“Her hair is white, her gait a tad unsteady, and she underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer in 2006 and 2007, but her build is still solid, her skin firm, her voice strong, her eyes twinkling, and her cancer gone. When she comes out on stage, she’s used to dominating it, even if her performance these days is devoted less to the operas of Rossini and more to singing the praises of her three grandchildren, Daisy, Henry and Alex.”