Stolz has been described as "the Verdian dramatic soprano par excellence, powerful, passionate in utterance, but dignified in manner and secure in tone and control".

[4] She studied voice with Josef Neruda, a cellist in her hometown, and further at the Prague Conservatory with Giovanni Battista Gardigiani from 1849.

She moved to Trieste to be with her brother; she studied there from 1856 with Luigi Ricci,[1][3] who had conducted the 1848 premiere of Verdi's Il corsaro, and would become her brother-in-law.

[1][3] Stolz was the first to sing the title role of Aida in Italy at La Scala on 8 February 1872 which was also the European premiere.

Her career took her to places such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Cairo, the major Italian opera houses, as well as Vienna, Paris and London.

They both lived openly in Trieste with her teacher, the conductor and composer Luigi Ricci, who married Ludmila, but maintained the relationship with Francesca.