The virtuose coloratura-soubrette Irene Eisinger was born on December 8th 1908 in Kosel (Schlesien) and was trained by her teacher, Paula Mark-Neusser, in Berlin. In 1926 she made her stage debut at the Stadttheater of Basle and came to the Kroll Opera in 1928 becoming one of its most popular and acclaimed ensemble-members. Eisinger gained international recognition through guest appearances at Vienna`s State Opera and, even more so, through performances at the Salzburg Festival where she was engaged regularely by Bruno Walter and Clemens Krauss in the years from 1930-33. After Eisinger`s debut at the State Opera in Berlin in 1932 she had to leave Germany, being Jewish, already in 1933. The singer performed at the Deutsches Theater in Prague between 1933 and 1937. First contacts with England had been made in 1934 on the occasion of the opening of Glyndebourne`s Mozart Festival where she could be heard regularely between 1934 and 1939. Irene Eisinger`s Covent Garden debut took place in December 1936 in the role of Gretel in “Hänsel und Gretel”. The role of Adele in “Die Fledermaus” became a personal triumph for her. Strangely enough, the soprano was not offered any further roles by the management of Covent Garden but was frequently heard in broadcast concerts; long after World War II was over Irene Eisinger could still be heard in BBC productions.