Melba, Nellie (1861 - 1931)

Dame Nellie Melba (née Helen Porter Mitchell) was an internationally renowned opera singer, celebrated for her magnificent coloratura (soprano) voice.

• Mitchell, Helen Porter (maiden name)

Melba went on to perform in London, Paris and New York before returning to Australia to tour in 1902. She also toured Australia in 1909, 1911, 1924 and 1928. She founded a women's singing school in Melbourne and wrote a singing manual and a memoir.

Melba was appointed to The Order of the British Empire, Dame Grand Cross (Civil) on 3 June 1927 for services to Australia. She was also appointed to The Order of the British Empire, Dames Commander, on 15 March 1918 for giving fund-raising concerts to assist war wounded during the First World War.

Related Corporate Bodies

• The Austral Salon of Music, Literature and the Arts (1890 - )
• Australian Red Cross Victoria (1914 - )

  President of the Australian Red Cross Victoria Lilydale Unit during World War I. She raised millions of dollars helping wounded troops, and Red Cross, in particular, for which she was made Dame by the Governor-General

Books

• Magee, Adrian, Nellie Melba : the first Australian diva, CIS Cardigan Street Publishers, Carlton, Vic., 1995, 45 pp. [ Details... ]
• Melba, Nellie, Dame, Melba method, Chappell & Co., Sydney, 1926, 68 pp. [ Details... ]
• Melba, Nellie, Dame; Beverley Nichols, Melodies and memories, Butterworth, London, 1925, 335 pp. [ Details... ]
• Moran, William R., Nellie Melba, a contemporary review, Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1995, 491 pp. [ Details... ]
• Vickery, Marian, Nellie Melba : the legend still lives, Victorian Arts Centre, South Melbourne, 1982, 12 pp. [ Details... ]
• Wechsberg, Joseph, Red plush and black velvet : the story of Dame Nellie Melba and her times, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1962, 376 pp. [ Details... ]

Book Sections

• Melba, Nellie, Dame; Beverley Nichols, 'Melodies and memories; introduction and notes by John Cargher', Nelson, West Melbourne, Vic., 1980, p. 253. [ Details... ]

Newspaper Articles

• 'Obituary [Dame Nellie Melba]', The Times, 24 February. [ Details... ]
• 'Obituary [Dame Nellie Melba]', Sydney Morning Herald, 24 February. [ Details... ]
• 'Obituary [Dame Nellie Melba]', Argus, 24 February. [ Details... ]

See also

• Dame Nellie Melba and J.C. Williamson Ltd. : grand opera season, June-July-August 1924, souvenir, J.C. Williamson, Sydney, 1924. [ Details... ]
• Victorian Women's Roll of Honour: Women Shaping the Nation, 1 edn, Centurary of Federation Victoria, 2001, http://www.women.vic.gov.au/CA25666E00000B30/Images/CoFHR/$File/CoFHR.pdf. [ Details... ]
• Popular Australian singers from the early years of sound recording [sound recording]. Volume 1., National Film and Sound Archive, c1988. [ Details... ]
• Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Dictionary of Biography CD-ROM Volumes 1-12, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1996. [ Details... ]
• Beverley Nichols, Evensong, 1932. [ Details... ]
• Burchill, Elizabeth, Australian nurses since Nightingale 1860-1990, Spectrum Publications Pty Ltd, Richmond (Vic.), 1992, 258 pp. [ Details... ]
• compiled by the Historical Sub-committee of the Centenary Celebrations Council, Victoria, the first century : an historical survey, Robertson & Mullens, Melbourne, 1934, 462 pp. [ Details... ]
• De Vries, Susanna, Great Australian Women Volume II: from pioneering days to the present, HarperCollinsPublishers, Pymble, NSW, 2002, 320 pp. [ Details... ]
• Franklin Peterson (ed.), Dame Nellie Melba, George Robertson, Melbourne, 1915, 176 pp. [ Details... ]
• Lake, Marilyn and Kelly, Farley (eds), Double Time: Women in Victoria - 150 Years, Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood (Vic.), 1985, 476 pp. [ Details... ]
• Macklin, Robert, 100 great Australians, Currey O'Neil Ross, South Yarra, Vic., 1983, 248 pp. [ Details... ]
• McAleer, A J, The Shire of Lillydale and its military heritage : the First World War and its effect on the community, vol. 2 of 3, A J McAleer, Mooroolbark, Vic., c1995, 268 pp. [ Details... ]
• National Library of Australia, Papers of Dame Nellie Melba, 4 pp. [ Details... ]
• O'Connor, Shaunagh, 'Melba's keys to past', Herald Sun, 12 September 2003, p. 92. [ Details... ]
• Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Press, Sydney, [1988], 258 pp. (Also available at http://www.200australianwomen.com/) [ Details... ]