Melba Recordings

Melba Recordings burst onto the classical music scene in 1998 with two ambitious releases: a video documentary, Massenet, His life and Music and the CD Amoureuse. These projects were made possible using private funding and marked the beginning of a fruitful seven recording collaboration between Richard Bonynge and Melba Recordings.

Melba Recordings was created with the vision of promoting the finest Australian classical music performers and music-making on the global stage via recordings of the highest technical excellence and innovation. This vision grew out of founder, Maria Vandamme’s, twenty-five-year experience as a music producer at the ABC and her experience as a recording producer and journalist at the Salzburg Festival.

Over the next three years Melba Recordings continued to build an impressive foundation, a critically acclaimed catalogue with a series of vocal, instrumental and orchestral recordings.

Maria Vandamme investigated many options for the funding of further projects, approaching the Australia Council for the Arts to explore which grants were appropriate, state and local governments, approaching businesses, philanthropy and financial advisors to secure funding.

Following this consultation and acting on their advice the Melba Foundation was established in 2001 to help fulfil the mission of Melba Recordings.  The Foundation’s founding benefactor was Dame Elisabeth Murdoch with patrons Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge. The Melba Foundation received support through a large number of donations, sponsors and funds raised via a significant number of functions.

The available funding though, on a project-by-project basis, didn’t offer the security to plan and build the coherent catalogue required to establish credibility in the international market. When Maria was advised to approach the federal government directly, she sought and received the blessing of the Australia Council to proceed. Armed with support and commendations from of an impressive array of Australian classical musicians and music lovers who appreciated the Melba vision and based on the already impressive achievements of Melba Recordings, Maria Vandamme successfully lobbied Government officials including Rod Kemp, the Federal Minister for the Arts.

In 2004, the Federal Government recognised the Melba Recordings initiative awarding the Melba Foundation a five-year grant of $5 million and in 2009, a three-year grant of $2.25 million, to produce and promote high-quality music recordings followed by a third grant of $275,000.  

2004 marked an early standout among Melba Recordings/Melba Foundations achievements with the recording of the State Opera of South Australia, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Asher Fisch Ring. This remains a historic document of the first Australian production of Wagner’s Ring and the first Ring released on state-of-the-art SACD. It was greeted with astonishment and rave reviews from the international music press.

The Melba Recordings legacy is a catalogue of unusual and exciting repertoire, numerous world-premiere recordings, a number of large-scale “eye-catching” releases such as Wagner’s Ring, world premiere recordings of Saint-Saëns' opera Hélène or Herold’s ballet La somnambule, vocal recordings, instrumental and chamber music recordings, Australian compositions, always featuring committed performances. Melba leaves a lasting testament to the excellence of Australian music performers.

Melba Recordings releases have received thousands of glowing reviews, both locally and internationally in addition to a slew of international awards for our recordings, our artists and in recognition of Melba’s technical standards.

Adherence to technical excellence and innovation have always been benchmarks of Melba recordings. Melba’s early adoption of Super Audio CD, our website capability and the international critical recognition of our high production standards attest to our success in meeting these goals. The Melba Recordings website, state-of-the-art at its introduction in 2011, was one of the very first websites to offer Studio Master quality 24 bit/96kHz audio for download.

The Melba Foundation has made a significant contribution to showcasing our musicians and Australian music culture to the world. The beneficiaries of the Melba initiative are Australia’s musicians, artists, orchestras, performing arts organisations as well as the profile of Australia as a cultured nation. None of Melba’s achievements would have been possible without the support and belief shown by our patrons, supporters, and the federal government.

Article by Terry Lane: MELBA - The Name that Means Perfection

Article by Michael Quinn: Melba Recordings: The First Decade

View the list of Melba Foundation Board of Directors, Patrons and Ambassadors

Download the Melba Recordings Catalogue

Download the Melba Recordings Brochure