"I'm a long-distance singer," Hildegard Behrens liked to say. The German-born soprano, a three-time Grammy winner, was known for accepting some of the most demanding roles in all of opera--parts that many of her peers, who lacked her delivery and drive, preferred to turn down.
Behrens, who died Aug. 18 at 72, began her career later than most. After abandoning a background in law to pursue music, she made her professional debut in 1971, with just four years of vocal training and without a single acting class under her belt; her first director had advised her against taking drama lessons, correctly...
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