Opera Women

The great women of opera are a sonic wonder, capable of unleashing finely tuned storm-force fury at one end of the scale, yet controlled enough to gently ruffle the hairs on a butterfly's back at the other. Here we've assembled some of the purest and most astonishing voices ever to grace the grand stage. Sing along at your peril, as Maria Callas and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa lead the way. A couple of Normas face off, in Next Steps.

Bel canto masterwork Norma, by Vincenzo Bellini, contains one of the most difficult soprano parts ever created, and many greats have taken a shot at the title role. Here you get the chance to compare Joan Sutherland's Welsh National Opera version to that of Catalan soprano Monserrat Caballé who, in fact, made her La Scala debut as Norma. Discover a new galaxy of star sopranos, in Deep Cuts.

If you're fairly new to the women of opera, don't let the current household names in our collection eclipse the rest of the talent, which includes Slovak soprano Edita Gruberova (here performing "A vos jeux, mes amis . . ." from Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet) and Lyon-born French soprano Natalie Dessay ("Ah! Je veux vivre" from Roméo et Juliette), who braved a 2002 surgery on her vocal cords.

The passion, the drama, the vats of industrial-strength hair lacquer — the universe of opera's great women is a maelstrom of intensity, counter-balanced with almost unimaginable delicacy. From the altos to the mezzo-sopranos and the full-on sopranos, our collection offers you a truly international lineup, including Britain's Dame Janet Baker, New Zealand's Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and Brooklyn's Beverly Sills. These women can blow the socks off anyone standing within 100 paces of them.