"(she) is too young to have heard signora todi on the stage; nor can she have heard pacchierotti, marchesi or crescentini; nor, as far as i can discover, did she ever have occasion to hear them later, after their retirement, in private performances or at concerts; yet every connoisseur who ever heard these great representatives of the golden age voices the general opinion that she appears to have inherited their style. the only teacher from whom she has received singing-lessons is signora grassini, with whom she once spent a season in brescia",