Director
Jan Schmidt-Garre

Featured artists
Iris Adami Corradetti
Fedora Barbieri
Anita Cerquetti
Gina Cigna
Gigliola Frazzoni
Carla Gavazzi
Leyla Gencer
Magda Olivero
Marcella Pobbe
Marieke Schroeder
Giulietta Simionato
Stefan Zucker


This very entertaining film is a sort of 'Where are they now?' of opera divas. New York journalist and self-confessed opera nut Stefan Zucker wondered what had happened to the Italian singers he had loved as a young man. His quest took him all over Italy, into the homes of the erstwhile soprano and mezzo starlets. Some had become famous; some had slipped into obscurity; some were egotistical and vain; some were delightful and welcoming: all had a fascinating tale to tell. Zucker isn't unfamiliar with the operatic world of intense emotions and scrambled egos: he isn't averse to the odd grand entrance himself, and he's as interesting to watch as his quarry.

With extracts of music by Verdi, Mascagni, Cilea and Puccini, and glimpses of festivals in Berlin, St Paul, Munich, Leipzig, Melbourne, Portland and Paris, this is a film that will delight opera fans and anyone who recognises an artistic obsession.