Her tombstone in Milan reads “nata in Bohemia”, meaning “born in Bohemia.” She entered the history of European music alongside her close friend, the famous composer Giuseppe Verdi, and among other things, she sang the title role in the European premiere of Aida on the stage of the world-famous La Scala opera house in Milan. Verdi himself designed the jewellery she wore during the performance. However, the unique soprano with a metallic timbre discovered and began to develop her talent in Prague. We are speaking of Tereza Stolz, who ranks among the most important opera singers of the 19th century alongside the “divine” Emmy Destinn. She was born in 1834 in Kostelec nad Labem, a town in Central Bohemia about 20 km from Prague. Until then, the only musical tradition the town could boast was the “invention” of the eternally popular polka dance, which gradually spread all across the world. A hundred years later, Jaromír Vejvoda wrote his most famous composition to its rhythm – his polka Škoda lásky, but with the lyrics of Here Comes the Navy, became the unofficial anthem of the US Navy during World War II. Despite this remarkable local coincidence, Tereza Stolz was not enchanted by folk or dance music. Opera was to become her destiny. Her father was a butcher, but also an amateur musician, and many of Tereza’s siblings also engaged in music. At the age of fifteen, she enrolled in the Prague Conservatory. It was founded in 1808 and became the first conservatory in Central Europe; it is still located on the Vltava embankment near the Rudolfinum concert hall and gallery. Tereza studied piano and, like her two older sisters Františka and Ludmila, singing. After overwhelming initial failures, including being dismissed from the conservatory for lack of talent, the persistent Tereza enrolled in a private school where, alongside singing, she also studied acting, which later turned out to be a fortunate decision. She made her first public appearance in Prague in November 1855, performing an aria from Richard Wagner’s opera Rienzi at the Žofín Palace. Sadly, Tereza was rejected outright by critics and, utterly devastated, she opted to cancel her forthcoming scheduled performances at the Estates Theatre. But small critics cannot silence big dreams. At the end of 1855, Tereza Stolz left the somewhat provincial conditions of Prague, which had greater appreciation for passionate patriotic pop songs than Italian, German or French opera, and went to Trieste. Here she studied singing with the Italian conductor Angelo Mariani, who was so honoured by the opportunity to teach her that he refused a fee. Just one year later, Tereza Stolz performed at the Teatro Grande in Trieste, launching her triumphant journey across Europe and other continents. She was already able to portray operatic roles with unprecedented authenticity, earning the immense appreciation of composers, critics and especially the audience. Amidst the clumsy gestures replete with implausible pathos, which the opera was full of at the time, her professional acting was like a breath of fresh air. She became a definitive global opera star after her 1864 performance at the La Scala Theatre in Milan, where she played the title role of Joan of Arc in an early opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The audience nearly brought the house down and the pages of the Italian newspapers were filled with rave reviews. Her meeting with Verdi proved to be fateful – she later established a lifelong friendship with the renowned Italian composer and he wrote her most famous roles for her. The most important of these, which will forever be associated with her name, is undoubtedly the Ethiopian slave Aida, the central character of Verdi’s eponymous opera. It was written on the occasion of the opening of the Suez Canal. The relationship between Verdi and the singer was obviously more than mere friendship, as she had her own room in Sant ’Agata, where the composer lived. Indeed, his wife reproached Verdi for being more devoted to Stolz than to her (nonetheless, the two women later became friends). Yet they were never proven to be lovers. Her last visit to Prague was in 1886, when the National Theatre – mainly thanks to her efforts – was primarily staging Verdi’s Othello. Our leading theatre put on a special performance of Aida in her honour. Stolz also met with her Czech friends and relatives after many years apart. She remained a close friend of Giuseppe Verdi, who helped bring her fame, until the end of her life. And just as the Ethiopian slave Aida shared her last moments with the man she loved, one way or another, so too did she stand at Verdi’s deathbed. Tereza Stolz died a year later in Milan, where she is buried.