Soon after graduation, she caught the attention of legendary conductor and starmaker Herbert von Karajan, and became the last soprano to be sprinkled with his particular brand of fairy dust. An instant sensation, she is best known for her ‘The Queen of the Night’ from Mozart’s Magic Flute, whose ‘Der Holle Rache Kocht in Meinem Herzen’ (‘The Vengeance of Hell Boils in my Heart’) is arguably the most difficult soprano aria in history.