Elena Souliotis, soprano

Born: 28 May, 1943, in Athens. Died: 4 December, 2004, in Florence, aged 61.

SHE was hailed as the "the next Callas". The sobriquet brought her much attention and bookings at all the major opera houses but, as a result, she was pushed into singing heavy dramatic soprano roles far too early. The voice was, consequently, put under severe pressure and it rapidly deteriorated. She certainly had a vibrant dramatic soprano and a commanding stage presence but even by the time she arrived at Covent Garden in the early Seventies her voice was showing stress in the top register. Some of her early recordings, however, demonstrate just what an exciting singer she was and they go some way to justifying the excitement of the time.

Elena Souliotis (sometimes Suliotis) spent much of her childhood in Buenos Aires, where she demonstrated a early love of singing. Unfortunately she had contracted meningitis at the age of two and this left her hearing impaired in one ear. Her parents sent her for further studies to Milan, where at the age of 20 she was picked to sing important roles in student productions. The Italian houses started booking her and a year later (1964) she made her professional debut at the San Carlo, Naples in the vocally demanding role of Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana.

For the next five years Souliotis sang all the heavy Verdi roles to acclaim. She made her La Scala debut in 1966 as Abigaille (a fiendish role) in Nabucco and went to other Italian houses that season to sing in Il trovatore, Luisa Miller and Aida. She was hailed as the most important soprano since Maria Callas and caused a sensation at all her performances.

In 1966 she made her American debut in Chicago and this was soon followed by a concert version of Nabucco with the London Opera Society: apart from Souliotis the cast boasted Boris Christoff in the title role. The critics hailed her as a star and Covent Garden immediately booked her for three performances of Macbeth the following year. It was an auspicious debut.

Colin Davis decided to open his tenure as musical director at Covent Garden, in 1972, with a new production of Nabucco - as now rarely performed - so it was an adventurous decision. Souliotis had a triumph in a rather unconvincing production. The soprano made her first entrance in typically dramatic style on a chariot pulled by a lively horse. Some felt that the voice showed a certain strain at crucial moments.

As a result of this publicity the BBC decided to make a programme (imaginatively titled Souliotis Sings) in which she displayed a voice of much variety (even singing extracts from Norma - the great Callas role) but, again, some detected a reckless abandon with regard to nurturing her voice. Indeed some of the unscripted histrionics went a touch too far. Significantly, that shrewd judge of a voice, the conductor Sir Edward Downes, commented on camera that she ought to be careful what she sang.

When she returned to Covent Garden to sing Santuzza the following year the voice was a pale imitation of its former self. It is significant she was never asked back to the Royal Opera and the Italian houses stopped booking her. Souliotis did prolong her career by singing some mezzo roles, but the zest and thrill had been dried up and the instrument lacked lustre.

So those early recordings by Decca demonstrate Souliotis at her best. Her Abigaille (recorded with Tito Gobbi) is simply thrilling and captures the drama of her performance - as does, at times, her Norma, conducted by Silvio Varviso.

Hers was a special talent that flashed through the opera houses for just ten years. Souliotis combined an on-stage energy and drive with a robust and startling vocal delivery. The trouble was her technique was badly flawed and she brought an urgent intensity to a performance that just could not be maintained. The voice just withered away after promising so much.

She was divorced from her husband and is survived by her daughter.