Guide to the Dame Nellie Melba theatre programs and ephemera held in the PROMPT Collection, National Library of Australia
Melba
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Title
- Dame Nellie Melba theatre programs and ephemera held in the PROMPT Collection, National Library of Australia
- Date Range
- 1889 - 2018
- Collection Number
- Melba
- Extent
- 131 items 6 prompt boxes
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- Printed Collections
- Sponsor
- The National Library of Australia is extremely grateful for the generous support of the Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation. This has enabled the work of preserving, digitising and publishing this collection.
Introduction
Scope and Contents
The Nellie Melba files in the Library's PROMPT collection contain primarily theatre programs with some ephemera and newspaper cuttings which document the opera singer's Australian and overseas careers from 1891 to 1931.
Printed materials in the PROMPT collection include programs and printed ephemera such as brochures, leaflets, tickets, etc. Theatre programs are taken as the prime documentary evidence of a performance.
The list is based on imperfect holdings, and is updated as gaps in the Library's holdings are filled. Unless otherwise stated, all entries are based on published programs in the PROMPT collection.
Related Materials
For material relating to Dame Nellie Melba, see MS 846, MS 1354, MS 1355, MS 1356, MS 1368, MS 1373, MS 1496, MS 1529, MS 4640, MS 6900, MS 9331, MS 9561.
For Melba Conservatorium material, see the Melba Conservatorium collection of Dame Nellie Melba performance scores and related material (MS 10021) held at the National Library.
Digitisation Information
This collection contains some duplicate items. For digitisation, only one copy of each item was captured. Some items contain blank pages which were not captured.
Biographical / Historical
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 Victorian era and the early 20th century. She was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym "Melba" from Melbourne, her home town. During the First World War, Melba raised large sums for war charities. She was active in the teaching of singing at the Melbourne Conservatorium, and made a legendary number of "farewell" appearances. Between 1904 and 1926 Melba made some 150 records. Her final performance at Covent Garden was in June 1926, with her last Australian performances in Sydney and Melbourne in 1927.
Item Descriptions
Series. Performances, 1889 - 1899
Opera Performances, 1898 - 1899 (File)
Series. Performances in the 1900s, 1902 - 1930
Opera Performances, 1902 (File)
Grand Coronation Concert for King Edward's Hospital Fund, 1902 (Item) - Box 1
11 June, Royal Albert Hall, London. Special Sunday Concerts. Nellie Melba with others including Clara Butt.
Australian Concert Tour: First Concert, 1902 (Item) - Box 1
27 September, Town Hall, Melbourne. Nellie Melba with others.
Australian Concert Tour: Second Concert, 1902 (Item) - Box 1
30 September, Town Hall, Melbourne. Nellie Melba with others.
Australian Concert Tour: First Concert, 1902 (Item) - Box 1
11 October, Town Hall, Sydney. Nellie Melba with others.
Opera Performances, 1904 (File)
Opera Performances, 1906 - 1907 (File)
April edition of The Burr McIntosh Monthly (New York: The Burr Publishing Co., 1906), 1906 (Item) - Box 1
Featuring a portrait and bio of Nellie Melba as Marguerite, probably from Gounod 's Faust.
Melba: First Concert, 1907 (Item) - Box 1
23 November, Town Hall, Melbourne. Nellie Melba with others.
Melba: Second Concert, 1907 (Item) - Box 1
30 November, Town Hall, Melbourne. Nellie Melba with others.
Melba: Second Concert, 1907 (Item) - Box 1
14 December, Town Hall, Sydney. Nellie Melba with others.
Opera Performances, 1908 (File)
Opera Performances, 1909 (File)
Melba, 1909 (Item) - Box 2
27 March, Town Hall, Melbourne. Second concert. Nellie Melba with others.
Madame Melba's Charity Concert, 1909 (Item) - Box 2
15 November, Exhibition Building, Melbourne. Nellie Melba recital.
Opera Performances, 1911 (File)
July 1911 – Anniversary of …, 1911 (Item) - Box 2
Postcard with Nellie Melba's portrait by Johnston-Ayres Co. Postmarked 29 June 1911.
Melba Grand Opera Season – season brochure, 1911 (Item) - Box 2
Booklet of plots and descriptions of all operas to be performed
Romeo and Juliet (Gounod), 1911 (Item) - Box 2
23 October, Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. The Melba Grand Opera Season. Nellie Melba as Juliet. 2 copies.
