Opera legend Maria Ewing dies

Opera singer Maria Ewing has died at the age of 72.

The singer, whose father was of African descent, made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1971. While preparing for one of the productions, she met the director, founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Peter Hall.

Hall staged the opera Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera, where Ewing sang the title role. The artist severed ties with this theater when the Metropolitan Opera chose Greek singer Agnes Balza for her TV show Carmen, terminating her filming contract with Ewing.

Maria Ewing-Peter Hall divorced in 1990, and Hall died in 2017. Their 39-year-old daughter Rebecca Hall is an actress and director who starred in Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona and Frost vs. Nixon directed by Ron Howard.