Emmy Destinn (also in Czech; February 26, 1878 – January 28, 1930) was a renowned Czech operatic soprano.

Destinn was born Emilie Pauline Kittel or Ema Pavlína Věnceslava Kittlová in Prague, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At first Destinn devoted herself to studying the violin, and intended to shine as a virtuoso on that instrument. When she was well on in her teens, however, her voice was so rich and full that she changed her mind and determined upon an operatic career.

Her voice teacher since age 13 had been Marie Maria von Dreger Loewe-Destinn, and the young singer began using her teacher's surname when she debuted in 1897 at the Dresden Opera as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana. [1] She made such progress that the intendant of the Berlin Court Opera engaged her at once when she was brought to her notice. She was scarcely nineteen at the time, but her voice and her genius for acting soon won the Berlin public.

Her fame became international in 1901 when she was invited to sing the part of Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer at Bayreuth. She returned to sing the same role the next year.

Destinn made her Covent Garden debut at the Royal Opera House on 2 May 1904 as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. She appeared there in several operas for the next two seasons, including the London premiere of Madama Butterfly with Caruso. Her Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1908 with a performance of Aida, after she was released from her contract with the Berlin Court Opera.

While she was successful in the lighter roles of the Wagner operas, her soprano voice was better adapted to music of a more lyrical type. She exceled in the part of Carmen, in which she was said to rival Calvé.

Her career suffered a fatal blow with the coming of World War One. Destinn returned to her homeland after the start of the war, but her links with the patriotic Czech resistance caused her passport to be revoked about her return. She was interred at her chateau for the remainder of the war. Upon her return to the Met in 1919, she had been replaced by a new generation of singers, though she did still sing with the company until 1921.

Destinn returned to Czechoslovakia, where she married Joseph Halsbach, a Czech air force officer, in 1923. She retired from the stage in 1926 and died from a stroke in České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia. She is interred in the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague.

She was very versatile and besides being a singer is a poet, novelist and playwright, though nothing she has done in this line has eclipsed her reputation as a singer.

(in part)

External links

• Biography
• The Emmy Destinn Foundation, with a biography
• Biography by Alan Bilgora for Prima Voce
• Biography from Opera-Gems.com