De Murska accepted the consequent expenses happily. Assessments Music critics, aristocratic opera patrons and ordinary listeners alike called her "The Croatian Nightingale" following her acclaimed appearances in Vienna and London. As a singer she was wild and uninhibited, to the frustration of the conductor, as she was apt to depart from the score in fantastic improvisations, and he would be obliged to hold back the orchestra's crescendo until she was ready. This power was, of course, exactly what endeared her to the audience. Death Ema Pukšec (aka Ilma de Murska) died in Munich on January 14, 1889, aged 54. References External links Carte de Visite of Ilma de Murska Croatian Opera Singers (in Croatian) 1834 births 1889 deaths People from Ogulin Croatian operatic sopranos 19th-century Austrian women opera singers