**Soprano Hildegard Behrens, known for her dramatic portrayals of Richard Wagner’s heroines, has died aged 72.**The German singer died in hospital in Tokyo, where she had been attending a Japanese music festival.
The singer, who had been due to perform and teach at workshops, fell ill on Sunday and was taken to hospital.
A spokesman for Kusatsu International Summer Music Academy and Festival said Behrens died on Tuesday afternoon from an aortic aneurysm.
Stage debut
Behrens was considered to be one of the finest actors on the operatic stage during a career that spanned more than three decades.
She made her professional stage debut in Freiburg as the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in 1971, and made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Giorgetta in Puccini’s Il Tabarro in 1976.
In total, Behrens gave 171 performances at the Met, where she appeared until 1999.
Her breakthrough there was as Leonore in Beethoven’s Fidelio, under conductor Karl Boehm in 1980, and she was most acclaimed in the late 1980s and early 1990s for her portrayal of Bruennhilde in Wagner’s Ring Cycle.
Her Met career also included Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Isolde in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, Senta in Der Fliegende Hollander, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, the title roles in Strauss’ Elektra and Salome, and Puccini’s Tosca.
Behrens was born in the north German town of Varel-Oldenburg.
Her parents were both doctors and she and her five siblings studied piano and violin as children.
She received Germany’s Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of the Merit Cross), Bavaria’s Bayerischer Verdienstorden and was honoured by both the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and the Vienna State Opera.