La Traviata (Verdi), 1911 (Item) - Box 2
28 October, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne. The Melba Grand Opera Season. Nellie Melba as Violetta. Facsimile of program centrefold.
Romeo and Juliette (Gounod), 1911 (Item) - Box 2
24 November, Her Majesty's, Melbourne. The Melba Grand Opera Season. Nellie Melba as Juliette.
Rigoletto (Verdi), 1911 (Item) - Box 2
5 December, Her Majesty's, Melbourne. The Melba Grand Opera Season. Nellie Melba as Gilda. Facsimile of program centrefold.
Opera Performances, 1912 - 1913 (File)
Charity Concert for University Conservatorium of Music, 1912 (Item) - Box 2
1 March, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne. Hamlet (Thomas) Act 3 - Nellie Melba Ophelia with others and Otello (Verdi) Act 4 - Nellie Melba as Desdemona with others.
Opera Performances, 1914 - 1915 (File)
Opera Performances, 1916 (File)
Melba Russian Appeal Matinee, 1916; 1954 (Item) - Box 3
3 August, Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. 4 Acts – The Belle of New York, The Boomerang, Grand Opera - The Last Act of Otello, Grand Opera – The Last Act of Faust. Note dated 22 February 1954, from donor, F.T. Riley, Secretary of the Manufacturing Grocers' Employees' Federation explaining how he got the program with signature. Notes is written on verso of a "Notice to be Posted – Executive Officers, Shop Stewards and Members. 1953".
Opera Performances, 1917 (File)
Tuesday Musical Club Concert, 1917 (Item) - Box 3
16 March, Loring Theatre, Riverside, Ca. USA. Nellie Melba with others.
Opera Performances, 1919 (File)
Stories of the Operas and the Singers: Official Souvenir, 1919 (Item) - Box 3
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. Portrait and biography of Nellie Melba heading Royal Opera Covent Garden 1919 season. P. 65 Artist list, p. 85 biography and p. 87 photograph.
Dame Nellie Melba, 1919 (Item) - Box 3
7 January, Town Hall, Sydney. Concert with Nellie Melba and others.
Dame Nellie Melba: Extra Farewell Concert in Honour of Mr John Lemmoné, 1919 (Item) - Box 3
14 January, Town Hall, Sydney. Concert with Nellie Melba and others.
Opera Performances, 1921 - 1922 (File)
Farewell Concert to Dame Nellie Melba, 1921 (Item) - Box 3
8 May, Royal Albert Hall, London, England. Souvenir Programme. Concert attended by Princess Mary. Includes note from donor.
Dame Nellie Melba's Home Coming Concert, 1921 (Item) - Box 3
31 August, Town Hall, Melbourne. Nellie Melba with others.
Dame Nellie Melba's Home Coming Concert, 1921 (Item) - Box 3
10 September, Town Hall, Melbourne. Nellie Melba with others.
Dame Nellie Melba, Concert, 1921 (Item) - Box 3
4 October, Town Hall, Adelaide. Nellie Melba with others.
Dame Nellie Melba Concert, 1921 (Item) - Box 3
19 November, Town Hall, Sydney. Nellie Melba with others.
Opera Performances, 1922 - 1923 (File)
Dame Nellie Melba's Concerts for the People, 1922 (Item) - Box 3
21 March – 12 April, Town Hall, Sydney. Nellie Melba with others. Copy for different performance (undated). 3 copies.
Dame Nellie Melba's Concerts for the People, 1922 (Item) - Box 3
21 March – 28 April, Town Hall, Sydney. Copy for different performance (undated).
Grand Concert of British Music, 1922 (Item) - Box 3
29 May, Town Hall, Melbourne. Performed by Conservatorium students. Old Pioneers' Memorial Fund celebrating the 87th Anniversary of Batman's Arrival. Under the patronage of Nellie Melba who did not perform.
Dame Nellie Melba Farewell Matinee, 1922 (Item) - Box 3
6 June, Town Hall, Sydney. Nellie Melba with others.
Dame Nellie Melba Farewell Concert, 1922 (Item) - Box 3
1 August, Town Hall, Melbourne. Nellie Melba with others.
Matinee Performance given by Dame Nellie Melba, 1922 (Item) - Box 3
2 September, Her Majesty's Theatre, [Melbourne or Adelaide]. In aid of the fund for The Soldiers' War Memorial.
Opera Performances, 1923 (File)
La Boheme (Puccini), 1923 (Item) - Box 4
17 January, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. 1922-1923 Royal Opera House Covent Garden Season. British National Opera Co. Nellie Melba as Mimi.
