She honed her technique by listening to other sopranos, reading old singing-method books, and doing piano exercises with her voice instead of using a keyboard.

[1] Galli-Curci made her operatic debut in 1906 at Trani as Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto, and she rapidly became acclaimed throughout Italy for the sweetness and agility of her voice and her captivating musical interpretations.

Throat problems and the uncertain pitching of top notes had plagued her for several years, and she underwent surgery in 1935 for the removal of a thyroid goiter.

Great care was taken during her surgery, which was performed under local anesthesia; however, it was thought her voice suffered following the surgery, specifically, a nerve to her larynx, the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve, was thought to have been damaged, resulting in the loss of her ability to sing high pitches.

In 2001, researchers Crookes and Recaberen "examined contemporary press reviews after surgery, conducted interviews with colleagues and relatives of the surgeon, and compared the career of Galli-Curci with that of other singers" and determined that her vocal decline was most likely not caused by a surgical injury.

In 1908, Amelita Galli wed an Italian nobleman and painter, the Marchese Luigi Curci, attaching his surname to hers.

[9][10] On 24 November 1936, Galli-Curci, aged 54, made an ill-advised return to opera, appearing in a single performance as Mimi in La bohème in Chicago.

[11] She spent much of her time painting and taught singing privately until shortly before her death from emphysema in La Jolla, California, on 26 November 1963, at the age of 81.

Based on her recorded legacy and contemporary assessments of Galli-Curci's performances in England and America, the opera commentator Michael Scott, writing in volume 2 of The Record of Singing (Duckworth, London, 1979), compares her unfavourably as a vocal technician with coloratura sopranos of an earlier generation, such as Nellie Melba and Luisa Tetrazzini, but he acknowledges the unique beauty of her voice and the ongoing lyrical appeal of her charming singing.

[citation needed] In the film Wake in Fright (1971), Galli-Curci's recording of "Caro nome" from Rigoletto can be heard playing as 'Doc' Tydon, portrayed by Donald Pleasence remarks "What a doll...