What she excelled in were the singer’s rather than the vocal actress’s virtues: sustained legato line, remarkable breath control, subtle colour, immaculate care for words….

In the summer of 1896, she left Groningen for Amsterdam, where she studied at the Conservatory under renowned former opera singer Cornélie van Zanten.

Before long, she was performing all over Europe and America, sharing the stage with such notable composers, conductors and singers as Edvard Grieg, Richard Strauss, Camille Saint-Saëns, Enrico Caruso, Otto Klemperer, Willem Mengelberg, Pablo Casals, Percy Grainger, Enrique Granados and Thomas Beecham.

As early as 1902 she performed for Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and in 1903 she was invited to sing at the German Imperial Court for Empress Augusta Victoria.

In 1911 Culp sang the mezzo-soprano part in the premiere performance of Frederick Delius's Songs of Sunset in London under Thomas Beecham.

After the German annexation (Anschluss) of Austria in 1938, Culp fled to the Netherlands, moving in with her sister Betsy in Amsterdam.