Roberta Peters | Opera singer, 86

Roberta Peters, 86, who debuted at the Metropolitan Opera at age 20 on five hours' notice and became a reigning soprano of her era, delighting audiences for decades with performances on stage, in commercials and on

The Ed Sullivan Show

, died Wednesday at an assisted-living facility in Rye, N.Y. The cause was Parkinson's disease, said her son Paul Fields.

Ms. Peters' maiden entrance at the Met could scarcely have been more dramatic, even if it had been scripted by a librettist. Groomed since childhood for a career on stage - although she had not yet sung on one - she was slated to appear at the Met as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute in 1951.

But on Nov. 17, 1950, soprano Nadine Conner, who was to sing Zerlina in that evening's performance of Don Giovanni, came down with food poisoning, according to the New York Daily News.

Rudolf Bing, the Met's new general manager, called Ms. Peters.

That performance marked the first of more than 500 appearances by Ms. Peters at the Met over 35 years. She also sang at the Vienna State Opera, at London's Royal Opera House, before U.S. presidents, and on TV programs.

Ms. Peters was briefly married to the operatic baritone Robert Merrill and continued performing with him after their amicable divorce. Her husband of 55 years, Bertram Fields, died in 2010. Survivors include two sons and four grandchildren. - Washington Post