The 1981 Jean-Jacques Beineix film DIVA put both soprano Wilhelmenia Fernandez and the aria "Ebben? Ne andrò lontana" from Catalani's opera LA WALLY on the map. Watch and listen here.
The film centers on the magnetic soprano Cynthia Hawkins, who has never allowed her voice to be recorded. When a young, obsessive fan named Jules secretly tapes her singing the WALLY aria, multiple plot lines spring up. Another tape, a prostitute's 'confession' to be used as evidence in a case involving the mob, gets mixed up with the 'aria' recording; Jules finds himself pursued by two thuggish hitmen. And Ms. Hawkins desperately wants her gown - which Jules has cunningly stolen from her dressing room - returned.
Frédéric Andréi is the charmingly naive Jules, and Richard Bohringer is the mysterious deus ex machina Gorodish.
While we were living in Hartford, we heard Ms. Fernandez in recital, and even said hello to her one afternoon while she was lunching at The Comet Diner.
Wilhelmenia Fernandez - Schubert's An De Musik - Hartford CT 1983
Wilhemenia Fernandez - Ride On King Jesus - Hartford CT 1983
Above, diva and fan: Ms. Fernandez and Mssr. Andréi share an umbrella.