Erna Berger; British Soprano, Recording Artist

Erna Berger, 89, a British lyric-coloratura soprano who sang in the great opera houses of Europe before making her debut at the Metropolitan in 1949. Her reputation in this country rests primarily on such recordings as “Don Giovanni,” “Rigoletto” and “Les Contes d’Hoffman.” She studied and performed at the Dresden Opera and became a principal at the Berlin State Opera in the 1930s, primarily in Mozartian opera. She sang regularly at the Bayreuth and Salzburg festivals before making her debut at London’s Covent Garden. Shortly after her U.S. debut she retired to teach. On June 14, according to reports in the British newspaper The Guardian, which did not give a place of death.