View source for Nellie Melba

{{Short description|Australian opera singer (1861–1931)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
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[[File:Nellie Melba - Rotary Photo 784 E (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Melba, c. 1907]]
'''Dame Nellie Melba''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|GBE}} (born '''Helen Porter Mitchell'''; 19 May 1861{{spaced ndash}}23 February 1931) was an Australian [[opera]]tic [[lyric coloratura soprano]]. She became one of the most famous singers of the late [[Victorian era]] and the early twentieth century, and was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym "Melba" from [[Melbourne]], her home town.

Melba studied singing in Melbourne and made a modest success in performances there. After a brief and unsuccessful marriage, she moved to Europe in search of a singing career. Failing to find engagements in London, England, in 1886, she studied in Paris, France, and soon made a great success there and in Brussels, Belgium. Returning to London, she quickly established herself as the leading [[lyric soprano]] at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] from 1888. She soon achieved further success in Paris and elsewhere in Europe, and later at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York City, debuting there in 1893. Her repertoire was small; in her whole career she sang no more than 25 roles and was closely identified with only 10. She was known for her performances in French and Italian opera, but sang little German opera.

During the First World War, Melba raised large sums for war charities. She returned to Australia frequently during the 20th century, singing in opera and concerts, and had a house built for her near Melbourne. She was active in the teaching of singing at the [[Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music|Melbourne Conservatorium]]. Melba continued to sing until the last months of her life and made a large number of "farewell" appearances. Her death, in Australia, was news across the English-speaking world, and her funeral was a major national event. The [[Australian one-hundred-dollar note|Australian $100 note]] features her image.

==Life and career==
[[File:Melba20yrs.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Melba, drawn by Frank Haviland]]
===Early years===
Melba was born in [[Richmond, Victoria]], the eldest of seven children of the builder [[David Mitchell (builder)|David Mitchell]] and his wife Isabella Ann ''née'' Dow (1833–1881).<ref name=adb />{{#tag:ref|The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' incorrectly gives Melba's mother the maiden name of Dorn. "Dow" is confirmed in {{harvnb|Blainey|2008|p=5}}, and {{harvnb|Hetherington|1967|p=17}}|group= n}} Mitchell emigrated from Forfarshire, Scotland, to Australia in 1852, married Isabella in 1856 and became a successful builder.<ref>{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Campbell|first=Joan|id2=mitchell-david-4209|title=David Mitchell (1829–1916)|volume=5|year=1974}}</ref> Melba was taught to play the piano and first sang in public around age six.{{#tag:ref|In her memoirs, Melba gives her age at her debut as six, but her statements about her age were not always accurate.<ref name=klein>Klein, Herman. "Melba: An Appreciation", ''[[The Musical Times]]'', April 1931, pp. 305–308 {{JSTOR|916449}} {{subscription required}}</ref>|group=n}} She was educated at a local boarding school and then at the [[Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne|Presbyterian Ladies' College]].<ref name=adb>{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Davidson|first=Jim|id2=melba-dame-nellie-7551|title=Dame Nellie Melba (1861–1931)|volume=10|year=1986}}</ref> She studied singing with [[Mary Ellen Christian]] (a former pupil of [[Manuel García (baritone)|Manuel García]]) and Pietro Cecchi, an Italian tenor, who was a respected teacher in Melbourne.<ref name=dnb>[[J. B. Steane|Steane, J. B.]] [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/34978 "Melba, Dame Nellie (1861–1931)"], ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, January 2011, accessed 24 May 2011. {{ODNBsub}}</ref> In her teens, Melba continued to perform in amateur concerts in and around Melbourne, and she played the organ at church. Her father encouraged her in her musical studies, but he strongly disapproved of her taking up singing as a career.<ref name=Sadauskas>Sadauskas, Andrew. [http://australianstampspro.com/melba-bashed-by-cowardly-husband "Melba Bashed by Cowardly Husband"], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707191502/http://australianstampspro.com/melba-bashed-by-cowardly-husband/ |date=7 July 2011 }} ''Australian Stamps Professional'', accessed 23 May 2011</ref> Melba's mother died suddenly in 1881 at Richmond.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5959715 |title=Family Notices. |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |date=22 October 1881 |access-date=9 June 2025|page=1|via=[[Trove]]}}</ref>

Melba's father moved the family to [[Mackay, Queensland|Mackay]], Queensland, where he built a new sugar mill. Melba soon became popular in Mackay society for her singing and piano-playing.<ref>{{cite web| last=O'Brien|first=Sheilagh|title=The Dame in the tropics: Nellie Melba|url=http://www.qhatlas.com.au/content/dame-tropics-nellie-melba|work=Queensland Historical Atlas}}</ref> On 22 December 1882 in [[Brisbane]], she married Charles Nesbitt Frederick Armstrong (1858–1948), the youngest son of [[Andrew Armstrong|Sir Andrew Armstrong]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11563755|title=Family Notices|newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |date=29 December 1882 |access-date=9 June 2025|page=1|via=[[Trove]]}}</ref> They had one child, a son, George, born on 16 October 1883.<ref name=bulletin>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52571545 "Divorce of Madame Melba"], ''The Morning Bulletin'', 14 April 1900, p. 5</ref> The marriage was not a success; Charles reportedly beat his wife more than once.<ref name=Sadauskas /> The couple separated after just over a year,<ref name=dnb /> and Melba returned to Melbourne determined to pursue a singing career, debuting professionally in concerts in 1884.<ref name=Sadauskas /> She was often accompanied in concert, and some of her concerts were organised, at times throughout her career by the flautist [[John Lemmone]], who became a "lifelong friend and counsellor".<ref>Skinner, Graeme. [http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/lemmone_john "Lemmone, John"], ''Dictionary of Sydney'', 2008, accessed 19 January 2015</ref> On the strength of local success, she travelled to London in search of an opportunity.{{#tag:ref|Melba travelled to London with her father, and her husband moved to Europe for a time and was in periodic, though often unwelcome, contact with his wife and child.<ref name=adb /><ref name=Sadauskas />|group=n}} Her debut at the Princes' Hall in 1886 made little impression, and she sought work unsuccessfully from [[Arthur Sullivan|Sir Arthur Sullivan]], [[Carl Rosa]] and [[Augustus Harris]].<ref name=klein /><ref>{{cite book|last=Scott|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Scott (opera director)|year=1977|title=The Record of Singing to 1914|title-link=The Record of Singing|location=London|publisher=Duckworth|page=28|isbn= 978-0-7156-1030-5}}</ref> She then went to Paris to study with the leading teacher [[Mathilde Marchesi]], who instantly recognised the young singer's potential: she exclaimed, "''J'ai enfin une étoile!''" ("I have a star at last!"). Melba made such rapid progress that she was allowed to sing the "Mad Scene" from [[Ambroise Thomas]]'s ''[[Hamlet (Thomas)|Hamlet]]'' at a ''matinée musicale'' in Marchesi's house in December the same year, in the presence of the composer.<ref name=klein />

