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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 44 | April 2000


The charming soprano

Concert-goers in Melbourne from the 1880s onwards had the opportunity to hear many fine Australian singers, including Amy Sherwin and Mrs Armstrong. While Amy Sherwin achieved relatively modest success, Mrs Helen Armstrong went on to become Nellie Melba and scaled the operatic heights of Europe and America. The Library recently acquired a collection of concert programs that came from a Melbourne family involved in choral and orchestral societies, as well as being busy concert-goers. Amongst the many programs were four representing the emergence of ‘Mrs Armstrong’ as a significant singer.

After the failure of her marriage, Helen Armstrong had returned to Melbourne from Mackay in Queensland in 1883 with her baby son. She studied singing and piano and appeared at private functions. On 17 May 1884, she made her public concert debut at the Melbourne Town Hall in a Grand Benefit Concert for Herr Elsasser, a former conductor of the Melbourne Liedertafel. Just over 12 months later, she received prominent billing as ‘The Charming Soprano’, one of three artists appearing with the touring violinist Johannes Kruse. The three concerts in May and June 1885 were the first professional appearances for Mrs Armstrong, who was paid £20 by the entrepreneurs J.C. Williamson, George Musgrove and Arthur Garner. She again appeared with Kruse in a Testimonial Concert for Julius Herz in August 1885. Helen Armstrong left Australia the next year, 1886, to pursue her career elsewhere and to become Nellie Melba.

Many programs are held by the Library for Melba’s later tours to Australia and for her career in London. As well, there are substantial holdings of documents and correspondence relating to Melba in the Manuscript Collection. However, the Library had previously not held any programs for Melba’s early Australian career. The acquisition of four programs from this key period represents a major addition to the Library’s resources on Dame Nellie Melba.

concert program 1 concert program 2
The cover (left) and internal pages (right) of a concert program from 1885 announcing Mrs Armstrong,
The Charming Soprano'
From the Ephemera Collection

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