On 18 December 1935, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City singing Brünnhilde in "Die Walküre", and the following year performed the immolation scene in "Götterdämmerung" by riding her horse into the flames as Wagner had intended, the first Metropolitan Opera soprano to do so. She had been an athletic child and learned to ride in Australia. In this famous performance, Lauritz Melchior was her Siegfried. The performance was recorded and is the only complete "Götterdämmerung" with Melchior as Siegfried on record.