On April 27, leading South African soprano Mimi Coertse died at the age of 93.

Born Maria Sophia Coertse on June 12, 1932 in Durban, Coertse matriculated at the Helpmekaar Girls High School in Johannesburg and began vocal studies in South Africa in 1949.

She made her debut in South Africa singing Händel’s “Messiah” at the Johannesburg City Hall in 1951 and left South Africa in September 1953 for London.

In 1955, Coertse made her debut as the “first flower girl” in Wagner’s “Parsifal” at the Teatro San Carlo under Karl Böhm conducting.

That debut led to her Wiener Staatsoper debut in 1956 singing the Queen of the Night in “Die Zauberflöte” and remained with the company until 1978. For her time with the company, in 1966, the soprano was honored by the President of Austria with the title Österreichischer Kammersänger.

In 1956, she also made her Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut. While she performed with the company, her time in the UK was limited due to the Equity boycott of South Africa due to Apartheid.

She returned to South Africa in 1973 and performed regularly and in 1978 retired at the Wiener Staatsoper as Elisabetta in “Don Carlo.”

After her retiring, she devoted her time to exposing young South African singers to the neglected art of Lieder singing. In 1996, Austria’s Federal Ministry for Science and Art awarded her the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art and in 1998, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Pretoria.

Her repertoire included the works of Mozart, Offenbach, Strauss, Ravel, Verdi, Thomas, Flowtow, Leoncavallo, and Puccini.