Although frequently thought of as American, Schumann-Heink was born, in 1861, in Lieben, Czechoslovakia. She studied in Graz and Dresden, where she made her début in 1878 under her own name, Tini Rossler. Her first rôle was Azucena in Verdi's
Il Trovatore.
Her rich, flexible contralto voice was immediately admired. From 1883 to 1898 she sang principally in Hamburg. In 1898 she was invited to sign a ten-year contract to sing in Berlin. She did so but almost immediately received better offers from America. As a result, she bought herself out of her Berlin contract and began her US career.
In 1898 she sang in Chicago, and then joined the company at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. She was a company member between 1899 and 1903, and sang there as a guest in most seasons until 1932.
In 1892 she made her Covent Garden début in the company's first performances of Wagner's Ring cycle. Between 1896 and 1906 she was a guest at the Bayreuth festival and, in 1909, created the role of Klytemnestra in Richard Strauss's Elektra, in Dresden.
Her repertoire was vast, including over one hundred and fifty r├┤les. She also spanned the perceived gap between opera and operetta, singing Katisha in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado on Broadway in 1931. In 1935 she moved to Hollywood, where she appeared in the film Here's to Romance. She died there on the 17th of September, 1936.
