She had a major career at La Scala and made some excellent full-length recordings including La gioconda and Aïda. She retired to Ankara, Turkey and was the teacher of one Leyla Gencer.

Her voice (at least on recordings) was warm, supple, with a wonderfully dark and vibrant timbre. She actually sounds a lot like my other favorite of that era, Frida Leider. She was also obviously a very well-trained soprano whose recordings have little in common with the verismo divas of that era like Lina Bruna Rasa. Her recording of “Com’è bello” has beautiful ornaments in the second verse, and she caps off the cadenza with a full-throated trill.

Ivy Lin

Ivy Lin teaches science as her day job, and in her spare time reviews dance for Bachtrack. She also obsesses over her 20-year-old cat Pumpkin. Ivy is excited to be back in this wonderful, vibrant opera community after a long hiatus. If she were singing opera, she'd still be cast as Despina until she was in a wheelchair. You can follow Ivy on insta as poisonivy326. Although she's mellowed from her "poisonivy" days she still had a discussion recently with her editor about being "too harsh" in her reviews.

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