Followers of the English operatic scene have known the name and singing of Lynne Dawson since the 1980s. Her renown became nearly universal in 1997 when she performed at the funeral of Britain's Princess Diana, and since then she has projected the star quality necessary to propel her career forward.
Her home was the rich farming country of Yorkshire in Northern England, where she was born in 1958 in a hospital next to the historic York Minster cathedral. She grew up on a farm in the Vale of York, and although she sang as a girl, she was much better known for sports. She won a...