[[File:Nellie Melba, 1888, by Nadar.jpg|thumb|upright|Melba in costume for ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]'', 1888 (photo by [[Nadar]])]]
The young singer's talent was so evident that, after less than a year with Marchesi, the impresario [[Maurice Strakosch]] gave her a ten-year contract at 1000 francs annually. After she had signed, she received a far better offer of 3000 francs per month from the [[la Monnaie|Théàtre de la Monnaie]], Brussels, but Strakosch would not release her and obtained an injunction preventing her from accepting it.<ref name=Gubler192>{{harvnb|Gubler|2012|p=192}}</ref> She was in despair when the matter was resolved by Strakosch's sudden death.<ref>"Melodies and Memories", ''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]'', 5 November 1925, p. 738</ref> She made her operatic debut four days later as Gilda in ''[[Rigoletto]]'' at La Monnaie on 12 October 1887.<ref name=klein /><ref name=Gubler192 /> The critic [[Herman Klein]] described her Gilda as "an instant triumph of the most emphatic kind ... followed ... a few nights later with an equal success as Violetta in ''[[La traviata]]''."<!--THE CAPITAL T IS AS IT IS PRINTED IN KLEIN'S ARTICLE--><ref name=klein /> It was at this time, on Marchesi's advice, that she adopted the stage name of "Melba", a contraction of the name of her home city.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55468407 |title=Melba – The Voice of Silver |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] | date=24 February 1971 |access-date=9 June 2025|page=12|via=[[Trove]]}}</ref>{{#tag:ref| A similar course was followed by some other Australian singers: Florence Mary Wilson took the stage name [[Florence Austral]], and Elsie Mary Fischer renamed herself [[Elsa Stralia]] – both after Australia; June Mary Gough adopted the name [[June Bronhill]] after [[Broken Hill]], New South Wales.|group=n}}

===London, Paris and New York debuts===
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Donizetti - Melba - Del ciel clemente un riso (Lucia di Lammermoor, air de la folie) - 1904.ogg|title="Del ciel clemente un riso"|description=from "[[Il dolce suono]]" (Mad Scene), ''Lucia di Lammermoor''}}
Melba made her [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] début in May 1888, in the title role in ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]''. She received a friendly but not excited reception. ''[[The Musical Times]]'' wrote, "Madame Melba is a fluent vocalist, and a quite respectable representative of light soprano parts; but she lacks the personal charm necessary to a great figure on the lyric stage."<ref>"Royal Italian Opera", ''[[The Musical Times]]'', July 1888, p. 411 {{JSTOR|3360766}}{{subscription required}}</ref> 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.<ref name=times25>"A Prima Donna&nbsp;– Madame Melba's Memories", ''The Times'', 23 October 1925, p. 8.</ref> She left England vowing never to return. The following year, she performed at the [[Paris Opera|Opéra]] in Paris, in the role of Ophélie in ''Hamlet''; ''The Times'' described this as "a brilliant success", and said, "Madame Melba has a voice of great flexibility ... her acting is expressive and striking."<ref>"France", ''The Times'', 10 May 1889, p. 5.</ref>

Melba had a strong supporter in London, [[Constance Robinson, Marchioness of Ripon|Lady de Grey]], whose views carried weight at Covent Garden. Melba was persuaded to return, and Harris cast her in ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]'' (June 1889) co-starring with [[Jean de Reszke]]. She later recalled, "I date my success in London quite distinctly from the great night of 15 June 1889."<ref name=adb /> After this, she returned to Paris as Ophélie, Lucia in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', Gilda in ''Rigoletto'', Marguerite in ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'', and Juliette.<ref name=dnb /> In French operas her pronunciation was poor,<ref name=klein /> but the composer [[Léo Delibes|Delibes]] said that he did not care whether she sang in French, Italian, German, English or Chinese, as long as she sang.{{#tag:ref|"Qu'elle chante ''[[Lakmé]]'' en français, en italien, en allemande, en anglais ou en chinois, cela m'est égal, mais qu'elle la chante."<ref name=timesobit>"Obituary&nbsp;– Dame Nellie Melba&nbsp;– A great prima donna", ''The Times'', 24 February 1931, p. 9.</ref>|group=n}}

[[File:Philippe, Duke of Orléans.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans|Philippe, Duke of Orléans]]]]
In the early 1890s, Melba embarked on an affair with [[Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans (1869–1926)|Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans]]. They were seen frequently together in London, which excited some gossip, but far more suspicion arose when Melba travelled across Europe to St Petersburg to sing for [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar Nicholas II]]: the Duke followed closely behind her, and they were spotted together in Paris, Brussels, Vienna and St Petersburg. Armstrong filed divorce proceedings on the grounds of Melba's adultery, naming the Duke as co-respondent; he was eventually persuaded to drop the case, but the Duke decided that a two-year African safari (without Melba) would be appropriate. He and Melba did not resume their relationship.<ref name=adb /><ref name=divorce>''The Times'', 5 November 1891, p. 5; 6 November 1891, p. 9; 20 February 1892, p. 5; 17 February 1892, p. 13; 12 March 1892, p. 16; 14 March 1892, p. 3; and 24 March 1892, p. 3.</ref> In the first years of the decade, Melba appeared in the leading European opera houses, including Milan, Berlin and Vienna.<ref name=dnb />

