Also in 2008, she sang Violetta at the Metropolitan Opera.

Marilyn Mims, the soprano who sang Violetta, was especially impressive.

However, her contract was cancelled shortly thereafter when she refused to sing Violetta from Verdi's La Traviata on moral grounds.

In 2009 she had also sung Violetta at the Los Angeles Opera.

But the young soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domas, who sings Violetta, is worth checking out.

She sings Violetta for the last time this season next Saturday night.

Now, while she has vowed to sing Violetta in "La Traviata" as her stage farewell, she accepts that she is still a light soprano.

Ms. Strempel said that two years ago she would never have been able to sing Violetta or the new works written for her.

Tonight the Bulgarian soprano Zvetelina Vassileva, in her Met debut, sings Violetta.

The soprano Jennifer Casey Cabot will sing Violetta, the strayed one of the title.