Who's Afraid of Opera?

— AMBROSE BIERCE, THE DEVIL’S DICTIONARY

not every role would be suitable

that they were complementary figures, not antitheses

about his then-forthcoming appearance as Otello, a role he was singing for the first time

Without her Norma, the whole bel canto revival might never have happened

but for her effect on the repertoire as well

be fair to Callas, she reinvented the whole notion of what it meant to be an opera singer

And on records, she isn’t much.

Our girl may be a statue

you could forgive her various technical deficiencies