Kyra Vayne

In A Voice Reborn she tried to explain the reasons for this: sometimes "personal problems intruded on, and destroyed my professional life – or rather, I stupidly allowed them to", and opportunities, were missed especially in Italy.

She then sang in Mussorgsky's Sorochintsi Fair at the Savoy Theatre and on tour, alternating with Oda Slobodskaya in the role of Khivria, and also with Daria Bayan as Parassia.

She also sang the title role of Gay Rosalinda, an English version of Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus, at the Palace Theatre, for four weeks in 1945, but was replaced by another soprano who invested in the show.

The company returned in May 1953, when she sang Leonora in La forza del destino with Carlo Bergonzi as Don Alvaro.

She went to Italy to try her luck, and in 1954 sang Donna Anna in Dargomyzhky's The Stone Guest in Florence, and Tosca in Rome, Piacenza and Genoa, usually with success.

During the last years of the Italian Opera Company, which ended in 1956, Vayne sang Violetta in La traviata, Leonora in Il trovatore and Tosca.

I was delighted that she knew, by the time of her death, that she would be remembered' –Later she recorded (at the age of 81) a disc of songs and operetta pieces, and wrote her autobiography, A Voice Reborn (1999).

She appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on 24 March 1996, choosing a culinary book and peanuts and treats to tame animals and birds.