The Sontag version

Summary

Sontag, an admirable and much-missed soprano, invented a phrase of her own which she substituted for the original at the end of the Masks Trio in Don Giovanni. Her example was soon followed; it was too good to miss, and every soprano in Europe adopted Mme. Sontag’s modification of the role of Donna Anna.

One day, at a rehearsal in London, a conductor I know heard this daring substitution at the end of the trio. He stopped the orchestra and said to the prima donna:

“What’s going on? Have you forgotten your part, Madame?”

“No, Monsieur, I’m singing the Sontag version.”

“Oh, I see. But may I be so bold as to ask why you should prefer the Sontag version to the Mozart version, which is after all the one we are concerned with?”

“Because hers is better.”

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! … … … … .