Esther Lambrechts, or La Esterella, as she was better known, was one of Flanders' most beloved musical figures. Though her career essentially ended in 1960, her death last week at the age of 91 saw an outpouring of love and nostalgia.

Lambrechts was born in Antwerp in 1919 and worked as a seamstress until, in 1942, she was introduced - reluctantly - into the world of music by Russian-born impresario Charley Schleimovitz, who later became her husband and manager. Audiences were taken with her remarkable voice, said to range over three and a half octaves, which allowed her to tackle a broad repertory of jazz and classical material.

She became the first Belgian singer to make a breakthrough in England, with performances for the BBC. Her first recording contract came in 1953, and she made the conscious decision to concentrate on a Dutch- language repertory. One of her first recordings was a sentimental ballad called "O Lieve Vrouwetoren", an ode to the Antwerp Cathedral of Our Lady. It was her biggest hit.

She referred to herself in an interview once as Schleimovitz's "great love, his life's work. He sculpted me." When he died in 1962 she gave up singing and went to work in an office. In 1984, the year the above photo was taken, she made a comeback but never again achieved the heights of previous decades. She made a few star appearances, including one with Lanoye for which he wrote the cathedral's reply to her earlier tribute.

"I am and always will be a singer," she told Wouter Kersbergen, who interviewed her last year for a book about people over 80. "What you do is who you are. I have my identity as long as I'm singing."

La Esterella's funeral took place last weekend in her beloved Antwerp cathedral. Once again, the room was filled to capacity.