favorite SOPRANO?

Well you see what happens in the Sopranos when they SING....

Definitely Victoria De Los Angeles and for one opera, Beecham's "La Boheme" with her as Mimi and Bjorling as Rodolfo, just heaven.
There are so many others too, Callas in anything, for that unique voice and the emotion in her singing, Swharzkopff for Strauss, Te Kanawa for Mozart, Cecilia Bartoli for Rossini, Sutherland, Leontyne Price. I am afraid the one mentioned I don't like is Caballe. I have one opera recorded later in her career, where her voice has the character of chalk scraping on a blackboard.

I like Eril's list, but like to add Angela Gheorghiu and Renee Fleming. Sandrine Piau singing Mozart is still my favorite though.

Joan Baez

Edita Gruberova. Try her in lieders from Richard Strauss or Mozart's concert arias. Goosebumps guaranteed.