After a concert tour of New Zealand, Raisbeck sailed for London with her husband James Laurie, whom she had married in 1943. A letter of recommendation from Eugene Goossens, newly appointed Director of the Conservatory, obtained her an audition at the recently formed Covent Garden Opera Company (now the Royal Opera) and she made her début as Maddalena in Verdi's "Rigoletto", later singing such roles as Flora in "La traviata", Second Lady in Mozart's "The Magic Flute", Mercedes in Bizet's "Carmen", Wellgunde in Wagner's "Das Rheingold" and Rossweisse in "Die Walküre".