Because of her great success in it, she was chosen to appear[citation needed] as Santuzza in the French premiere of Cavalleria rusticana, which was viewed as one of her greatest parts.

In 1892, she spent six months in Rome, studying under Domenico Mustafà, the last castrato head of the Sistine Chapel Choir, adding half an octave to the top of her range.

Before beginning the study of this part, she went to Spain, learned the Spanish dances, mingled with the people and patterned her characterization after the cigarette girls whom she watched at their work and at play.

She had had many famous predecessors in the role, including Adelina Patti, Minnie Hauk and Célestine Galli-Marié, but critics and musicians agreed that in Calvé they had found their ideal of Bizet's cigarette girl of Seville.

It was in this period of intense grief that she met Swami Vivekananda, who prevented her from committing suicide and restored her back to her former cheerful form.

Calvé had accompanied Vivekananda along with Miss Josephine MacLeod, Sir Francis Jules Bois and his wife and Sarah Bernhard while they travelled through Europe and Egypt from 1899 to 1901.

[5] Calvé wrote of Swami Vivekananda in her autobiography: "[He] truly walked with God, a noble being, a saint, a philosopher and a true friend.

These beings – pure, beautiful and remote seemed to belong to another universe, a better and wiser world"[8][9] Swami Vivekananda wrote of Calvé:[10] She was born poor but by her innate talents, prodigious labour and diligence, and after wrestling against much hardship, she is now enormously rich and commands respect from kings and emperors. ...

The rare combination of beauty, youth, talents, and "divine" voice has assigned Calve the highest place among the singers of the West.

That constant fight against the dire poverty, misery, and hardship of the days of her girlhood, which has led to her present triumph over them, has brought into her life a unique sympathy and a depth of thought with a wide outlook.Notes Bibliography