Melba sang the role of Nedda in ''[[Pagliacci]]'' at Covent Garden in 1893, soon after its Italian premiere. The composer was present and said that the role had never been so well played before.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B03E6D91031E033A25757C0A9609C94629ED7CF&scp=5&sq=Melba+AND+Pagliacci&st=p "A week's musical topics"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 4 June 1893.</ref> In December of that year, Melba sang at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York for the first time. As at her Covent Garden debut, she appeared as Lucia di Lammermoor and, as at Covent Garden, it was less than a triumph. ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised her performance&nbsp;– "one of the loveliest voices that ever issued from a human throat ... simply delicious in its fullness, richness and purity"&nbsp;– but the work was out of fashion, and the performances were poorly attended.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D02E1DF113BEF33A25756C0A9649D94629ED7CF&scp=15&sq=Melba+AND+Metropolitan&st=p {{"'}}Lucia' at the Opera"], ''The New York Times'', 5 December 1893.</ref> Her performance in ''Roméo et Juliette'', later in the season, was a triumph and established her as the leading prima donna of the time in succession to [[Adelina Patti]].<ref name=dnb /> She had at first been nonplussed by the impenetrable snobbery at the Metropolitan; the author [[Peter Conrad (academic)|Peter Conrad]] has written, "In London she hobnobbed with royalty; in New York she was a singing menial." Assured of critical success, she set herself to achieve social recognition, and succeeded.{{sfn|Conrad|1987|p=249}}
{{listen|type=music|help=no
|filename=Gounod - Melba - Ah je ris de me voir si belle (Faust, air des bijoux) - 1910.ogg
|title="Air des bijoux"
|description=From ''Faust'', 1910
}}
[[File:Nellie Melba 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Melba as Marguerite in ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'']]
From the 1890s, Melba played a wide range of parts at Covent Garden, mostly in the lyric soprano repertoire, but with some heavier roles also. She sang the title roles in [[Herman Bemberg]]'s ''Elaine''<ref>"The Opera", ''The Times'', 6 July 1892, p. 9.</ref> and [[Arthur Thomas (composer)|Arthur Thomas]]'s ''[[Esmeralda (Thomas)|Esmeralda]]''.<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 4 January 1908, p. 7.</ref> Her Italian parts included Gilda in ''[[Rigoletto]]'',<ref>"Royal Italian Opera", ''The Times'', 10 June 1889, p. 8.</ref> the title role in ''[[Aida]]'',<ref>"Covent Garden Opera", ''The Times'', 7 November 1892, p. 12.</ref> Desdemona in ''[[Otello]]'',<ref>"Royal Opera&nbsp;– Otello", ''The Times'', 2 July 1908, p. 13.</ref> Luisa in Mascagni's ''[[I Rantzau]]'',<ref>"The Opera", ''The Times'', 10 July 1893, p. 8.</ref> Nedda in ''[[Pagliacci]]'',<ref>"The Opera", ''The Times'', 20 May 1893, p. 8.</ref> Rosina in ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'',<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 9 July 1898, p. 10.</ref> Violetta in ''[[La traviata]]'',<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 26 July 1898, p. 8.</ref> and Mimì in ''[[La bohème]]''.<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 3 July 1899, p. 10.</ref> In the French repertoire, she sang Juliette in ''Roméo et Juliette'',<ref>"Royal Italian Opera", ''The Times'', 4 June 1890, p. 8.</ref> Marguerite in ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'',<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 4 June 1894, p. 11.</ref> Marguerite de Valois in ''[[Les Huguenots]]'',<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 1 July 1895, p. 8.</ref> the title role in [[Camille Saint-Saëns|Saint-Saëns]]'s ''[[Hélène (opera)|Hélène]]'', which was written for her,<ref name=dnb /> and Micaëla in ''[[Carmen]]''.<ref name=carmen>"Royal Italian Opera", ''The Times'', 6 July 1891, p. 8.</ref>

Some writers expressed surprise at Melba's playing the last of these roles, since it was merely a supporting part in the opera. She played it on many occasions, saying in her memoirs, "Why on earth a prima donna should not sing secondary ''rôles'' I could not see then and am no nearer seeing to-day. I hate the artistic snobbery of it."<ref name=times25 /> She sang the role opposite the Carmens of [[Emma Calvé]],<ref name=klein /> [[Zélie de Lussan]]<ref name=carmen /> and [[Maria Gay]].<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 26 November 1906, p. 10.</ref> Marguerite de Valois, too, is not the leading female role in ''Les Huguenots'', but Melba was willing to undertake it as ''seconda donna'' to [[Emma Albani]].<ref name=klein /> She was generous in support of singers who did not rival her in her favoured roles, but was, as her biographer [[J. B. Steane]] put it, "pathologically critical" of other lyric sopranos.<ref name=dnb />

Melba was not known as a [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] singer, although she occasionally sang Elsa in ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cloak worn by Nellie Melba as Elsa in Lohengrin, c.1891|publisher=Grainger Museum Online |url=https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/exhibits/show/objects_of_fame/item/387 |access-date=28 August 2023 |website=omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au}}</ref> and Elisabeth in ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nellie Melba as Elizabeth from Tannhäuser, 1894|publisher=Grainger Museum Online |url=https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/377 |access-date=28 August 2023 |website=omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au}}</ref> She received a certain amount of praise in these roles, although Klein found her unsuited to them,<ref name=klein /> and [[George Bernard Shaw|Bernard Shaw]] thought she sang with great skill but played artificially and without sensibility.{{sfn|Shaw|1981|p=95}} In 1896 at the Metropolitan, she attempted the role of Brünnhilde in ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'', in which she was not a success.<ref name=dnb /> Her most frequent role in that house was Marguerite in [[Charles Gounod|Gounod]]'s ''Faust'', which she had studied under the supervision of the composer.<ref name=dnb /> She never essayed any of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s operas, for which some thought her voice ideally suited.<ref name=timesobit /> Her repertoire across her entire career amounted to no more than 25 roles, of which, ''The Times'' obituarist wrote, "only some 10 parts are those which will be remembered as her own."<ref name=timesobit />

Melba's marriage to Armstrong was finally terminated when, having emigrated to the United States with their son, he divorced her in Texas in 1900.<ref name=bulletin />

===Twentieth century===
[[File:Melba-1904.jpg|thumb|upright|Melba in 1904]]
By now established as a leading star in Britain and America, Melba made her first return visit to Australia in 1902–03 for a concert tour, also touring in New Zealand.<ref name=adb />{{#tag:ref| Melba visited New Zealand in February 1903 after her tour of Australia. She arrived in Invercargill from Hobart and was welcomed by [[Joseph Ward|Sir Joseph Ward]] (who was later the [[Prime Minister of New Zealand]]) and Lady Ward.<ref>''Otago Daily Times'', 17 February 1903, p. 6</ref> After giving one concert in Dunedin she travelled to Christchurch<ref>[https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19030220.2.34 "The Melba Concert"], ''The Press'', 20 February, p. 5</ref> and gave a concert in Wellington.<ref>''Evening Post'', 24 February 1903, p. 5</ref>|group=n}} The profits were unprecedented; she returned for four more tours during her career.<ref name=grove>[[Desmond Shawe-Taylor (music critic)|Shawe-Taylor, Desmond]]. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/18311 "Melba, Dame Nellie"], ''Grove Music Online''. Oxford Music Online, accessed 25 May 2011 {{subscription required}}</ref> In Britain, Melba campaigned on behalf of Puccini's ''[[La bohème]]''. She had first sung the part of Mimì in 1899, having studied it with the composer. She argued strongly for further productions of the work in the face of the distaste expressed by the Covent Garden management at this "new and plebeian opera".<ref name=dnb /> She was vindicated by the public enthusiasm for the piece, which was bolstered in 1902 when [[Enrico Caruso]] joined her in the first of many Covent Garden performances together.<ref name=klein /> She sang Mimì for [[Oscar Hammerstein I]] at [[Manhattan Center|his opera house in New York]], in 1907, giving the enterprise a needed boost.<ref name=dnb /> After her initial successes in Brussels and Paris in the 1880s, Melba sang infrequently on the European continent; only the English-speaking countries welcomed her wholeheartedly.{{sfn|Jefferson|1979|p=143}}

