“That was not the time, as now, when a role was fitted to an artist as if it were a dress. Oh, this modern type system that demands only a few tricks, a personality and self-confidence! There was nothing of that in the early Italian method. In that, one had to be a master of one’s technic.”

And what a technique!

Here are several video clips that demonstrate the technical capacity of her instrument:

The Letter Duet from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro:

Gounod’s “Jewel Song” from Faust:

Coloratura from Roméo et Juliette:

Verismo example from Cavalleria Rusticana:

Lieder example “Gretchen am Spinnrade” by Schubert

And finally, a Wagnerian example from Lohengrin