Miss Antoinette Miggiani had one of the longest careers in the history of Maltese opera. Hers was an astonishing talent with an intensity, both musical and dramatic, which was quite extraordinary. She was one of those singers whose name alone could light up anyone's face. People might ask, 'Where are singers like her today?' and I suppose the simplest fact is that they simply don't exist anymore. The fact is, they barely existed in their own day.

The world we live in has changed, and so, necessarily, has the way we have to live in it. There was, and only ever will be, one Antoinette Miggiani, and how very lucky we were to have had her!

After years of studying piano and voice, she won a British Council scholarship to study at London's Royal Academy of Music in 1958. Completing her studies successfully, she was under contract to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for the 1961/62 season following her first prize award at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society International Singers' Competition.

During the 1960s, she sang in London, France, Germany, and Italy, where she gave several recitals for Italian radio. She returned several times to Malta, where she sang at the Teatru Manoel as Leonora in La forza del destino and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, as well as a royal gala performance at the theatre for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1967. In 1968, she undertook a tour of the United States, where she sang both in recital and on the opera stage, including performances as Maddalena in Andrea Chénier at Seattle Opera with Franco Corelli in the title role.

Her international career was cut short in 1970, when her parents became ill, and she returned permanently to Malta to care for them. However, she continued to sing in Malta in lieder recitals and concerts, and as a soloist in performances of sacred music, including the Verdi, Mozart, Elgar, and Rossini Requiems; Antonín Dvořák's Stabat Mater; and Gounod's Messe solennelle Sainte-Cécile.

She also sang in operas at the Teatru Manoel, including the title role of Carmelo Pace's Ipogeana in its 1976 world premiere. For the sheer diversity of the styles and types of roles she undertook, I can think of few singers who can match her.

For many years, Miggiani was a distinguished voice teacher in Malta. Amongst her former pupils were the sopranos Lydia Caruana and Gillian Zammit and baritones Lino Attard and Aldo Busutti.

On 13 December 1991, she was awarded her country's Medal for Service to the Republic.

In the following years, she practically fell into oblivion, but now that she has departed to better pastures, joining her much-cherished parents, it is only fair to remember her for her achievements.

I, ostensibly like many of her close friends, will sorely miss her friendship and lively company.