South African opera icon and Vienna State Opera star Mimi Coertse died in Pretoria on Monday evening. She was 93 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born Maria Sophia Coertse, Mimi became one of South Africa’s most celebrated classical musicians and the youngest permanent member of the Vienna State Opera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born in Durban on 12 June 1932, Coertse rose from modest beginnings to international stardom, captivating audiences across Europe and South Africa with her coloratura soprano voice. Her career spanned more than five decades, with 468 performances at the Vienna State Opera between 1956 and 1978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After matriculating at Helpmekaar Girls High School in Johannesburg, Coertse began vocal studies in 1949 with Aimee Parkerson. She made her South African debut on 11 December 1951, performing in Handel’s Messiah at Johannesburg City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1954, she left South Africa for Europe, settling in Vienna where she studied with Maria Hittorff and Josef Witt at the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Her European debut came in January 1955 when she performed as the First Flower Maiden in Wagner’s Parsifal at Teatro San Carlo in Naples during a Vienna State Opera tour conducted by Karl B\u00f6hm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coertse made her Vienna State Opera debut on 17 March 1956 as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberfl\u00f6te. At 23, she became the youngest permanent ensemble member of the prestigious opera house, a position she held until 1978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n