One of the greatest and most famous lyric sopranos of our time. Her long career developed on the stages of the Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Salzburg Festival, and the opera houses of Rome and Tokyo. Her repertoire included works by composers ranging from Christoph Willibald Gluck, through Gaetano Donizetti, Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, to Benjamin Britten and Dmitri Shostakovich. She had the opportunity of working with leading conductors, including Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, and directors: Franco Zeffirelli, Luca Ronconi, and Mauro Bolognini. Her stage partners have included great vocalists like Mario Del Monaco, Franco Corelli, Luciano Pavarotti, and Placido Domingo.

   Her interpretations of Tosca and Madame Butterfly are legendary; she sang them more than four hundred times. She was equally admired for her Manon, Adriana in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, and the title role of Francesca da Rimini in the opera by Rachmaninov. She has been a voice teacher for many years, at the Accademia Chigiana and the academies for young vocalists in Verona and Modena. She is a recipient of many awards and prizes, including the Una Vita per la Musica award, the Bellini Prize, Viotti d'Oro, the Lorenzo il Magnifico Prize, and the Abbiati Prize.

Photo: Archive