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The Mapleson Cylinders - Program Notes
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Nellie Melba
(1861-1931), Australian soprano from Richmond,
came to the Metropolitan Opera on December 4, 1893, as Lucia di Lammermoor, and
established herself in New York as one of the finest singers of the age. She
usually received higher fees than any other female artist on the roster. In
1896-97, she was paid $1,600 per performance. while Calvé
received $1,540: clearly, Melba had specified that hers was to be the
highest female salary. She always traveled in style. Her 1900-01 contract
allowed her two first-class and two second-class steamship passages with a
stateroom. Traveling by railroad, she was guaranteed a "private car for her
exclusive use from the Missouri River to San Francisco and return. She to
supply the commisary." Of her eight seasons at the Met, 1900-01 was the
last in which she appeared as a regular member of the company. Her roles then
were a combination of the florid Lucia, Gilda, Violetta, and Marguerite de
Valois, which first won her fame, with the more lyrical Mimì,
Marguerite, and Juliette, which she continued to perform with a miraculously
fresh sound until the end of her career. The first Mimì at the Met,
Melba during 1900-01 sang eight performances of Bohème in New York and on tour, after some of which the evening
concluded with her spectacular rendition of the Lucia
Mad Scene. By then her fee was $1,850 per performance, and for
forty-nine performances of opera and one Sunday-night concert she was paid
$92,500. LE CID (Infanta): Side 3/Bands 6, 9; Side 12/Band 5a(?)
FAUST (Marguerite): Side 1/Bands 2, 8, 9
LUCIA (Lucia): Side 4/Bands 5-7; Side 12/Band 4
ROMÉO (Juliette): Side 3/Band 4; Side 12/Band 2
TRAVIATA (Violetta): Side 5/Band 3
