Obituary: Ljuba Welitsch

As one of those for whom Elizabeth Forbes in her excellent obituary [9 September] spoke eloquently, I shall never forget the thrill of Ljuba Welitsch's Salome in 1947 and in the Peter Brook production of 1949, writes Sir Norman Lindop.

Quite by chance it happened that, in 1976, nearly 30 years later, having a free evening in Vienna, I dropped in to the Volksoper for an operetta and was astonished and elated to see her name on the cast-list in the tiny part of the landlady of the hero's apartment. She was obviously a warm favourite with the audience, and her stage presence was as electrifying as ever.

As she made her exit, bearing before her the basin of slops in exactly the manner in which so long before she had borne the salver carrying the head of Jokanaan, as in your illustration, she intoned the immortal phrase, "Ich habe deinen Mund gekussen, Jokanaan" - and the house erupted. She was a truly great artist.