Portal:Opera/Selected biography/18

Dame Nellie Melba GBE (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), born Helen Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late 19th and early 20th century and was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. Melba studied singing in Melbourne and debuted to modest success there. After a brief, unsuccessful marriage she moved to Europe in search of a singing career. After a false start in London, she studied in Paris and made a great success there. Returning to London she quickly established herself as the leading lyric soprano at Covent Garden and achieved further success at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Her repertoire was small. In her whole career she sang no more than 25 roles, and was closely identified with only ten. She returned to Australia frequently during the 20th century. She built a house near Melbourne and taught singing at the Melbourne Conservatorium. Melba continued to sing until the last months of her life, and made a legendary number of "farewell" appearances. Her death, in Australia, was news across the English-speaking world, and her funeral was a major national event.