Emma Fursch-Madi

Emma Fursch-Madi (1847 – September 21, 1894) was a renowned French operatic soprano.

She was born at Bayonne, France, studied at the Paris Conservatory and made her debut at the Paris Opera in 1871 in Gounod’s "Faust". At the end of her second season at the Grand Opera, she was chosen by Verdi to be the first representative of "Aida" in Europe. It opened at the Theatre Royal in Brussels and was a great success, running for 72 straight performances.

In 1879, Fursch-Madi appeared at the Covent Garden, and the London Globe called her “…greatest dramatic prima donna of the present day.” [ Cited in obituary, Sept. 22, 1894, in the "New York Times".] In 1882, she came to the United States, where she appeared under the management of James Henry Mapleson at the Academy of Music in New York City. She performed for the first season of the new Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1883-84. She became a permanent fixture in various musical capacities in the United States; she was for a while the head of Jeannette Thurber’s National Conservatory [From “American Opera” in the "New York Times", August 8, 1886: “… [Fursch-Madi] …will not only sing in opera, but will retain her present position as head of the conservatory of music.”] and a member of the short-lived American Opera Company. Her last appearance was as Ortrud in Wagner’s "Lohengrin" on February 6, 1894, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She died in Warrenville, New Jersey.

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