Browse Items (337 total)

As early as 1904, His Master’s Voice named their concert grand model gramophone the ‘Melba’.

Melba also laid the foundation stone of the company’s first factory in Hayes, England. Following her death, an article in The Voice magazine reflected on…

This burr walnut vanity unit accompanied Melba to various theatres for personal use in her dressing room. It was given to her coachman/driver, William Hayes, when she left for an extended stay abroad. Hayes was married to Melba’s maid, who would fill…

This silver cigarette box brings together the engraved signatures of both Nellie Melba and Percy Grainger, making it a unique object within this exhibition. While the history of the memento is not known, it clearly has a musical context. All the…

Small rounded slit drum with handle on top. Abstractly shaped to represent a "fish head" (used to accompany Buddhist chant). Slit across flattened base - hollowed out slightly to resonate when struck with accompanying beater. Painted red and gold…

Engraved on each leaf of this brooch are names of North American cities to which Melba toured including Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Montreal, Philadelphia, St Louis, Toronto and Washington.

Melba learnt the role of Mimi in Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème with the composer and her performances helped to make the opera famous. She wore this bonnet in the 1924 Melba–Williamson Grand Opera Season in Australia and probably other productions of…

Grainger was the first pianist of international renown to perform at a moving picture theatre. The Capitol Theatre in New York, where Grainger played in 1921, was the largest cinema in the world at the time. Between 17 and 23 April, Grainger played…

During his years living in the United States, Grainger performed for three presidents: Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge and Theodore Roosevelt. Grainger received this memento from the First Lady of the United States in recognition of his performance…