Hildegard Behrens, a dramatic sopranao famed for her interpretation of Wagner, has died at 72. The cause of death was apparently aneurism. [NYT]

Ever since Deborah Voigt was fired from a production for being too fat to fit into a little black dress, opera critics have been charting a trend toward skinnier singers. But none have done so as annoyingly as Michael White.

Betty Allen, who overcame a childhood of incredible challenges to become a world-renowned mezzo-soprano and voice teacher, has died at 83. Ms. Allen was also a famed arts administrator, running the Harlem School of the Arts for 13 years. [NYT]

[Munich, June 16. Image via Flynet]

[Bregenz, Austria; June 17. Image via Getty]

Already set upon by nature, time, gravity, ballet dancers are hit extra-hard by the economy.

The death of the original "Bess" from Porgy & Bess comes at a time when people are reflecting on breaking the color barrier in classical music.

In 2004, Deborah Voigt, a renowned opera singer, was fired from a London production of Ariadne auf Naxos because, according to the New York Times, she was "too heavy to wear a sleek black cocktail dress that [the director] deemed integral to his concept." The opera company had to pay out Voigt's contract even though…

The life and death of Anna Nicole Smith is being turned into an opera by composer Richard Thomas (who wrote the Jerry Springer musical), and will debut at the Royal Opera House in London in 2010. Thomas said that Smith's story is a "classic American tale about celebrity" that is "intrinsically operatic." [Telegraph]