Conchita Supervía (December 8-9, 1895-March 30, 1936) was one of the great opera singers of all time and one of my favorites. Supervía’s life was tragically cut short in childbirth. It’s only too bad that so few of today’s opera lovers know of her, because Supervía’s vibrato — unlike that of so many sopranos and tenors today — is not the result of excessive tension and stress but rather of an unusually relaxed larynx — a problem few of today’s singers have, with their pushed out chesty voices and strained high notes. Some compared the sound of her voice to that of shaken dice. Supervía was wonderful in everything she did and was superb in Rossini; to hear her sing “L’Italiana in Algeri” or “Cenerentola” is to get a sense of her delightful humor, wit and style and to understand what some of the best singers of the golden age were capable of. Viva la Supervía~!

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