TOKYO, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- German opera singer Hildegard Behrens has died in a Tokyo hospital after falling ill last weekend. She was 72.
The BBC reported the celebrated soprano had been in Japan to perform and teach workshops at a music festival.
A spokesman for Kusatsu International Summer Music Academy and Festival told the British broadcaster Behrens died Tuesday afternoon after suffering an aortic aneurysm.
During a career that spanned more than three decades, Behrens earned accolades for her memorable portrayals of composer Richard Wagner's heroines.
She performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera House 171 times between 1976 and 1999, and was presented with Germany's Order of the Merit Cross and Bavaria's Bayerischer Verdienstorden honor, the BBC said.