She performed 26 times at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] in London between 1898 and 1926.<ref>[http://catalogue.royalalberthall.com/Advanced.aspx?src=CalmView.Performance Search results: Nellie Melba], Performance archive, Royal Albert Hall, accessed 29 March 2016</ref> Although she called Covent Garden "my artistic home", her appearances there became less frequent in the 20th century. One reason for this was that she did not get on well with [[Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham]], who was in control of the opera house for much of the period from 1910 until her retirement. She said, "I dislike Beecham and his methods",{{sfn|Lucas|2008|p=153}} and he thought that while she had "nearly all the attributes inseparable from great artistry ... she was wanting in a genuine spiritual refinement."{{sfn|Beecham|1959|pp=170–171}} Another factor in her reduced appearances at Covent Garden was the appearance on the scene of [[Luisa Tetrazzini]], a soprano ten years her junior, who became a great success in London and later in New York in roles previously associated with Melba.<ref name=adb /> A third reason was her decision to spend more time in Australia. In 1909 she undertook what she called a "sentimental tour" of Australia, covering 10,000 miles (16,000&nbsp;km) and including many remote towns.<ref name=adb /> In 1911 in partnership with the [[J. C. Williamson]] company, she appeared in an operatic season.<ref name=grove /> Her attitude to her tour concerts and the audiences attending was summed up in the advice that [[Clara Butt]] said Melba gave her apropos of a planned Australian tour: "Sing 'em muck; it's all they can understand."{{#tag:ref|Melba later denied giving this advice and was horrified when Butt printed it in her memoirs.<ref>"Dame Nellie Melba Indignant", ''[[The Manchester Guardian]]'', 6 August 1928, p. 7</ref>|group=n}} To another colleague and compatriot, [[Peter Dawson (bass-baritone)|Peter Dawson]], she described his home city of [[Adelaide]] as "that city of the three P's&nbsp;– Parsons, Pubs and Prostitutes."<ref name="gramophone.net">Gaisberg, Fred. "Peter Dawson", ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'', January 1949, p. 3</ref>

{{listen|type=music|help=no
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|title="Sempre libera"
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|filename2=Verdi - Melba - Ah, fors e lui (Violetta, La Traviata) - 1907.ogg
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In 1909, Melba bought property at [[Coldstream, Victoria|Coldstream]], a small town near Melbourne, and in 1912 she had a home built there (extending an existing cottage) that she named Coombe Cottage after a house she had rented near London.<ref name=Coombe>[http://coombeyarravalley.com.au/our-story "Our Story: Nellie Melba"], Coombe Yarra Valley, accessed 4 February 2016</ref> She also set up a music school in Richmond, which she later merged into the [[Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music|Melbourne Conservatorium]]. She was in Australia when the [[First World War]] broke out, and she threw herself into fund-raising for war charities, raising £100,000.<ref name=dnb />{{#tag:ref|Equivalent in 2008 values to £3,630,000 using the UK retail price index or £17,900,000 using average UK earnings. See Williamson, Samuel H. [http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/ "Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1830 to Present"], MeasuringWorth, 2008|group=n}} In recognition of this, she was created a [[Order of the British Empire|Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (DBE) in March 1918, "for services in organising patriotic work".{{#tag:ref|The appointment was announced on 5 March 1918, but ''[[The London Gazette]]'' stated, "The appointments to date from the 1st January, 1918". It is therefore correctly stated that Melba was, with [[May Whitty]], the first stage performer to be made a DBE, although Whitty had received the honour in January.<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30576/supplements/3283 Supplement to the ''London Gazette''], 5 March 1918</ref><ref>"War Honours", ''The Times'', 8 January 1918, p. 7</ref>|group=n}}

After the war, Melba made a triumphant return to the Royal Opera House, in a performance of ''La bohème'' conducted by Beecham, which re-opened the house after four years of closure. ''The Times'' wrote, "Probably no season at Covent Garden has ever started with quite the thrill of enthusiasm which passed through the house."<ref>"First Night of the Opera&nbsp;– The King and Queen Present", ''The Times'', 13 May 1919, p. 14</ref> In her many concerts, however, her repertoire was regarded as trite and predictable. After one of them ''[[The Musical Times]]'' wrote:
{{quote|The real musical interest of the afternoon, however, was supposed to centre in the "Jewel Song" from ''Faust'', Puccini's "Addio", [[Thurlow Lieurance|Lieurance]]'s "By the waters of Minnetonka", and [[Paolo Tosti|Tosti]]'s "Good-bye", and in the encores, thoughtfully announced beforehand&nbsp;– "Home, sweet Home" and "Annie Laurie." Look again at the last batch of head-lines. "The Diva to go home." By all means. Why not? As the Diva has melodiously declared (only too often), there's no place like it. "And teach 100 girls herself." If the Dame can give those hundred girls her own beautiful voice, well and good, but for heaven's sake let a musician be called in to attend to their repertoire. We cannot lightly face the prospect of a hundred débutantes let loose on us a year hence full to the epiglottis with "Minnetonkas", "Jewel Songs", and "Home, sweet Homes".<ref>Feste. "Ad Libitum", ''[[The Musical Times]]'', vol. 62, no. 940, June 1921, pp. 409–411 {{JSTOR|908819}} {{subscription required}}</ref>|}}

[[File:Melba25yrsCG.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Melba in 1913]]
In 1922, Melba returned to Australia, where she sang at the immensely successful "Concerts for the People" in Melbourne and Sydney, with low ticket prices, attracting 70,000 people.<ref name=adb /> In 1924 for another Williamson opera season, she caused resentment among local singers by importing an entire chorus from Naples.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1897326? "Grand Opera&nbsp;– Italian Male Chorus&nbsp;– Engagement Resented, Hint of Strike"], ''The Argus'', 5 January 1924, p. 19</ref> In 1926 she made her farewell appearance at Covent Garden, singing in scenes from ''Roméo et Juliette'', ''Otello'', and ''La bohème''.<ref name=dnb /> She is well remembered in Australia for her seemingly endless series of "farewell" appearances, including stage performances in the mid-1920s and concerts in Sydney on 7 August 1928, Melbourne on 27 September 1928 and [[Geelong]] in November 1928.<ref name=adb /> From this, she is remembered in the vernacular Australian expression "more farewells than Dame Nellie Melba".<ref name=adb />

