Kirsten Flagstad was born in Hamar, Norway in 1895. She made her debut as a lyric soprano at the Oslo National Theatre in 1913. For the next fifteen years she sang a variety of roles in operetta, musical comedy and opera in Oslo and Stockholm.

In 1929 she sang her first Wagner role. In 1935, she was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera to sing all the major Wagnerian heroines, Immediately following her debut at the Met, Kirsten Flagstad sang Isode opposite Lauritz Melchior, as Tristan, and they subsequently became a very popular and sought after team.

Over the next twenty-five years, Miss Flagstad performed in all the major international music centers, while maintaining her already well established recording career.

She died in Oslo, Norway in 1962.