Charlotte Huhn was born in
Lüneburg,
Germany on 15 September 1865. She was born the youngest of five children in a hairdressing family at 27 Grapengiesserstrasse in
Lüneburg. When her father died, one of her brothers took over the hairdressing salon and financed most of the maintenance and education costs. In 1881, the musically gifted Charlotte Therese Caroline Huhn began her vocal studies at the
Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. The wife of the mayor of the city of Lüneburg, Marie Gravenhorst, also contributed as a patron to the financing of the music studies. After graduating from Cologne in 1885, Huhn first performed as a concert singer. She then continued her training in Berlin in 1887 with the private music teacher (1832–1909) and with the singing teacher
Mathilde Mallinger (1847–1920). She made her debut in 1889 at the Berlin
Kroll Opera as the title character in Gluck's
Orpheus. She subsequently made guest appearances at New York's
Metropolitan Opera until 1891, where she sang the role of
Mary in the world premiere of
The Flying Dutchman. In 1890, she took part in Metropolitan Opera guest performances in Chicago and Boston. In 1891, she took part as a concert singer in the in
Breslau. She then received an engagement at the
Cologne Opera. Huhn said goodbye to Cologne in the title role of Gluck's
Orpheus. On 1 October 1895, she went to the
Hofoper Dresden. There she appeared in the newly staged opera
Circe in 1898. In a concert in the Gewandhaus Hall in
Leipzig on 26 October 1899, Huhn sang
Das Meer hat seine Perlen as an
encore, composed by
Robert Franz (1815–1892) with lyrics by
Heinrich Heine. The music critic present, (1825–1901) praised the singer for the "warmth of feeling" of her performance as well as the "
sonority and apt treatment of her extensive alto (or
mezzo-soprano) voice". She left Dresden in 1902 and was a member of the
Hofoper München. == Main roles ==