On Stage, Off Stage: A Memoir

With candor, affection, and humor, Regine Crespin reflects on her family, friends, and colleagues, her love affairs, and, most of all, the opera. She recalls her beloved Italian grandmother, the pain of growing up with an alcoholic mother, and her adoring but troubled relationship with her father. Crespin describes her rise from a teenager with a pretty little voice to dramatic soprano, and provides delightful anecdotes about her performances at Bayreuth, the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and other major opera houses and concert halls throughout the world. She openly discusses an abortion, her battles with breast cancer, intimate details of her love life, and contemplates the art of singing as well as the burdens of stardom. Crespin's exasperation with the lack of recognition from her own country is also revealed. Populated with such figures as Herbert von Karajan, Lotte Lehmann, Jon Vickers, Leontyne Price, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Maria Callas, this engaging autobiography offers a vivid and fascinating glimpse into the world of opera. It is also the inviting story of a remarkable woman who was a diva on the stage but never a prima donna in real life.