Promising Argentine opera singer dies 2 days after suffering stroke during performance

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – A promising Argentine opera singer suffered a stroke on stage while singing Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem” and died two days later. Florencia Fabris, 38, was buried Tuesday.

The moment when Fabris suffered the stroke Friday was captured on video. She abruptly stops singing and can be seen touching her head and leaning over to say something to another performer. Then she walks off stage as the orchestra stops playing and the crowd applauds.

Fabris received immediate medical attention at the theatre in provincial San Juan, but died at a hospital Sunday.

The Teatro Colon, Argentina’s foremost opera house in Buenos Aires, expressed “profound consternation” at her death.

She had begun singing in the Colon children’s choir, and earned an opera degree at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome before singing lead roles in Argentina in “Il Trovatore,” ”Madame Butterfly” and “Don Carlos,” among other operas.

Fabris is survived by two children.