to win the first prize at the International Music Competition in Geneva, which raised Rankin's profile in the opera world; she soon received invitations to perform at many of the world's best opera houses. In 1951 she debuted at the Teatro alla Scala, the Vienna State Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera, all in the role of Amneris in Aida. That same year she recorded the role of Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, opposite Renata Tebaldi, for Decca Records and was a soloist in La Scala's production of Verdi's Requiem under Victor de Sabata, with Renata Tebaldi, Giacinto Prandelli and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni. In 1953, she made her debuts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the San Francisco Opera, both in the title role of Bizet's Carmen. She also gave a solo recital for Queen Elizabeth II in honor of her Coronation. Also in 1953, she gave her first solo recital in New York City at Town Hall. The New York Times said of her performance, "Not only is Miss Rankin's a voice of power and range, but it is as warm as the red color of the dress she wore. Her voice is beautifully trained so that it flows purely and evenly no matter how long sustained or how quickly stated." Rankin was one of the singers honored in the Metropolitan Opera's Centennial Concert in 1983. Many veteran singers of the company were asked to sit on the stage for the second half of the performance. In a 2002 Opera News interview, Rankin said that the single most memorable musical event in her career took place in 1952. Her husband was in the Air Force in North Africa, and she was engaged to give a solo concert on the Mediterranean coast, in an open-air theater forty miles outside Tripoli. "Imagine", says Rankin, "Libya was still a kingdom then, and King Idris had a piano flown in from Egypt, while an American cruiser was stationed near the shore to illuminate the stage. The whole thing was unreal and unforgettable." Although Rankin made appearances with several major companies throughout her career, she spent most of her time in New York City performing at the Metropolitan Opera between 1951 and 1976; there she sang the role of Carmen, the Princess di Bouillon in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Madelon in Giordano's Andrea Chénier, Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Marina in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (in