Dame Nellie MelbaPrint Page

The plaque commemorates Dame Nellie Melba and her contribution to music in a venue where she had performed so often.

Dame Nellie Melba GBE (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), born Helen Porter Mitchell, was an Australian opera soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century due to the purity of her lyrical voice and the brilliance of her technique. Melba was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She and May Whitty were the first stage performers to be granted damehoods of the Order of the British Empire.

Dame Nellie Melba's former flautist, Mr. John Lemmone, aged 80, who has spoken his reminiscences of Melba into a record which will be played at the unveiling of the Dame Nellie Melba Memorial Tablet, intends to keep the contents secret until the ceremony. "They wanted me to play, but it's a little too late for me to face the public after 14 years," he said to-day. "I knew Dame Nellie all through the years from the time when we first met when we appeared together at her first recital. She was a great, great woman! We farewelled the public in 1927."

The tablet, which has been given by Lord Lurgan and executed by Arthur J. Murch, will be unveiled by Lady Gowrie at a patriotic concert at the Town Hall on May 19. Proteges and friends of Melba who will play at the concert include Stella Power, Una Bourne, who was solo pianist with Melba on many tours, and Lindley Evans, who was Melba's accompanist. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Professor Bernard Heinze, of Melbourne. Proceeds will go to the Lord Mayor's Patriotic and War Fund. The box plan opened at Nicholson's and Paling's today. Tickets are 10s 6d, 7s 6d. 5s. and 3s reserved.
Sun (Sydney), 8 May 1941.

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