I discovered my voice casually. I had a good musical background; I played the violin. But I never thought of singing. At the wedding of a friend, somebody convinced me to sing Gounod's Ave Maria. A fine musician was in the party, a teacher at the Napels Conservatory, who immediately recognized the power of my voice. The next day I went to him with my father....

Aida is a lirico-spinto soprano, who has to sing a lot of cantabile. Sometimes the music goes into the lower region of the voice. But I believe that these passages can be solved without forcing the voice. I believe you do not need chest notes (note di petto). All the teachers, including Serafin, said to me that in this opera, as in others, it is better to keep your voice far away from the chest notes. For example: "qui Radames verrà". The voice goes down and chest notes are possible. But a bad effect is also possible because the chest notes are big and in bad taste. You must never forget the chest notes are very dangerous for your voice: they reduce the middle of the voice (centri). The voice is like a bedcover: if you pull it on one side, the other will be uncovered. The soprano voice has two or three passagios. From the low to the middle; from the middle to the high; from the high to the sovracutes. The chest notes can ruin your first passagio and disrupt the homogeneity of the notes between the low and the high....

In my voice this mechanism (the passagio), that some singers work for years [to smooth out], was natural. My voice passed through it without problems. My teacher used to follow my nature and did not work at all on the passagio. He said that because it was so natural I could sing without being greatly concerned with it. He said that you have to speak about technical matters only with voices that have problems to solve. Today there is a lot of speaking about technique, passagio, appoggi. Since it is only theory, it is difficult to change in practise. It is important for a singer to have a versatile voice and to be intelligent enough to understand how to use it. Sometimes there are singers with great voices who are unable to use their vocal instruments. To have an original Stradivari does not mean you can play it! Another singer may have a less precious instrument but is able to play it in a wonderful way...

I did not have records. I followed my voice and my teachers. I listened to records after the end of my career. I think that one of the mistakes of today's singers is to study recordings. You take only the defects. You give a limit to your fantasy because you repeat what you have heard...

Callas' voice was not equalized, but with a timbre that made it unique. It was fascinating. Listening to her singing Medea, watching her moving on the stage made me feel "small" as an artist. Callas' voice cannot be judged note by note but in the global effect... I believe voice can be ruined only if you sing the wrong operas and if you have technical problems.

Abigaille's vocalization is really difficult. The role requires vocal agility, jumps of two octaves, an important fraseggio. The arioso of the second act "Anch'io dischiuso un giorno" is very difficult to substain. The extension is difficoult and requires an absolutely sure appoggio. The cabaletta "Salgo già del trono aurato" needs vocal power and impetus. Then there is the problem of agility. In the role of Abigaille there are some coloratura passages. Verdi agilities are different from Rossini or Bellini. The role of Abigaille is different from Norma. Verdi's agilities are expressive and require an intense color and penetration. Rossini's are only for beauty. Bellini's agilities are both of them; there is again the "retro" taste of Rossini, but there is also a taste of what will soon be in Verdi music....

Serafin used to call me "cantatrice". For him cantatrice ment interpeter. He used to tell me that certain effects must be done with expression but not with vocal vulgarity. He urged me not to sing Gioconda in the open-air theaters because I would have pushed my voice and made the mistake of many Giocondas: exaggeration, open in the chest, underlining the phrases too much. Serafin suggested that I give a more intimate and precise vocal realization of Gioconda... After the first performance the press noticed the intimacy and new linearity of my interpretation...

About my premature retirement, a lot was said and written. A lot of stories. In reality I was tired. I could not sleep any more. I asked many doctors for help but sleep seemed to be gone forever. I had too much to do, always a music page under my pillow. I had no spiritual quietness, I could not study as before. I had been singing for nine years.... I understood that my career was over. I had to retire. I said stop and retired. After a period of rest I was asked to sing again. The voice was all right. But I would have been "the one who starts again". Everybody would have looked to me as "Finished again" (ripescata!). I would have never accepted this. I was about to become a mother and I did not want to mix this experience with the theatrical life. I thought a lot about it and I definitely stopped...."