Renata Tebaldi, 82

The great opera singer, a rival of Maria Callas, died in San Marino. “Born in Pesaro, she made her debut in 1944 but her career took off after performing at a concert to mark the re-opening of La Scala, Milan, in 1946. She sang at the great opera houses of the world but retired in the 1970s due to problems with her vocal chords.”