We have lost a great singer, Dame Joan Sutherland.

The late Peter Ustinov told the following story about chancing upon Dame Joan in rehearsal, on stage at an (audience-free, of course) Covent Garden. He came in at the back and heard the most beautiful voice filling the hall. He listened spellbound for a minute or two; then the spell was broken as, in the midst of a stream of perfectly enunciated Italian lyrics, the voice suddenly declared, in a heavy Australian accent: “Aaaaah, can’t get that %*@!#?*$% note.”