[Media-Newswire.com, 16 October 2007]

A recently rediscovered opera written especially for Victorian music icon, Dame Nellie Melba, has its world premiere recording in Melbourne more than a century after its last performance, Minister for the Arts, Lynne Kosky, said today.

Ms Kosky said that Melbourne-based Melba Recordings made history at the South Melbourne Town Hall this month with the first ever recording of Hélène, a neglected masterpiece written by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns especially for Dame Nellie Melba to sing.