Author Anne Chambers with presenter Brendan O'Scanaill Connemara Community Radio on the occasion of a programme about her life as a biographer.. to be broadcast Sunday 13 July at 7p.m.

Thank you so much to all my friends, connections and family who listened to the RTE - "The Lyric Feature" last Sunday, then contacted me to let me know how much you enjoyed the show. My phone, email and what's app was buzzing all evening and today. Thank you so much. And special thanks to the production crew at RTE Lyric FM for doing a brilliant job pulling it all together.

If you did not get a chance to listen live, you can download the podcast from the following link.

https://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_thelyricfeature.xml

In the ★Lyric FM Feature on Sunday 16 June at 6pm★ biographer Anne Chambers, author of 'La Sheridan: Adorable Diva’ presents the life story of Ireland’s great Diva, Margaret Burke Sheridan – Maggie from Mayo’ and her connection with the great Italian composer, Giacomo Puccini, whose centenary occurs this year.

In adulthood my interest and knowledge of opera was confined to the more ‘easy listening’ popular arias and duets. Consequently I suggested to the Committee that they might approach someone with a more professional knowledge of the genre. With just two years to write that ‘something’ there were un-surprisingly no takers and so, somewhat reluctantly, I agreed.

‘You cannot speak of Puccini from an international point of view without reference to Margherita Sheridan who in my opinion…is one of the greatest interpreters of Puccini’s work.’
Dott. Giorgio Gualerzi, Milan 1989

In this the 100th anniversary year of the death of the famous Italian composer and her own anniversary which occurs on 16 April, the words of one of Italy’s most eminent operatic critics above confirmed the composer’s own tribute to Margaret Burke Sheridan who, as Puccini’s daughter revealed, considered this Irish diva ‘the outstanding Butterfly of all time’.