Helen Porter Mitchell adopted the professional name Melba to acknowledge her birthplace, Melbourne. She began to study singing seriously in 1882 and made her operatic debut in Brussels in 1887. Melba won acclaim at Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera and subsequently in most of the leading opera houses of the world until her retirement, becoming the epitome of glamour and fame. Melba’s voice was remarkable for its even quality over a range of nearly three octaves, and for its pure silvery timbre. Her first recordings were made in 1904 for The Gramophone and Typewriter Company, the precursor of HMV. The repertoire is drawn from Melba’s major operatic roles in La Traviata, Rigoletto and Lucia di Lammermoor, as well as from the popular ballads and songs of the period, such as those by Tosti, and Bemberg, who can be heard accompanying Melba in two items composed by himself.