Dame Nellie Melba (stage name for Mrs. Nellie Porter Armstrong, nee
Mitchell) is described in Grove's Dictionary as "the first singer of
British birth to attain such an exalted position upon the lyric stage as
well as upon the concert platform." Dame Melba was born at Burnley near
Melbourne, May 19, 1861, of Scotch ancestry. She sang at the Town Hall
at Richmond when she was six years of age. She studied piano, harmony,
composition and violin very thoroughly. At one time she was considered
the finest amateur pianist in Melbourne. She also played the church
organ in the local church with much success. In 1882 she married Captain
Charles Armstrong, son of Sir Andrew Armstrong, Baronet (of Kings
County, Ireland). In 1886 she sang at Queens Hall in London. After
studying with Mme. Marchesi for twelve months she made her debut as
Gilda (_Rigoletto_) at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Her
success was instantaneous. Her London debut was made in _Lucia_ in 1888.
One year later she made her Parisian debut in Thomas' _Hamlet_. In 1894
she created the role of Nedda in _I Pagliacci_. Petrograd "went wild"
over her in 1892. In 1892 she repeated her successes and in 1893 she
began her long series of American triumphs. The fact that her voice,
like that of Patti, has remained astonishingly fresh and silvery despite
the enormous amount of singing she has done attests better than anything
else to the excellence of her method of singing. In the following
conference she gives the secret of preserving the voice.
[Illustration: DAME NELLIE MELBA.]