Mezzo-soprano Rise Stevens, who sang with Metropolitan Opera for over 20 years, dies at 99

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FILE - This April 3, 1954 file photo shows opera singer Rise Stevens in her dressing room at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York before performing in "Carmen." Stevens, who sang with the Metropolitan Opera for more than 20 years spanning the 1940s and 1950s, died Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at her Manhattan home. She was 99. (AP Photo/Jack Harris, file)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Mezzo-soprano opera star Rise (REE’-zah) Stevens, who sang with the Metropolitan Opera for more than 20 years spanning the 1940s and 1950s, has died. She was 99.

Her son Nicolas Surovy says Stevens died Wednesday night at her Manhattan home.

Stevens started singing with the Met in 1938, on tour in Philadelphia. Among her greatest roles was the title character in the opera “Carmen,” which she sang for 124 performances.

The Met released a statement calling her “a consummate artist, treasured colleague, and devoted supporter of the company for 75 years.”

She stopped performing with the Met in 1961, but continued to support the organization.

She is also survived by her granddaughter. Surovy says no funeral will be held, but a private memorial is planned.

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