Emma Destinová (born 26.2.1878 – died 28.1. 1930)

Emilie Pavlina (in some biographies she is called Emilie Vênceslava) was born on 26th of February 1878 into a wealthy and patriotic family of Kittls. She was one of five children and her father Emanuel,whose properties included many houses in Prague , two breweries, building land and even silver and antimony mines, was a patron of the arts. He supported many

Czech artists financially and promoted Czech culture under the rule of the Habsburg monarchy. Emilie’s mother, a promising singer, gave up her artistic career when she married.

Emelie Pavlina was a gifted child and was encouraged by her father. She began her artistic studies by learning to play the violin and acting, but on becoming a teenager, she started study music and singing with the Loewe-Destinn family. The fondness for her teacher, Marie Loewe-Destinn, led her to choose the name Emma Destinn ( in Czech Ema Destinnova) as her pseudonym, under which she became a celebrated star of opera.

Her first entry into the world of music was, however, unexpectedly difficult. Emma was not accepted at the Prague National Theatre as a singer. She then tried to start her singing career in Germany but even there she was rejected by both the Dresden Semper Opera and the

Berlin Theater des Westens when trying to obtain a role.

Her first public appearance was at the Berlin Hofoper in June 1898, where she gave a stunning performance as Santuza in “Cavalleria Rusticana”.

Although it was in Berlin that her career as a soprano singer started, her first artistic effort was as a playwright when three of her own dramas were performed in Prague theaters in 1896. She was also a poetess.

Nevertheless, due to her success in Berlin and later her performance in Bayreuth , the world of opera opened for her and she was offered role after role throughout the musical metropolises of the world. She gave more then seven hundred appearances at the Berlin Hofoper and sang with Enrico Carusso in Puccini´s “Madame Butterfly” at Covent Garden . This was a tremendous success which gave her the opportunity to sing there with Caruso again in “Aida”, “Don Giovanni”, “Cavaleria Rusticana” and “Tosca”.

Then came eight full seasons at the Metropolitan Opera where she interpreted twenty roles. Her biggest acclaim, however, came when singing in the world premier of Pucini´s “La Funciulla del West”.

Emma Destin 1908 Emma Destin 1920

And then, unfortunately, in 1914, the world erupted into the Great War. Emma Destinn left New York for home in 1916 carrying with her secret messages from Czech patriotic groups. When crossing the border into the Czech area of the Habsburg kingdom, she was searched thoroughly and the confidential documents hidden in her clothes were discovered. Her passport

was confiscated immediately, but as a famous artist loved by the whole word and also by the German Kaiser, she was spared a possible death sentence as a traitor during the wartime. She was offered amnesty and the return of her passport by the Habsburg authorities in exchange for a series of concerts to be given for the Austrian army. However, as Czech patriot she turned the offer down. Emma Destinn was confined to her manor house in Straz nad Nezarkou in south Bohemia , unaware that her international singing career was over.

Shortly before the creation of the Republic of Czechoslovia on 28th of October 1918, at the end of the war, the patriot Emma Destinn was permitted to sing at the National Theater in Prague . She also went on tour to other Czech cities where she was acclaimed by an enthusiastic public.

As the world of opera changed in the post-war years, Emma Destinn found that her attraction had diminished. She made a concert tour of Scandinavia and then another in Czechoslovakia .

Though she previously had many admirers she remained unmarried throughout her whole singing career, telling everyone that the life of an international opera star was incompatible with love and marriage. When she retired from the stage, however, she married a Czech flying officer with whom she managed her manor house and estate as well as a

distillery, brewery, and mill. Emma Destinn died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 52 when visiting her doctor in a nearby town in South Bohemia.

Written by Dalibor Svoboda