Benita Valente

Celebrated by critics and opera aficionados, the singer is finally reaching a larger audience with recent recordings, like her CD of Schubert, Hayden, and Mozart lieder. She joins Fresh Air to talk about her technique, and the differences between singing lieder and opera.

Soprano Benita Valente knew from an early age she wanted to make a career as a singer. She studied at the Curtis Institute and lives in Philadelphia. She tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about how performance, practice, and age have all refined her voice.