In 1929 she returned for the last time to Europe and then visited Egypt, where she contracted a fever that she never entirely shook off.<ref name=adb /> Her last performance was in London at a charity concert on 10 June 1930.<ref>"Court Circular", ''The Times'' 11 June 1930, p. 17</ref> She returned to Australia but died in [[St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney]], in 1931, aged 69, of [[septicaemia]] which had developed after facial surgery in Europe some time before.<ref name=adb /> She was given an elaborate funeral from [[Scots' Church, Melbourne]], which her father had built and where as a teenager she had sung in the choir.<ref name=adb /><ref name="Scots' History">[http://www.scotschurch.com/church-history "Church History"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823215622/http://www.scotschurch.com/church-history |date=23 August 2010 }}, Scots' Church website, accessed 7 June 2010</ref> The funeral motorcade was over a kilometre long, and her death made front-page headlines in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Europe. Billboards in many countries said simply "Melba is dead". Part of the event was filmed for posterity. Melba was buried in the cemetery at [[Lilydale, Victoria|Lilydale]], near Coldstream. Her headstone, designed by [[Sir Edwin Lutyens]],<ref name=lutyens>[http://www.lutyenstrustexhibitions.org.uk/memorials-to-individuals/4578837649 "Memorials and Monuments to Individuals"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205120153/http://www.lutyenstrustexhibitions.org.uk/memorials-to-individuals/4578837649 |date=5 December 2021 }}, "Ten Years on Exhibition", Lutyens Trust, accessed 14 September 2018</ref> bears the farewell words of Mimì in ''La bohème'': "{{lang|it|Addio, senza rancor}}" (Farewell, without bitterness).<ref name=bassett />
[[File:Nellie Melba with the Metropolitan Opera.jpg|thumb|upright|Melba with the [[Metropolitan Opera]]]]

==Teacher and patron==
Despite the antipathy Melba inspired in some of her peers, she helped the careers of younger singers. She taught for many years at the Conservatorium in Melbourne and looked for a "new Melba". She published a book about her methods, which were based on those of Marchesi. The book opens:
{{quote|It is easy to sing well, and very difficult to sing badly! How many students are really prepared to accept that statement? Few, if any. They smile, and say: "It may be easy for you, but not for me." And they seem to think that there the matter ends. But if they only knew it, on their understanding and acceptance of that axiom depends half their success. Let me say the same in other words: In order to sing well, it is necessary to sing easily.<ref>"Book review (''The Melba Method'' Dame Nellie Melba)", ''[[The Musical Times]]'', vol. 67, no. 999, May 1926, p. 427 {{JSTOR|912095}}{{subscription required}}</ref>|}}

{{Listen|type=music|help=no|filename=Enrico Caruso - Nellie Melba - La bohème - O soave fanciulla (restored).ogg|title="O soave fanciulla"|description=from Puccini's ''[[La bohème]]'', sung by [[Enrico Caruso]] and Melba in 1906}}
Others also benefited from Melba's praise and interest. She passed her own [[cadenza]]s on to a young [[Gertrude Johnson]], a valuable professional asset. In 1924, Melba brought the new star [[Toti Dal Monte]], fresh from triumphs in Milan and Paris but still unheard in England or the United States, to Australia as a principal of the Melba-Williamson Grand Opera Company. After sharing the Covent Garden stage in a 1923 night of operatic extracts with another Australian soprano, [[Florence Austral]] (who, as a [[dramatic soprano]], posed no threat to Melba, a lyric soprano), Melba was effusive with her praise, describing the younger woman as "one of the wonder-voices of the world".<ref name=austral>[http://www.bikwil.com/Vintage10/Florence-Austral.html "Florence Austral"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220104844/http://www.bikwil.com/Vintage10/Florence-Austral.html |date=20 February 2011 }}, Bikwill, accessed 27 May 2011</ref> She similarly described the American [[contralto]] [[Louise Homer]] as possessing "the world's most beautiful voice". She gave financial assistance to the Australian painter [[Hugh Ramsay]], living in poverty in Paris<ref>Clark, Christine. [http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T070715 "Ramsay, Hugh."] Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, accessed 27 May 2011 {{subscription required}}</ref> and also helped him to forge connections in the artistic world.<ref name=bassett>Bassett, Peter. [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:UlGZU5pgBJIJ:www.peterbassett.com.au/PDFs/Melba.pdf+marjorie+lawrence+melba&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESisT4vigcPZXphpNbgX84iu-PRwIIyfdBIuRGH1LbtToHhEnShgGRS-4RlJIMr-vu-z-jrB9hKlOxKXoNVeLgdt6iAl1u1Lt44z75fGM52z3pAmF8E-V8kUiXvwaMw5KYniCFEu&sig=AHIEtbRyfafi9TQmVs2NhuHPe20M5J5GFQ "Melba and ''La bohème''&nbsp;– Addio, senza rancore"]. Peterbassett.com, accessed 19 May 2011</ref> The Australian [[baritone]] [[John Brownlee (baritone)|John Brownlee]] and [[tenor]] [[Browning Mummery]] were both protégés: both sang with her in her 1926 Covent Garden farewell (recorded by [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]]), and Brownlee sang with her on two of her last commercial recordings later that year (a session arranged by her in part to promote Brownlee).

==Recordings and broadcasts==
[[File:Melba Gramaphone ad.jpeg|thumb|upright|Newspaper advertisement]]
Melba's first recordings were made around 1895, recorded on cylinders at the [[Gianni Bettini|Bettini]] Phonograph Lab in New York. A reporter from Phonoscope magazine was impressed: "The next cylinder was labelled 'Melba' and was truly wonderful, the phonograph reproducing her wonderful voice in a marvellous manner, especially the high notes which soared away above the staff and were rich and clear." Melba was less impressed: "'Never again,' I said to myself as I listened to the scratching, screeching result. 'Don't tell me I sing like that, or I shall go away and live on a desert island.'" The recordings never reached the general public&nbsp;– destroyed on Melba's orders, it is suspected&nbsp;– and Melba would not venture into a recording studio for another eight years.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081209042427/http://www.historicmasters.org/?page_id=207 "Nellie Melba's First Recordings"], [[Historic Masters]], accessed 27 May 2011</ref> Melba can be heard singing on several [[Mapleson Cylinders]], early attempts at live recording, made by the Metropolitan Opera House librarian Lionel Mapleson in the auditorium there during performances. These cylinders are often poor in quality, but they preserve something of the quality of the young Melba's voice and performance that is sometimes lacking from her commercial recordings.{{#tag:ref| The cylinder Melba is most renowned for, Queen Marguerite's cabaletta from ''Les Huguenots'', may not in fact feature her, but rather her contemporary Suzanne Adams: the sonics of the recording do not match others of the same year, and the paper evidence points to Adams; but the singer ''sounds'' more like the Melba rather than the Adams both known from their commercial recordings<ref>[https://archive.today/20120713040627/http://oq.oxfordjournals.org/content/5/4/37.extract "Still More on the Mapleson Cylinder"], ''The Opera Quarterly'', Volume 5, Issue 4, pp. 37–45 {{subscription required}}</ref>|group=n}}

