Browse Items (337 total)

Printing-out paper print.

Photo: 14.4 x 9.9 cm
Photo and card: 16.6 x 10.6 cm

Grainger developed a close, lifelong friendship with the Danish-born cellist and composer, Herman Sandby. Joined by Sanby’s partner Alfhild de Luce as ‘extra…

Philips Electrical Industries Pty Ltd, Australia, Three speed portable twin-track tape recorder, late 1950s

Grainger Museum Collection, 01.3513

This tape recorder was part of Percy Grainger's electronic music equipment, probably used by him in…

In 1889, prior to performing in Paris as Marguerite in Faust, Melba visited the famous French actress, Sarah Bernhardt, who declared: ‘You sing like an angel. I want to teach you to act like an angel too.’ Bernhardt proceeded to give Melba a lesson…

The ill-fated Mimi in La Bohème was one of Melba’s most frequently performed roles. She had particular success in the opera singing opposite Enrico Caruso as Rodolfo. While impressing audiences with his sublime tenor voice, Caruso took great delight…

In January 1894, Melba read an unexpected announcement in the New York Herald that she was to perform as Elizabeth in Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera House. Rather than cancel the performance, she determinedly learnt the…

This large-scale portrait of Melba as Juliette is an imposing example of the use of studio photography to portray an operatic role. A companion photograph taken at the same time, depicted Melba as the dead Juliette lying on her tomb. The diva…

This portrait photograph was given to Ada Berrill, Melba’s personal maid and travel companion.

Melba’s earliest performances as Ophélie in Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet were at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels in April 1888 and her debut at the Paris Opéra in May 1889. Thomas described her as the ‘Ophélie of my dreams’.

Collectable cards inserted in cigarette packaging were popular from the late 19th century to the 1940s. Designed to encourage the collection of entire sets, they were issued in themed series such as plants, wildlife and sports and theatre stars. This…

The title role of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor highlighted Melba’s vocal abilities, particularly in the ‘mad scene’ which showcased her remarkable trill. Her 1888 Covent Garden debut in the role received a lukewarm response from critics,…