a sugar mill.

There, Melba became popular for her singing and piano playing. On 22 December 1882, she married Charles Nesbitt Frederick Armstrong in Brisbane. They had one son, George, born on 16 October 1883. The marriage failed; Charles reportedly beat her more than once.

They separated after just over a year, and Melba returned to Melbourne to pursue singing, making her professional concert debut in 1884. Flautist John Lemmone often accompanied her and became a lifelong friend and adviser. Based on local success, she went to London. Her debut at Princes' Hall in 1886 made little impact, and she failed to get work from Sir Arthur Sullivan, Carl Rosa, or Augustus Harris.

She then went to Paris to study with leading teacher Mathilde Marchesi, who immediately recognized her potential, exclaiming, "I have a star at last!" Melba progressed so quickly that she sang the "Mad Scene" from Hamlet at a matinée at Marchesi's house in December 1886, with the composer present. Her talent was so clear that impresario Maurice Strakosch gave her a ten-year contract at 1000 francs a year after less than a year of study. She then received a much better offer of 3000 francs per month from the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, but Strakosch refused to release her and got a court order blocking her.

She was in despair until Strakosch suddenly died. Four days later, on 12 October 1887, she made her operatic debut as Gilda in Rigoletto at La Monnaie. Critic Herman Klein called her Gilda "an instant triumph" and said she had equal success a few nights later as Violetta in La traviata. On Marchesi's advice, she adopted the stage name "Melba," a shortened form of Melbourne.

Melba made her Covent Garden debut in May 1888 in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor. The reception was friendly but not excited. The Musical Times said she was a fluent vocalist and a respectable light soprano but lacked the personal charm for a great stage figure. She was offended when Augustus Harris, then in charge at Covent Garden, offered her only the small role of the page Oscar in Un ballo in maschera for the next season.

She left England vowing never to return. The following year, she performed at the Opéra in Paris as Ophélie in Hamlet; The Times called it a brilliant success, praising her flexible voice and expressive acting. Melba had a strong supporter in London, Lady de Grey, whose opinions mattered at Covent Garden. Melba was persuaded to return, and Harris cast her in Roméo et Juliette in June 1889, co-starring with...