It’s rare that an opera singer comes along who’s known for her sultry beauty and sex appeal as well as her rich, beautiful voice. But the gushing critics say 34-year-old soprano Anna Netrebko has all that and more. They’ve proclaimed her “radiant…, a miracle…, Audrey Hepburn with a voice.”

It doesn’t hurt that Netrebko is the star of her own Cinderella story — she rose from a struggling music student scrubbing floors at the Mirinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg to a reigning diva at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

Netrebko likes hip designer clothes and pop music — she even recorded her own opera music video. And she says opera can be, well, boring and needs to change.

Hear a conversation with soprano Anna Nebtreko, the new voice and face of opera.

Guests:

Anna Netrebko has starred with opera companies and symphony orchestras around the world. She is currently performing the role of Norina in Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” at the Metropolitan Opera House, where she is on contract for two operas a year through 2010. Her CDs include “Violetta” and “Sempre Libera.”