Melba made numerous [[gramophone record|gramophone]] ([[phonograph]]) records of her voice in England and America between 1904 (when she was in her 40s) and 1926 for the [[Gramophone & Typewriter Company]]<ref>[http://aso.gov.au/titles/music/chant-venitien/ "Chant Vénitien"], National Film and Sound Archive, australianscreen online, accessed 27 May 2011</ref> and the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]]. Most of these recordings, consisting of operatic arias, duets and ensemble pieces and songs, have been re-released on CD.<ref name=gram2003>[[J. B. Steane|Steane, John]]. "Nellie Melba", ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'', May 2003, p. 17</ref> The poor audio fidelity of the Melba recordings reflects the limitations of the early days of commercial sound recording. Melba's [[Gramophone record#"Acoustical" recording|acoustical recordings]] (especially those made after her initial 1904 session) fail to capture vital overtones to the voice, leaving it without the body and warmth it possessed&nbsp;– albeit to a limited degree&nbsp;– in life. Despite this, they still reveal Melba to have had an almost seamlessly pure [[lyric soprano]] voice with effortless coloratura, a smooth legato and accurate intonation.<ref name=gram2003 /> Melba had perfect pitch; the critic [[Michael Aspinall]] says of her complete London recordings issued on LP, that there are only two lapses from pitch in the entire set.<ref name=aspinall /> Like Patti, and unlike the more vibrant-voiced Tetrazzini, Melba's exceptional purity of tone was probably one of the principal reasons why British audiences, with their strong choral and sacred music traditions, idolised her.<ref>[[Alan Riding|Riding, Alan]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/arts/music/17vaul.html "Recordings: From a Vault in Paris, Sounds of Opera 1907"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 16 February 2009</ref>

[[File:HMV-Melba-ad.jpg|thumb|left|[[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] advertisement for Melba recordings (1904)]]
Melba's farewell to Covent Garden on 8 June 1926 was recorded by His Master's Voice, as well as broadcast. The programme included Act 2 of ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]'' (not recorded because the tenor Charles Hackett was not under contract to His Master's Voice), followed by the opening of Act 4 of ''Otello'' (Desdemona's "Willow Song" and "Ave Maria") and Acts 3 and 4 of ''La bohème'' (with Aurora Rettore, Browning Mummery, John Brownlee and others). The conductor was Vincenzo Bellezza. At the conclusion [[Arthur Stanley, 5th Baron Sheffield|Lord Stanley of Alderley]] made a formal address and Melba gave an emotional farewell speech. In a pioneering venture, eleven sides (78rpm) were recorded via a landline to Gloucester House (London), though in the event only three of these were published. The full series (including both speeches) was included in a 1976 [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] reissue.<ref name=aspinall>[[Michael Aspinall|Aspinall, Michael]]. "Nellie Melba: The London Recordings 1904–1926", Insert booklet to [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] LP set RLS, EMI, London, 1976</ref>

As was the case in many of her performances, most of Melba's recordings were made at "French Pitch" (A=435&nbsp;Hz), rather than the British early 20th century standard of A=452&nbsp;Hz, or the modern standard of A=440&nbsp;Hz. This, and the technical inadequacies of the early recording process (discs were frequently recorded faster or slower than the supposed standard of 78rpm, whilst the conditions of the cramped recording studios&nbsp;– kept very warm to keep the wax at the necessary softness when cutting&nbsp;– would wreak havoc with instrumental tuning during recording sessions), means that playing her recordings back in the speed and pitch she made them at is not always a simple matter.

On 15 June 1920, Melba was heard in a pioneering radio broadcast from [[Guglielmo Marconi]]'s [[New Street Works]] factory in [[Chelmsford]], singing two arias and her famous trill. She was the first artist of international renown to participate in direct radio broadcasts. Radio enthusiasts across the country heard her, and the broadcast was reportedly heard from as far away as New York. People listening on the radio barely heard a few scratches of the trill and two arias she sang. Further radio broadcasts would include her Covent Garden farewell performance, and a 1927 "Empire Broadcast" (broadcast throughout the British Empire, by radio stations AWA and 2FC, Sydney, on Monday 5 September 1927; it was relayed by the BBC London on Sunday 4 September).<ref>Given, Jock. "Another Kind of Empire: The Voice of Australia, 1931–1939", ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'' 2009, vol. 29, issue 1, p. 42</ref><ref>First Empire Broadcast, held by the [[National Library of Australia]]</ref>

==Honours, memorials and legacy==
[[File:Melba statue at waterfront city.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of Melba at Waterfront City, [[Melbourne Docklands]]]]
[[File:Dame Nellie Melba Lozenge.png|thumb|upright|Centre portion of Melba's [[Coat of arms|arms]], granted in 1920<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/news-grants/news/item/136-the-order-of-the-british-empire |publisher=[[College of Arms]]|access-date=3 March 2023 |title=The Order of the British Empire|quote=College of Arms, MS Grants 87, p. 200}}</ref><br />[[Escutcheon (heraldry)|Escutcheon]]: Azure on a plate between in chief two [[Lozenge (heraldry)|mascle]]s and in base a nightingale or, with a cross [[gules]] at centre.]]
Melba was appointed [[Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] in the [[1918 New Year Honours]], along with [[May Whitty]] the first stage performer to receive this order, for her charity work during World War I, and was elevated to [[Order of the British Empire|Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]] in 1927.<ref name=adb /> She was the first Australian to appear on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, in April 1927.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071017233349/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19270418,00.html Cover – Nellie Melba], ''Time'' 18 April 1927</ref> A stained-glass window commemorating Melba was erected in 1962 in the Musicians' Memorial Chapel of the church of [[St Sepulchre-without-Newgate]], London.<ref>"Memorial Window to Melba", ''The Times'', 12 March 1962, p. 7.</ref> She is one of only two singers – the other being [[Adelina Patti]] – with a marble bust on the grand staircase of the [[Royal Opera House]], Covent Garden.<ref>[http://www.roh.org.uk/news/things-to-do-in-the-opera-house-on-a-cloudy-day "Things to do in London on a rainy day"], Royal Opera House, accessed 11 December 2012</ref>

A [[blue plaque]] commemorates Melba at Coombe House, Devey Close in [[Coombe, Kingston upon Thames]], where she lived in 1906.<ref>[http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-plaques/search/melba-dame-nellie-1861-1931 "Melba, Dame Nellie"], English Heritage, accessed 4 August 2012</ref> She was inducted onto the [[Victorian Honour Roll of Women]] in 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://herplacemuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2010-Honour-Roll-Booklet-.pdf|title=Victorian Honour Roll of Women}}</ref> Melba was closely associated with the [[Melbourne Conservatorium of Music|Melbourne Conservatorium]], and this institution was renamed the [[Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music]] in her honour in 1956. The music hall at the [[University of Melbourne]] is known as Melba Hall. The Canberra suburb of [[Melba, Australian Capital Territory|Melba]] is named after her.

