She is most closely associated with roles such as Rossini's Rosina and La Cenerentola, and later Bizet's Carmen, admired for her technical virtuosity, musical intelligence, and beguiling stage presence.

[3] In 1959, Berganza made her first appearance at the Royal Opera House as Cherubino, and the following year performed there as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, which became one of her signature roles.

She appeared in the U.S. first in 1958, at the Dallas Opera as Isabella in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri and then as Neris in Cherubini's Médée alongside Maria Callas in the title role.

[6] She returned for Rosina the following year, first in a telecast performance conducted by Richard Bonynge, alongside Mario Sereni as Figaro, Luigi Alva and Fernando Corena as Bartolo.

[7]Berganza was a leading singer for a renaissance of Rossini's operas, returning the roles to the original lower register according to critical editions by Alberto Zedda, promoted by conductors such as Claudio Abbado and Charles Mackerras.

[2] Berganza appeared at the 1977 Edinburgh Festival as Bizet's Carmen, conducted by Abbado,[8] regarded as one of her greatest successes on stage, and repeated the role at the Paris Opera.

[3][9] She portrayed the character with intelligence, singing the Habanera with the flexibility of a lieder singer, and abrupt changes in timbre and dynamic, seemingly addressing the crowd but meaning one person, in a provokingly light tone demonstrating superiority.

[14] She last taught singing at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, continued to perform music of Spanish composers, and gave master classes all over the world.

[1][15] Berganza appeared in nine motion pictures, including Il barbiere di Siviglia in 1972, as Zerlina in Joseph Losey's Don Giovanni in 1979, and both Massenet's Werther and Bizet's Carmen in 1980.