Dynamite Diva

Orinda native Linda Watson has performed in operas all over the world—except in the Bay Area.

But on June 14, Watson will return to the East Bay to perform Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Berkeley Symphony. Having just finished a performance of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Berlin, the world-renowned mezzo-soprano spoke to Diablo from Vienna, where she was looking to buy some real estate, before heading off to perform in Prague.

Q: Did you always want to grow up to be an opera diva?
A: Aside from the fact that I announced to my nursery school that I wanted to be a bumble bee, I think I thought I would own a station wagon, two dogs, and [have] four kids.

Q: What are the most exotic places you have performed?
A: For me, having never really expected to come this far in the opera world, I’d count “exotic” as the Met [in New York City], Salzburg, Bayreuth, the Vienna Staatsoper, Munich, Florence, Barcelona, Paris, Madrid, and Berlin. I also performed for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Watson will perform on June 14 at Zellerbach Hall. For tickets, call (510) 841-2800, or go to www.berkeleysymphony.org.