On 23rd October 1883, she performs at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Soon, ‘The Met’ will become the most famous opera in the United States. However, at that time, it had opened just the day before Sembrich’s performance.
The Polish diva once again becomes Lucia di Lammermoor and wins over the audience with her very first performance. The Americans go crazy over Marcella Sembrich: the name, simplified for the foreign ear, benefits the singer’s career once more.
Immediately, she receives a contract with the Metropolitan Opera and becomes the unquestionable star of the inaugural season. She also performs in other American cities: Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington. Sometimes she shows off her other musical talents and plays the piano or the violin.
She could remain in the USA forever and frequently receives artistic honours and lucrative offers. However, Sembrich-Kochańska does not abandon her career in Europe. She returns to the Old Continent and triumphs in more cities: Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Saint Petersburg among others.
She also does not forget her Polish audience. She sings in Kraków, Lviv, Warsaw and Vilnius. She also eagerly performs Chopin’s music despite the fact that for such performances in the Russian partition of Poland she could face a fine.
She returns to the United States 13 years later. New York still remembers her. She becomes the Metropolitan Opera’s first soprano. Sembrich sings in seven languages, performs in dozens of operas and takes to the stage over 200 times.
In 1902, she takes part in an historical event: for the first time, The Met stages a Polish Opera, Manru, composed by Paderewski (Sembrich-Kochańska’s associate).
The diva leaves the New York scene after 11 seasons at the age of 51. She openly declares that she prefers to leave in her prime, at her physical peak, acclaimed, than to hear ‘Finally!’ behind her back when she will retire.
On 6th February 1909, she performs at the Metropolitan Opera for the last time as she is paid homage by the most prominent musicians. At the same time, it is a farewell and an anniversary: just a few months earlier, Sembrich-Kochańska celebrated the 25th anniversary of her first performance at The Met.
Translated by Patryk Grabowski