Today's Birthdays in Music: May 19 (Melba, Thorborg)

1861 - Nellie Melba, Richmond, Australia; opera soprano

Wiki entry

"Ave Maria" from Verdi's Otello; part of Dame Nellie Melba's Farewell Performance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, June 8, 1926



1896 - Kerstin Thorborg, Venjan, Sweden; opera & concert contralto

Biography & pictures

Mahler - Kerstin Thorborg sings "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" from Mahler's Rückert Lieder (Bruno Walter, Vienna Philharmonic, 1936)