Top 10 sopranos

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Personal tastes affect one's appreciation of singers far more than that of instrumentalist, simply because the singer is the instrument, rather than a technological attachment.

My all-time personal favourites are:

Lucia Popp
Birgit Nilsson
Renata Tebaldi
Mirella Freni
Teresa Cahill
Kiri Te Kanawa
Judith Howarth
Montserrat Cabaille
Norma Burrowes
Kirsten Flagstad

[Petrushka]

Birgit Nilsson
Lucia Popp
Margaret Price
Gundula Janowitz
Elly Ameling
Karita Mattila
Kirsten Flagstad
Sheila Armstrong
Anne Schwanewilms
Galina Vishnevskaya

[pastoralguy]

Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I might well have included a few from Petrushka's list: Flagstad, Price and Ameling. In fact, I'm going to make a substitution. There's no-one from Pastoralguy's list I want to include at present.

[pastoralguy]

I might well have included a few from Petrushka's list: Flagstad, Price and Ameling. In fact, I'm going to make a substitution. There's no-one from Pastoralguy's list I want to include at present.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Isobel Bailey
Gundula Janowitz
Tessa Bonner
Jessye Norman
Arleen Auger
Kirsten Flagstad
Jill Gomez
Kirsten Flagstad
Felicity Lott
Martha Modl
Lisa della Casa
Jane Manning
Piia Komsi
Edith Matthis
Marie Angel
Lucia Popp
Maria Callas
Elly Ameling
Kiri te Kanawa
Barbara Hannigan
Ruth Holton
Elise Ross
Anna Tomowa-Sintow
Brigit Nilsson

[antongould]

Isobel Bailey
Gundula Janowitz
Tessa Bonner
Jessye Norman
Arleen Auger
Kirsten Flagstad
Jill Gomez
Kirsten Flagstad
Felicity Lott
Martha Modl
Lisa della Casa
Jane Manning
Piia Komsi
Edith Matthis
Marie Angel
Lucia Popp
Maria Callas
Elly Ameling
Kiri te Kanawa
Barbara Hannigan
Ruth Holton
Elise Ross
Anna Tomowa-Sintow

No Brigit then?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

No Brigit then?

Blimey - you're quick! Ammended since you posted.

AND, I forgot to add Mirella Freni!

AND Elisabeth Soderstrom and Victoria de Los Angeles and Astrid Varnay and Regine Crespin (thanks, Madame S) and Suzanne Danco and Marnie Nixon and Jennie Tourel

[Madame Suggia]

Maria Callas
Regine Crespin
Elisabeth Soderstrom
Lisa Della Casa
Galina Vishnevskaya
Lucia Popp
Victoria de Los Angeles
Astrid Varnay
Birgit Nilsson
Netania Davrath

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Blimey - you're quick! Ammended since you posted.

AND, I forgot to add Mirella Freni!

AND Elisabeth Soderstrom and Victoria de Los Angeles and Astrid Varnay and Regine Crespin (thanks, Madame S) and Suzanne Danco and Marnie Nixon and Jennie Tourel

Hmm. I did suggest only 10. But Marni Nixon seems to be flavour of the moment.

[Barbirollians]

Leaving out Callas - like leaving Beethoven out of a list of top ten composers

Callas
Janowitz
Popp
Jurinac
della Casa
Caballe
Flagstad
Muzio
Stemme
de los Angeles

[verismissimo]

Nellie Melba
Frances Alda
Elsa Stralia
Florence Austral
Margherita Grandi
Marjorie Lawrence
Sylvia Fisher
Joan Hammond
Elsie Morison
Joan Sutherland

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

No-one seems to have included Florence Foster Jenkins yet.
Or Hayley Westenra, Charlotte Church or Kathryn Jenkins.

[Rolmill]

In no particular order:

Leontyne Price
Victoria de los Angeles
Gundula Janowitz
Elizabeth Schwarzkopf
Lucia Popp
Renata Tebaldi
Felicity Lott
Emma Kirkby
Ellie Ameling
Rosa Ponselle

[cloughie]

Isobel Bailey
Gundula Janowitz
Tessa Bonner
Jessye Norman
Arleen Auger
Kirsten Flagstad
Jill Gomez
Kirsten Flagstad
Felicity Lott
Martha Modl
Lisa della Casa
Jane Manning
Piia Komsi
Edith Matthis
Marie Angel
Lucia Popp
Maria Callas
Elly Ameling
Kiri te Kanawa
Barbara Hannigan
Ruth Holton
Elise Ross
Anna Tomowa-Sintow
Brigit Nilsson

Some good choices there Ferney but you can't count!

Arleen Auger
Felicity Lott
Anne Schwanewilms
Kiri te Kanawa
Lesley Garrett
Barbara Bonney
Kate Royal
Dawn Upshaw
Joan Rodgers
Emma Kirkby

Plus a couple of mezzos

Alice Coote
Cecilia Bartoli

and assuming we are looking at classical for the main list

a few from pop/rock/jazz/musicals though some of these maybe are mezzos

Cheryl Bentyne
Marni Nixon
Linda Ronstadt
Judy Collins
Vikki Carr
Barbara Streisand
Mama Cass
Stacey Kent
Dianne Reeves
Sandy Denny

and Minnie Ripperton who is definitely not a mezzo.

Oh and I've missed off
Marti Webb
Julie Covington
Linda Thompson