Unless an artist works closely with living composers, taking risks and inventing techniques, they cannot aspire to be LEGENDARY. Great, yes, excellent, definitely, but a reincarnation of Viardot, Falcon, or Malibran? No.

An example that I can provide is Barbara Hannigan, who has done some extraordinary things with Ligeti, Berg, and Poulenc, but also works closely with new composers in her capacity as a singer AND a conductor.