Ema Destinnova, or Emmy Destinn, by her own name Emilie Kittlova (26 February 1878 – 28 January 1930), was a Czech operatic dramatic soprano. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She was one of the greatest opera singers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Ema was very talented artistically: she painted, wrote, and gave her first violin concert at the age of eight. At the age of 13, she began attending singing lessons with Professor Marie Loewe-Destinn, whose name she chose as her artistic pseudonym. In addition, Ema studied acting at the drama school at the National Theatre in Prague.
Rejected by the Prague National Theatre, she made her debut as a singer in 1897 at the Court Opera in Dresden in the role of Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana. The success of her debut was so great that she was immediately engaged by the Court Opera in Berlin at the age of 19. There she became a prima donna and over a period of ten years appeared in fifty-four roles.
Destinnova made her London debut at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House in 1904. She appeared there in several operas for the next two seasons, including the London premiere of Madama Butterfly alongside one of the most famous tenors of all time, Enrico Caruso.
After successful guest appearances in Vienna, London, Prague and Paris, she was also invited to the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1908, where she worked successfully for many years. There she also sang the role of Minnie in the premiere of Puccini's La fanciulla del West in 1910, again with Enrico Caruso.
She returned to her homeland after the start of the World War I in 1914, but her links with the patriotic Czech resistance caused her passport to be revoked. She was interned at her chateau in South Bohemia for the remainder of the conflict. In the last year of the WW I (1918), Destinnova returned to the Czech scene and celebrated success everywhere.
After the WW I, a younger generation took to the world's opera stages, and only guest appearances remained for Destinnova; she made eleven guest appearances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In the 1919 - 1920 season, she again guested at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, already under the name Emmy Destinn. Later on she performed most frequently in Czechoslovakia.
In 1926 she began to say goodbye to her opera and concert career. In 1928 she sang her last concert in London. She retired to her chateau and only occasionally sang at concerts. She died from a stroke in 1930, a month before her 52nd birthday.
In 1996, her likeness appeared on a 2000 Czech crown banknote in her honour.
Source: Wikipedia
For the Rules of this Open series and the current List of caches see the GC Open #01 listing.
Just in case, a local cacher will provide maintenance assistance.