The world famous Dutch coloratura soprano Cristina Deutekom died on Thursday evening. She was 82 years old.

Deutekom, one of the Netherlands’ greatest opera singers, fell awkwardly last Saturday, went into a coma and died in hospital.

She was born in Amsterdam in 1931 as Christine Engel, and made her breakthrough in 1963 as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Dutch National Opera.

Bel canto

During her career, she sang all the great bel canto roles and the dramatic roles in Verdi’s operas including Lady Macbeth.

Her stage career ended in 1986 when she suffered a heart attack but she continued to give master classes internationally.

Return

She made a return to singing in 1996 at the age of 65 at the Concertgebouw Operafeest in Amsterdam, and was a guest teacher at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague from 2001 until 2004 when she suffered a stroke and retired from public life.

She married Jaap Deutekom, a boxer, in 1952 and they had a daughter in 1955.