Dame Nellie Melba's Farewell

Operatic soprano

Dame Nellie Melba was an Australian coloratura soprano, a singer of great popularity. She sang at Richmond Public Hall at the age of six and was a skilled pianist and organist. She made her operatic debut as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto in 1887 at Brussels under the name Melba, derived from that of the city of Melbourne. Until 1926 she sang in the principal opera houses of Europe and the United States, particularly Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera. She was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1918, and in 1926 she returned to Australia, where she became president of the Melbourne Conservatorium.