17 Facts About Emmy Destinn

Emmy Destinn was a Czech operatic dramatic soprano.

Emmy Destinn had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera.

Emmy Destinn was one of the greatest opera singers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Emmy Destinn was let go after the short engagement at the Dresden Opera and declined by Prague National Theatre in 1897.

Emmy Destinn debuted on 19 July 1898 at the Berlin Court Opera as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana.

Emmy Destinn made such progress that the intendant of the Berlin Court Opera engaged her at once when she was brought to intendant's notice.

Emmy Destinn was only nineteen at the time, but her voice and her acting soon won the Berlin public.

Emmy Destinn's fame became international in 1901 when she was invited to sing the part of Senta in Der fliegende Hollander at Germany's Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

Emmy Destinn returned to sing the same role the next year.

Emmy Destinn made her London debut at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House on 2 May 1904, as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.

Emmy Destinn appeared there in several operas for the next two seasons, including the London premiere of Madama Butterfly with Caruso.

Emmy Destinn excelled in the French part of Carmen, in which she was said to rival Calve, and in the Italian roles of Aida, Madama Butterfly and Leonora.

Emmy Destinn was interned at her chateau for the remainder of the conflict.

Emmy Destinn returned to Czechoslovakia, where she married Joseph Halsbach, a Czech air-force officer, in 1923.

Emmy Destinn retired from the stage in 1926, and died on 28 January 1930 from a stroke in Ceske Budejovice, Czechoslovakia, a month before her 52nd birthday.

Emmy Destinn is interred in the Vysehrad cemetery in Prague.

Emmy Destinn's likeness appeared in 1996 on the 2,000 Czech koruna banknote.