Australian soprano coloratura, considered one of the greatest of the golden age of opera, as well as one of its more cantankerous personalities. An outstanding diva, she sang in Italy, Russia, Denmark and England. She took the pseudonym “Melba” from Melbourne, her home town.
Born Helen Porter Mitchell in a Melbourne suburb, she first sang at the age of six, and made her operatic debut in 1887 as Gilda in “Rigoletto.” On 24 May 1888, she made her first appearance at Covent Garden in London, an association which lasted for 38 years. She made her American debut in 1893 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and made her farewell performance on 8 June 1926, at a time when the opera world was undergoing a transition.
On 22 December 1882 in Brisbane, she married Charles Nesbitt Frederick Armstrong (1858–1948), the youngest son of Sir Andrew Armstrong. They had one child, a son, George, born on 16 October 1883. The marriage was not a success; Charles reportedly beat his wife more than once. Melba’s marriage to Armstrong was finally terminated when, having emigrated to the United States with their son, he divorced her in Texas in 1900.
Melba was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1918. She died on 23 February 1931 at age 69 in Sydney, Australia of septicaemia which had developed after facial surgery in Europe some time before.
Link to Wikipedia biography