People: May 20, 1985

When double pneumonia put her in intensive care last January and forced the Opera Company of Boston to postpone its season, friends feared that Conductor Sarah Caldwell had reached the tragic finale of a distinguished career. Instead, Caldwell, 61, emerged from the illness this month determined to change her tune and be fitter than a bass fiddle. Her goal: “To lose a zillion pounds and become the thinnest lady conductor–at least in Boston.” She has already dropped 70 lbs. (from a reported 250) on a prescribed regimen that includes a 600-calorie-a-day diet and plenty of walking, treadmill exercise and tennis. Has it been tough? Not after doctors told her the alternative was “to live two more years and be sick.”