Fascinating obituary in the Telegraph of Joyce Blackham, an opera singer I had not heard of before, best known for her "lush and sensual" Carmen, blessed with "dark, curly tresses, come-hither eyes and buoyant spirits"; the conductor recalled her as a "sexy creature", others spoke of her as being "excitingly near the mark", "voluptuous" with a thrilling, rich "chest" voice. Gracious! In The Mines of Sulphur (1965), a gothic romance opera by Richard Rodney Bennett which also has somehow escaped my attention hitherto, she was "bare of foot and, for the most part, of bosom."