Opera Performances, January - June 1924 (File)
Opera Performances, July - December 1924 (File)
Madame Butterfly (Puccini), 1924 (Item) - Box 4
9 July, Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. Dame Nellie Melba and JC Williamson Ltd Grand Opera. Nellie Melba did not perform.
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini), 1924 (Item) - Box 4
21 July, Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney? Dame Nellie Melba and J C Williamson Ltd Grand Opera. Nellie Melba did not perform. 2 copies.
Grand Opera Season Souvenir program, 1924 (Item) - Box 4
Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. Dame Nellie Melba and J C Williamson Ltd Grand Opera. Features farewell letter printed within program. 3 copies, 2 incomplete copies.
La Boheme (Puccini), 1924 (Item) - Box 4
29 September, Theatre Royal, Adelaide. Dame Nellie Melba and JC Williamson Ltd. Grand Opera. Nellie Melba as Mimi.
Don Pasquale (Donizetti), 1924 (Item) - Box 4
6 October, Theatre Royal, Adelaide. Dame Nellie Melba and JC Williamson Ltd Grand Opera. Nellie Melba did not perform. Includes news clipping of review dated 7 September 1924.
Opera Performances, 1926 (File)
Farewell of Dame Nellie Melba, 1926 (Item) - Box 5
30 January - 6 February, Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England. Nellie Melba with others.
Melba's Farewell, 1926 (Item) - Box 5
8 June, Royal Opera Covent Garden, London. Excerpts from Romeo et Juliette, Otello and La Boheme.
Opera Performances, 1927 (File)
Dame Nellie Melba's Farewell Tour, 1927 (Item) - Box 5
Undated. Sydney, Brisbane, Newcastle, Rockhampton, Toowoomba. Nellie Melba with others.
Dame Nellie Melba's Home-Coming Concert, 1927 (Item) - Box 5
2 March, The Auditorium, Melbourne, Victoria. Nellie Melba with others.
Dame Nellie Melba's Farewell Tour, 1927 (Item) - Box 5
15 March, City Hall, Hobart, Tasmania. Nellie Melba with others.
Dame Nellie Melba's Farewell Concert, 1927 (Item) - Box 5
9 and 13 April, Town Hall, Sydney, New South Wales. Nellie Melba with others.
Dame Nellie Melba's Farewell Tour, 1927 (Item) - Box 5
14 May, Central Hall, Newcastle, New South Wales. Nellie Melba with others.
Dame Nellie Melba's Farewell Tour, 1927 (Item) - Box 5
7 July, Exhibition Hall, Brisbane, Queensland. Nellie Melba with others.
Opera Performances, 1928 (File)
Dame Nellie Melba Appeal, 1928 (Item) - Box 5
2 May, Town Hall, Melbourne, Victoria. In aid of the Hospitals for Women in Melbourne, the Women's Hospital and the Queen Victoria Hospital for Women. Nellie Melba with artists and two combined orchestras. 2 copies, one in poor condition.
Series. Memorial Concerts, 1918 - 2018
Jack Hibberd, A Toast to Melba [play], 1976 - 1982 (File) - Box 6
Four programs for different performances.
Lilydale Historical Museum, 1952 - 2001 (File) - Box 6
Mixed ephemera relating to Dame Nellie Melba and the Lilydale Historical Museum. Includes flyers for Lilydale's Fifth Eisteddfod, October 1952 and Lilydale's Sixth Eisteddfod, August 1953.
Digitisation Information
This file has been partially digitised.
Memorial Concerts, 1941 - 2011 (File) - Box 6
Items include:Souvenir Program inspired by Farewell of Dame Nellie Melba 1926, 22 February 1950, Melbourne Town Hall. Proceeds in aid of Melba Memorial Soundshell Appeal. 2 copies of program. Also a promotional brochure for Soundshell Appeal.Souvenir Program of the Melba Memorial Concert, 19 May 1941, Town Hall, Sydney. Australian Broadcasting Commission and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In aid of Lord Mayor's Patriotic and War Fund of N.S.W.
Digitisation Information
This file has been partially digitised.