But she did not want to make the change, and for several years she presented the sorry spectacle of genius contending with adversity.

Her voice was broken, stubborn, uneven, and intermittent.

An entire generation knew her only in a guise unworthy of her.
Her immoderate love of music was the cause of the early modification of her voice.

She wanted to sing everything she liked and she sang Valentine in _Les Huguenots_, Donna Anna in _Don Juan_, besides other roles she should never have undertaken if she wanted to preserve her voice.

She came to realize this at the end of her life.