NZ opera star Dame Malvina Major's personal sheet music collection up for auction

The personal sheet music collection of former New Zealand opera star Dame Malvina Major, dating back 70 years, is going under the hammer.

The personal sheet music collection of former New Zealand opera star Dame Malvina Major, dating back 70 years, is going under the hammer.

The 74-year-old singing sensation exited the stage in 2015 after 50 years of performing.

Now, her remarkable library of music will be sold at Cordy's auction house in Auckland.

The collection, amounting to 20 boxes, includes country songs from when she was a child star, World War II favourites by Gracie Fields and Vera Lynn, and scores from her glittering European opera career including Mozart and Verdi.

It also features music from when she began her opera studies at St Mary's Convent in Auckland at 17.

Many sheets show handwritten annotations.

Auctioneer Andrew Grigg said the collection, which goes under the hammer on November 14 and has an estimate of $1000, was a "very unique opportunity:" to the right collector, school or institution.

"It is amazing that so much has been retained from her earliest pieces right through," Grigg said.

"The fact that she has thumbed through these, named many, written notes, added tags, folded corners ... [it] makes this collection very special. Part of her is associated with this music."

Major, crowned New Zealand Entertainer of the Year in 1992, said when she retired that her time would now be spent teaching at Waikato University and travelling overseas visiting top music institutions.