On 24 November 1936, Galli-Curci, aged 54, made an ill-advised return to opera, appearing in a single performance as Mimi in "La bohème" in Chicago. It was painfully clear that her best singing days were behind her and after another year of recitals she went into complete retirement, living in California. She taught singing privately until shortly before her death from emphysema in La Jolla, California on 26 November 1963, at the age of 81. Among her students was soprano Jean Fenn.