La Cieca was delighted, amused and infuriated (three of her favorite emotions) when she read yet another wonderful piece over at The Awl yesterday, a statistical analysis determining The Greatest Diva of the Past 25 Years. This treatise, by one Jay Caspian Kang, was limited in scope to ladies inhabiting the realm of popular music, so your doyenne was inspired to have a similar study done in our own field of Opera Diva. Now, in order to get the scientific ball rolling, she’s going to seek your assistance, cher public.  

First, we’ll need a list of nominees from which La Cieca’s blue-ribbon panel will select the ten divas to be quantified. You, then, are invited to nominate your favorite opera diva of this generation. For the purposes of this discussion, “of this generation” shall be defined to mean “actively performing opera at some point during the period between 1980 and 2010.” For example, Leontyne Price would be eligible, even though she is now retired, because she last performed opera in 1985.

You may nominate as many divas as you like, and La Cieca notes that a paragraph enumerating each selection’s diva qualifications might well weigh in her favor when the time comes to winnow down the list to finalists. And, as always here at parterre, YouTube can speak even louder than words.

A final reminder: we are looking for Diva here; shrinking violets need not apply!