The [[Australian one-hundred-dollar note|Australian $100 note]] features the image of her face,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rba.gov.au/banknotes/types/hundred-dollar.html|title=The Australian $100 Banknote|publisher=The Reserve Bank of Australia|access-date=27 May 2011|archive-date=10 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610115653/http://www.rba.gov.au/banknotes/types/hundred-dollar.html|url-status=dead}},</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A Complete Series of Polymer Banknotes: 1992–1996 |url=http://museum.rba.gov.au/displays/a-complete-series-of-polymer-banknotes |website=Reserve Bank of Australia Museum |publisher=Reserve Bank of Australia |access-date=31 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215071843/http://museum.rba.gov.au/displays/a-complete-series-of-polymer-banknotes/ |archive-date=15 February 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and her likeness has also appeared on an Australian stamp.<ref name="Sadauskas" /> [[Sydney Town Hall]] has a marble relief bearing the inscription "Remember Melba", unveiled during a World War II charity concert in memory of Melba and her [[First World War]] charity work and patriotic concerts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25862076 |title=Music and drama {{!}} Melba Memorial Plaque|work=The Mercury|location= Hobart|date=19 May 1941|page= 4| access-date= 11 December 2012}}</ref> A tunnel on Melbourne's [[EastLink (Melbourne)|EastLink]] freeway is named in her honour.<ref>Pilcher, Georgie. [http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/east-link-twin-tunnels-named/story-e6frf7kx-1111115872116 "East Link Twin Tunnels named as Melba and Mullum Mullum"], ''[[Herald Sun]]'', 24 March 2008</ref> Streets named after her include Melba Avenue in San Francisco<ref>''The Chronicle'', San Francisco, 12 April 1987, p. 6</ref> and Avenue Nellie Melba / Nellie Melbalaan in the Brussels municipality of [[Anderlecht]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ebru.be/Streets/streets1070/bruxelles-1070-avenue-nellie-melba.html|title=L'avenue Nellie Melba – 1070 Anderlecht|website=eBru.be}}</ref>

Melba's home in [[Marian, Queensland]], during her brief cohabitation with her husband was relocated from the Marian Mill (where it was due to be demolished) to a riverbank setting along the main Eungella Road in Edward Lloyd Park, where, under the name Melba House, it was restored and now operates as a Melba museum and the Pioneer Valley Visitor Information Centre.<ref>{{cite web|title=Melba House|url=http://www.mackayregion.com/destinations/marian/attractions/melba-house/|publisher=[[Mackay Regional Council]]|access-date=21 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223035948/http://www.mackayregion.com/destinations/marian/attractions/melba-house/|archive-date=23 February 2014}}</ref> Her home Coombe Cottage in [[Coldstream, Victoria]], passed to her granddaughter Pamela, Lady Vestey (1918–2011). It is now owned by Lady Vestey's sons, [[Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey|Sam (3rd Baron Vestey)]] and Mark, who reside in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Coombe" /> The house was designed by [[John Harry Grainger]], father of the composer [[Percy Grainger]], and a close friend of Melba's father David Mitchell.<ref>{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Dreyfus|first=Kay|id2=grainger-george-percy-6448|title=George Percy Grainger (1882–1961)|volume=9|year=1983}}</ref>

Melba's name is associated with four foods, all of which were created in her honour by the French chef [[Auguste Escoffier]]:
* [[Peach Melba]], a dessert made of peaches, raspberry sauce, and vanilla ice cream<ref>Avey, Tori. [https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/opera-escoffier-and-peaches-the-story-behind-the-peach-melba/ "Opera, Escoffier, and Peaches: The Story Behind the Peach Melba"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930150038/https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/opera-escoffier-and-peaches-the-story-behind-the-peach-melba/ |date=30 September 2019 }}, 22 August 2012, accessed 9 April 2015</ref>
* Melba sauce, a sweet purée of raspberries and red currant
* [[Melba toast]], a crisp dry toast
* Melba Garniture, chicken, truffles and mushrooms stuffed into tomatoes with [[velouté sauce]].<ref>Drummond-Hay, Lily. [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2003/jul/13/foodanddrink.features13 "Famous Foodies: Nellie Melba"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 13 July 2003</ref>

Melba planted a variety of poplar tree known as ''[[Populus × canadensis|Populus × canadensis "Aurea"]]'', or golden poplar, on the Central Lawn in [[Melbourne Botanic Gardens]] on 11 April 1903, which has become known as "Melba's poplar".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://trusttrees.org.au/tree/VIC/Melbourne/Royal_Botanic_Gardens_Birdwood_Avenue_30|title=Golden Poplar|website=National Trust (Australia)|access-date=31 May 2019}}</ref> On 19 May 2011, Google celebrated her 150th birthday with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/nellie-melbas-150th-birthday/|title=Nellie Melba's 150th Birthday|website=Google|date=19 May 2011}}</ref>

==Books, films and television==
Melba's autobiography, ''Melodies and Memories'', was published in 1925, largely ghost-written by her secretary [[Beverley Nichols]].<ref name=dnb /> Nichols later complained that Melba did not cooperate in the process of writing or by reviewing what he wrote.<ref>Falk, Bernard. ''Bouquets for Fleet Street'', London, Hutchinson & Co (1951), p. 125</ref> Full-length biographies devoted to her include those by [[Agnes G. Murphy]] (1909), John Hetherington (1967), [[Thérèse Radic]] (1986), Ann Blainey (2009), and Richard Davis (2025).

