Czech opera singer Soňa Červená dies at age 97

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech opera singer Soňa Červená has died at age 97. She became known for playing Carmen and more than 110 roles in San Francisco and other opera houses behind the Iron Curtain. The National Theater in Prague said that Červená died on Sunday in a hospital in the Czech capital where she was treated for an unspecified illness. Červená emigrated from communist Czechoslovakia in 1962 and became known for performances in numerous opera house in Europe and the United States. She started her 11-year regular cooperation with the San Francisco Opera in 1962 in the title role of Georges Bizet’s Carmen.