'A vocal phenomenon...' France Soir wrote about her. Marilyn Horne's almost instrumental virtuosity and her wide ambitus are stunning. Qualities such as these enabled her to approach not only pre-classical opera, but also 20th century opera both as a soprano and mezzo-soprano. Her early career was based on her voice as a soprano, until 1964 when she had a tremendous succes in the role of Arsace from Rossini's Semiramide which took place at Carnegie Hall in New York. From that moment on, Marilyn Horne committed herself to the role of mezzo-soprano. She had other travesti roles that made her famous such as Rinaldo, the first Handel opera performed at Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as Orfeo, from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, performed at Covent Garden in London. Until the 90s, Marilyn Horne was an important name in the lyrical landscape, a singer who had over 1000 recordings, some of them winning Grammy Awards. In 2008, Decca Company issued a 11 CD collection which comprised all the mezzo-soprano's recitals. This collection includes also some of the Rossini's pieces she performed which are to be broadcast on Arpeggio on 16th January, in the Opera and its Stars section, as a tribute to Marilyn Horne's 80th anniversary.