A novel ''Evensong'' by Nichols (1932) was based on aspects of Melba's life, drawing an unflattering portrait.<ref name=dnb /> The [[Evensong (film)|1934 motion picture adaptation]] of ''Evensong'', starring [[Evelyn Laye]] as the character based on Melba, was for a time banned in Australia.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29170569 "Banned Film"], ''The Mercury'', 5 December 1934</ref> Melba appears in the 1946 novel ''[[Lucinda Brayford]]'' by [[Martin Boyd]]. She is depicted as singing at a garden party thrown by the mother of the eponymous heroine, when she is described as having the "loveliest voice in the world".<ref>Boyd, p. 96</ref>

In 1946–1947 Crawford Productions produced [[Melba (radio serial)|a radio series on Melba]] starring [[Glenda Raymond]], who became one of the foundation singers of the Australian Opera (later [[Opera Australia]]) in 1956.<ref>[http://www.radioechoes.com/?page=series&genre=Drama&series=Dame%20Nellie%20Melba ''The Melba Story''], RadioEchoes.com, accessed 1 March 2019</ref> In 1953 a [[Biographical film|biopic]] titled ''[[Melba (film)|Melba]]'' was released by [[Horizon Pictures]] and directed by [[Lewis Milestone]]. Melba was played by the soprano [[Patrice Munsel]].<ref>{{IMDb title|0046062|Melba}}</ref> In 1987 the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] produced a mini-series, ''[[Melba (miniseries)|Melba]]'', starring [[Linda Cropper]] miming to the singing voice of [[Yvonne Kenny]]. Melba was portrayed by [[Kiri Te Kanawa]] in [[List of Downton Abbey episodes|episode 3 of season 4]] of the British ITV television show ''[[Downton Abbey]]'' (2013), performing at the abbey as a guest of Lord and Lady Grantham. [[Rupert Christiansen]], writing in ''The Telegraph'', bemoaned the casting and the fact checking.<ref>[[Rupert Christiansen|Christiansen, Rupert]]. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/downton-abbey/10360164/How-Downton-Abbey-got-Nellie-Melba-all-wrong.html "How Downton Abbey got Nellie Melba all wrong"], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 7 October 2013</ref>

Melba appears in a pivotal scene in the 2014 novel ''Tell'' by [[Frances Itani]].<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/11/music-that-inspired-the-giller-prize-finalists.html "Music that inspired the Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists"], CBC Books, 7 November 2014, accessed 19 July 2015</ref>

==Notes and references==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n|colwidth=25em}}

===References===
{{Reflist|colwidth=25em}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book|last=Beecham|first=Thomas|author-link=Thomas Beecham|title=A Mingled Chime|location=London|publisher=Hutchinson|year=1959|oclc=470511334}}
* {{cite book|last=Blainey|first=Ann|year=2008|title=I am Melba|location=Melbourne|publisher=Black Inc|isbn=978-1-86395-183-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/iammelbabiograph0000blai}} (US edition (2009) published as ''Marvelous Melba: The Extraordinary Life of a Great Diva''. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee. {{ISBN|978-1-56663-809-8}})
*{{cite book|last=Conrad|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Conrad (academic)|title=A Song of Love and Death&nbsp;– The Meaning of Opera|location=London|publisher=Chatto and Windus|year=1987|isbn=0-7011-3274-4}}
*{{cite book|last=Gubler|first=Franz|title=Great, Grand & Famous Opera Houses|location=Crows Nest|publisher=Arbon|year=2012|isbn=978-0-987-28202-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Hetherington|first=John|year=1967|title=Melba, a Biography|location=London|publisher=Faber and Faber|oclc=7389273}}
*{{cite book|last=Jefferson|first=Alan|title=Sir Thomas Beecham&nbsp;– A Centenary Tribute|location=London|publisher=Macdonald and Jane's|year=1979|isbn= 035404205X}}
*{{cite book|last=Lucas|first=John|title=Thomas Beecham&nbsp;– An Obsession with Music|location=Woodbridge|publisher=Boydell Press|year=2008|isbn=978-1-84383-402-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Shaw|first=Bernard|author-link=George Bernard Shaw|editor=Dan H. Laurence|year=1981|title=Shaw's Music&nbsp;– The Complete Musical Criticism of Bernard Shaw|volume=2|issue=1890–1893|location=London|publisher=The Bodley Head|isbn=0-370-31271-6}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Davis|first=Richard|year=2025|title=Nellie Melba:The Legend Lives|others=Foreword by [[Nicole Car]]|publisher=[[Wakefield Press (Australia)|Wakefield Press]]|isbn=9781923042131|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last= Melba |first=Nellie |year=1925 |title=Melodies and Memories |location= London|publisher=Butterworth |oclc= 556835777|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last= Melba |first= Nellie |year=1926 |title= Melba Method |location= London & Sydney |publisher= Chappell |oclc=5309485|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last= Murphy |first= Agnes |year= 1909|title= Melba: A Biography |location= London |publisher= Chatto & Windus |oclc= 563034777|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last= Radic |first= Thérèse|author-link=Thérèse Radic|year= 1986|title= Melba: The Voice of Australia|location= Basingstoke |publisher= Macmillan |isbn= 0-333-41478-0|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last=Wainwright|first= Robert |year=2021|title=Nellie&nbsp;– The Life and Loves of Dame Nellie Melba|publisher=Allen & Unwin |isbn=9781760878252|ref=none}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nellie Melba}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Nellie Melba |sopt=t}}
* {{IMDb name|1673999}}
* [http://aso.gov.au/titles/tags/Dame%20Nellie%20Melba/ Links to recordings, images and information about Melba]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171219211100/http://www.rfwilmut.clara.net/opera/xmelba.html Melba] – link to 1906 recording of the [[aubade]] from the opera ''[[Le roi d'Ys]]''
* [http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/col/work/4150 1902 portrait ''Madame Melba''], painted by [[Rupert Bunny]]
* [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ggbain.01160/ Photo of Melba, her father and niece] (1903), Library of Congress
* [http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=163391 Biography; photo of dress worn by Melba]
* [http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2011/10/06/dame-nellie-melba-in-queensland/ Melba in Queensland] – John Oxley Library blog, [[State Library of Queensland]]
* {{Australian Women and Leadership|WLE0332b|Melba, Nellie}}
* [https://collections.artscentremelbourne.com.au/#browse=enarratives.1169 Nellie Melba Collection] at the Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne
* [https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/nellie-melba-singing-home-sweet-home Marconi's experimental radio broadcast with Melba 1920] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222203331/https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/nellie-melba-singing-home-sweet-home |date=22 February 2023 }}

{{Nellie Melba|state=expand}}
{{portal bar|Biography|Opera}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melba, Nellie}}
[[Category:Nellie Melba| ]]
[[Category:Australian operatic sopranos]]
[[Category:1861 births]]
[[Category:1931 deaths]]
[[Category:ARIA Award winners]]
[[Category:ARIA Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Australian women writers]]
[[Category:Australian autobiographers]]
[[Category:Australian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Australian Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Singers awarded damehoods]]
[[Category:Australian women autobiographers]]
[[Category:Women of the Victorian era]]
[[Category:People educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne]]
[[Category:Deaths from sepsis in Australia]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in New South Wales]]
[[Category:Singers from Melbourne]]
[[Category:19th-century Australian women opera singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian women opera singers]]
[[Category:Victor Records artists]]
[[Category:People from Richmond, Victoria]]
[[Category:People from the Colony of Victoria]]