Dramatic soprano, born in Pontnewydd, Torfaen, SE Wales. She studied at the Royal College of Music, London, and also in Siena and Zürich. She made her Covent Garden debut in 1963, first sang at the Vienna State Opera in 1966, and subsequently sang at Bayreuth, Munich, La Scala Milan, and other great houses of the world. She is renowned as an interpreter of the heroines of Wagner and Strauss operas.