Agnes Baltsa

While Baltsa's voice had its technical flaws, particularly a sometimes hollow middle register, she had a stage presence somewhat reminiscent of Callas, a sense of fire and energy, that for her admirers more than made up for those. While a von Karajan protégé, she did not let him persuade her to sing the overly heavy roles such as Kundry that he offered her, and during the 1970s and 1980s was among the predominant lyric mezzos on the international operatic scene, with the occasional carefully planned foray, as her voice matured, into heavier roles such as Carmen, Dalila, Santuz...