The last of the divas makes her comeback at 74

The Italian soprano Katia Ricciarelli has been telling anyone who cares to listen that she was the last of the real divas.

On the death of Mirella Freni: Mirella was a great singer, but not a diva. I am. I think I can say that. A diva is someone who even in slippers and curlers radiates an aura and makes heads turn. When I die, you can write, “She was the last diva.”

In case you have missed her, Katia will come out of retirement this summer to sing in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Arena di Verona.

I suddenly felt the need to sing an opera, but not one I’d already sung, so I could say: I can still do it. I’d always dreamed of singing Cavalleria, though instead of Santuzza I will be Lucia, Turiddu’s mother, who knows that her son will end up badly. It takes art to perform a cameo. You know a great chef by how he makes scrambled eggs.

More here.

Thanks to the meticulous Graham Spicer for the translation.