File:Nellie_Melba_-_Rotary_Photo_784_E_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Nellie Melba
Sign in to saveAlso known as Dame Nellie Melba, Helen Porter Armstrong
Australian opera singer (1861–1931)
OverviewAI-generated
Dame Nellie Melba, born Helen Porter Mitchell on May 19, 1861, in Melbourne, was an Australian opera singer and autobiographer. She performed as a soprano and was a student of Mathilde Marchesi. Melba adopted the pseudonym Nellie Melba and wrote in English. Her works are held in the collection of the Tate.
She died from sepsis on February 23, 1931, in Sydney under natural causes. Melba is described by sources including the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition and The Nuttall Encyclopædia. She was an Australian citizen and is categorized as a classical and Australian soprano artist.
Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Last.fm. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Female
- Origin
- Australia
- Active from
- 1861
- Active to
- 1931
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 839
- Total plays
- 5,882
Tags
Dame Nellie Melba, GBE (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), born Helen Porter Mitchell, legendary Australian opera soprano and probably the most famous of all sopranos, was the first Australian to achieve international recognition in the form. She and Dame May Whitty both became the first entertainers to become a DBE in 1918. Melba was born at "Doonside" in Richmond (now an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria) into a musical family, attending the prestigious Presbyterian Ladies' College, where her
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Family name
- Armstrong
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- Australia
- Place of death
- Sydney
- Occupation
- autobiographer
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Student of
- Mathilde Marchesi
- Genre
- opera
- Instrument
- voice
- Image
- Nellie Melba 1892.jpg
Show 12 more facts
- Commons category
- Nellie Melba
- date of birth
- 1861-05-19
- date of death
- 1931-01-01
- cause of death
- sepsis
- manner of death
- natural causes
- Commons gallery
- Nellie Melba
- birth name
- Helen Porter Mitchell
- name in native language
- Nellie Melba
- has works in the collection
- Tate
- pseudonym
- Nellie Melba
- honorific prefix
- Dame
- P12749
- Raşit Meredow
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~32 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Melba, c. 1907 Dame Nellie Melba GBE (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931) was an Australian operatic 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 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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Nellie Melba” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.