[2] Luisa herself recalled singing early on as a child and reminisced that her father was the first person to ever compare her to the famous bel canto soprano, Adelina Patti.

[8] Through a stroke of luck, Tetrazzini stepped in for an ailing prima donna and made her operatic debut in Florence on 21 October 1890, as Inez in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine at age nineteen.

[8] She reminisces that after her debut, “The pavements from the theatre to my home were lined, even at that late hour, with large numbers of people, all of whom seemed to be shouting congratulations to me.”[9] Next, she sang Inez in Rome on 26 December 1890, for the King and Queen of Italy.

[19] Tetrazzini’s debut at Covent Garden as Violetta in La traviata on 2 November 1907 was critically acclaimed and "caused a sensation..."[4] She garnered twenty curtain calls.

It is soft and golden and yet has none of the impersonal and chilling perfection of the ordinary light soprano...I have never seen the pathos of Verdi’s heroine realized with such grip and sincerity...

Tetrazzini remarks about a letter from Patti about one of her performances that she prized it as her greatest treasure saying, "Praise from a mixed audience is very gratifying after one has given it of her best.

"[23] From this point on, Tetrazzini was an international operatic superstar, commanding the highest fees and selling out opera houses and concert halls wherever she performed.

In 1904, the Metropolitan Opera's general manager, Heinrich Conried, had tried to engage Tetrazzini with a contract that committed her to singing with the Met for three years starting in November 1905.

[24] In 1908, Tetrazzini finally appeared in New York City, not at the Metropolitan, but at Oscar Hammerstein's Manhattan Opera Company, again as Violetta with great success.

[25] She remained loyal to Hammerstein and appeared at the Met for only one season, in 1911-12 (giving just eight performances, in the roles of Lucia, Violetta, and Gilda).

On a crystal clear Christmas Eve in 1910, at the corner of Market and Kearney near Lotta's Fountain, Tetrazzini climbed a stage platform in a sparkling white gown, surrounded by a throng of an estimated two to three hundred thousand San Franciscans, and serenaded the city she loved.

On the debit side of the ledger, her vocal registers were not as well-integrated as those belonging to her direct soprano rival, Nellie Melba.

Also, although her lower register was strong, her middle voice was comparatively thin or 'white' in tone, with a quality which some American and English critics described as "infantile" and "child-like".

With age, however, Tetrazzini's middle register filled out to some extent; and the way that her mid-voice sounded, even when she was younger, does not seem to have troubled the ears of Mediterranean critics, going by their written record.

Her best recordings include a spectacular rendition of "Io son Titania" from Ambroise Thomas' Mignon and "Saper vorreste" from Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, in which Tetrazzini's personality virtually jumps out of the grooves at the listener.

On a different note, her recording of "Addio, del passato" from La traviata is very moving and also demonstrates her fine legato, as is her "Ah!

non giunge," made for Victor, remain, after all these years, unequalled for their sheer joy, easy virtuosity and spectacular ornamentation.

Tetrazzini had a bitter feud with Nellie Melba while at Covent Garden[30] but was extremely well liked by other colleagues such as Frieda Hempel and Enrico Caruso.

Along with other well-known names, including Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern, she was a member of the ship’s mock secret society of devoted passengers, the Heathens.

It was on board the Mauretania in November 1910 that Oscar Hammerstein served her legal papers in an attempt to prevent her from performing under a different manager.

Her performance took the place of the passenger-led concert in aid of the Seamen’s Charities of Liverpool and New York, a customary event during a transatlantic crossing.

[37] Some of her most well-known roles included: Rosina (Il Barbiere di Seviglia), Violetta (La Traviata), and Gilda (Rigoletto).