(Elizabeth Soderstrom sings Kat'a Kabanova. This opera about a tragic love affair gone awry in provincial Moravia is one of the most famous roles in the repertoire, and no singer of the 20th century was greater in it than Elisabeth Soderstrom. Sung here in the 1976 Decca recording with Charles Mackerras conducting the Vienna Philharmonic that finally alerted the world to the treasure trove of still unknown masterpieces by this incredible composer.)






(Elizabeth Soderstrom, one of the greatest opera singers of all-time, sings Leonore, disguised as a boy named Fidelio in a Spanish jail so that she can keep watch over her husband who sits languishing in its darkest cell as a political prisoner. Thus is the basic plot of Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio. One of the most beautiful moments in all opera is 'Mir Ist So Wunderbar' in which four of the main characters extrapolate on their feelings about Fidelio.)