It was as an established singer, therefore, that she went to England in 1947, and was first heard there in lieder recitals in BBC broadcasts. She joined the Covent Garden resident company in 1948 and rapidly gained approval. Her debut there was as Leonora (Beethoven's "Fidelio"), after which she appeared in several smaller parts such as the First Norn ("Götterdämmerung") and the First Lady ("The Magic Flute"). She soon became the company's leading dramatic soprano. In 1949 she made a further powerful impression with her Countess in "The Marriage of Figaro" and her Elsa in "Lohengrin", and also made her first and highly successful appearance in a role thereafter much identified with her, as the Marschallin in Richard Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier".