Introduction to Melba and Grainger

Dame Nellie Melba and Percy Grainger were two of the most famous Australians of their time. Both achieved success on the world stage and became household names in their country of birth. Coupled with extraordinary musical talents, they each had ambition that propelled them into the public spotlight.

Melba was Australia’s first international opera star. She became a high-profile celebrity of the glittering Belle Époque and remained one of the most famous women in the world until her death in 1931. Grainger fashioned his celebrity through his brilliance and panache as a concert pianist and the popularity of his compositions, in a career that shone most brightly from the 1900s to 1930s. Together, they reached millions of people through live performances, and recordings and broadcasts of their musical genius.

 The lives of Melba and Grainger intersected both personally and professionally on their paths to fame. Their families were initially linked through their fathers, David Mitchell and John Grainger, who were prominent participants in Melbourne’s building industry.Melba’s accomplishments in Australia and abroad made her a natural mentor for Grainger who was 20 years her junior, and she actively encouraged his early career. Although they publicly performed together only twice, Melba and Grainger periodically attended each other’s musical appearances.

Melba frequently expressed pride in Grainger’s achievements, and offered advice gained from her worldly experience. She wrote on one occasion: 

‘…how happy & proud I am you are making such a wonderful career.’

For his part, Grainger admired Melba’s technical abilities and the character of her voice, which he described as having:

'...the searching, continuous, trancelike vibrations of the middle-distance blues in Australian upcountry-scapes.'

Ultimately, Melba and Grainger shared a mutual admiration for one another’s journeys as talented Australians who attained international fame.