8 – Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931) as Ophélie (“Hamlet”), Opéra de Paris, ca. 1890, a role in which she delivered vocal beauty paired with a dazzling technique.

Wherever she sang, she was greeted with rave critics, embodying a soprano’s dream come true. Her madness scene in “Hamlet” captured her audience until a ripe age, still sing beautifully the repertoire of her youth! She left a recording legacy.