Milka Ternina

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Milka Ternina (December 19, 1863-May 18, 1941) was a Croatian dramatic soprano.

A native of Belgisč, Ternina studied singing with Ida Winterberg in Zagreb and with Joseph Gänsbacher in Vienna. She made her operatic debut while still a student in Zagreb, singing Amelia in a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. Anton Seidl soon recommended her to replace Katharina Klafsky as principal soprano of the opera in Bremen.

Ternina was engaged by the Munich Royal Opera in 1890; for a decade she distinguished herself there as an oustanding interpreter of the works of Richard Wagner. Her American debut took place in Boston in 1896, when she sang Brunnhilde in Die Walküre with the Damrosch Opera Company. In 1898 she made her debut in London as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde; 1899 saw her first appearance at Bayreuth, in the role of Kundry in Parsifal. On January 27, 1900, Ternina bowed at the Metropolitan Opera as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser. During her subsequent association with the company she created Kundry for the United States; as this performance was against the express wishes of the Wagner family, she was denounced and never again invited to Bayreuth. Ternina also sang the title role in the American premiere of Tosca.

In 1906 Ternina suffered an attack of paralysis, leading to her retirement at the height of her career. For a year she taught singing at the Institute of Musical Art in New York City, after which she retired completely and returned to Zagreb, dying there in 1941. She was credited during her retirement with the discovery of Zinka Milanov.