Opera Singer. She was a noted lyric coloratura soprano of the early 20th Century. Born to a large and poor Jewish family in what was then Austrian Silesia, she was early on sent to a convent to learn sewing; there the nuns discovered her vocal talent, and encouraged her singing in the local synagogue and elsewhere. Eventually, money was raised to finance her training with Viennese teacher Johannes Rees. She later studied with such well-known voice masters as Jean de Reszke and Mathilde Marchesi, although she would always consider Rees her primary mentor. Her first public performance at an 1895 concert was quickly followed by her operatic bow in the title role of Ambrose Thomas' "Mignon" at Hamburg. Over the next four seasons she refined her skills in both Hamburg and Frankfurt, taking on a variety of roles, such as Bizet's "Carmen", Eudoxie in Jacques Halevey's "La Juive", and Elisabeth in Wagner's "Tannhauser". Following an 1899 audition with Gustav Mahler, she made her successful Vienna bow as Mignon, leading to her being seen as Rosina in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", in several Verdi roles including Gilda in "Rigoletto", Oscar in "Un Ballo in Maschera", Violetta in "La Traviata", and Elvira in "Ernani", the title leads of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor" and Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette", and in several of Mozart's works. In 1903, under the baton of Maestro Mahler, Selma first sang what was to be probably her signature piece, Astaroth in Karl Goldmark's "The Queen of Sheba". In 1906, she participated in one of the legendary evenings of operatic history, singing Gilda to Titta Ruffo's Rigoletto and Caruso's Duke of Mantua; as time went on, she was Puccini's "Madame Butterfly", and Mimi in his "La Boheme", as well as Sophie in Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier" and Zerbinetta in the same composer's "Ariadne auf Naxos". In addition to her 992 Vienna appearances, Selma was seen throughout Europe, and in England, where she had her debut as Gilda in 1904. Despite good offers from New York's Metropolitan Opera, she only sang in America once, on a 1921 concert "tour" that had to be cancelled after a single performance due to her sudden illness. Married to Dr. Joseph Halban since 1912, she raised two children, and was happy in her private life until stricken with cancer in 1929. Having retired from opera in 1927, she last sang in public at the baptism of Archduke Stefan in 1932, where she is said to have performed well despite her terminal illness. Selma cut about 150 recordings, including a rendition of the "Siren Call" from "The Queen of Sheba"; many of these remain available on CD.