Opera Singer. A coloratura soprano called 'The Dutch Nightingale', she is remembered as the definitive interpreter of The Queen of the Night from Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte." "The New York Times" called her ‘The greatest Queen of the Night of all time.’ Born Stientje Engel to a musical family, she appeared in stage productions from age five, trained locally, and in 1963 bowed with the Netherlands Opera as The Queen of the Night. Her career, however, did not gain traction and she contemplated giving up music for her family; while in Spain to sing Marianne in Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier," her warm-up was heard by the legendary Elisabeth Schwarzkopf who was singing The Marschallin that night. Madame Schwarzkopf expressed her contempt for any impresario who would under utilize such a talent and soon Cristina was soon headlining in numerous major venues. She made her September 28, 1967 Metropolitan Opera bow as The Queen of the Night, then in 1968 used the same vehicle in her Covent Garden debut. After her break-through, Deutekom sang regularly with all the operatic superstars, such as Luciano Pavarotti, Alfredo Kraus, Richard Tucker, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. She was to build a large following in Italy and made an impression as Donna Anna in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" as well Fiordiligi from the same composer's "Così fan tutte" as well as the title roles in Rossini's "Armida," Bellini's "Norma," and Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." Cristina sang Elena from Verdi's "I vespri Siciliani" at the Met and elsewhere and with time assumed some of Giuseppe Verdi's 'heavyweight' fare including Abigaille in "Nabucco," Lady Macbeth, Leonora in "Il trovatore", and Amelia in "Un ballo in maschera", as well as the title role in Puccini's "Turandot." A heart attack forced her to retire from opera at the end of 1986, though she maintained a professorship at the Royal Dutch Conservatory, was a respected Master Class presenter, and continued to give occasional recitals. Her honors were many, among them a 1968 Grand Prix du Disque and 1974 designation as Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau. She withdrew from public view following a 2004 stroke and died of the effects of a fall at her home. Her quite significant recorded legacy contains a preservation of "The Magic Flute" along with albums of opera and operetta arias and a number of operas which she never performed onstage.