The global careers of not one but two Slovakian singers were launched on March 23, 1978 in Vienna’s State Opera: that of then-27-year-old tenor Peter Dvorský, and above all that of 31-year-old Edita Gruberova, hers a career which has endured to this day. Despite her success there in the role of Zerbinetta just eighteen months earlier, she was then still an insider tip for such a large bel canto role. Although studio recordings from subsequent years (1984, 1992 and 2003) exist of this role which would later become Gruberova’s hallmark – one she sang eighty-eight times in Vienna alone – this early live recording has a quality that is missing from later recordings: the maidenly determination and yet stupendous vocal perfection (including her flawless high E flat) that Gruberova delivers in her portrayal, her inimitable sonorous timbre – which she retains to this day.