Serbian soprano Milka Stojanović passed away Sept. 1 at the age of 86.

Stojanović made her operatic debut at the Belgrade Opera in 1959, where she sang until 1993. During this time she made guest appearances at Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Madrid, and Prague. In 1967, Stojanović debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Leonora in Verdi’s “La forza del destino.” Other Met roles were Liu in “Turnadot,” Amelia in “Simon Boccanegra,” Aida, Gioconda with Franco Corelli, and Mimi in “La bohème,” performing opposite Richard Tucker.

In 1959 she won the third prize at the Yugoslav competition for young music artists in Zagreb and in 1960 she won a contest for young singers in Toulouse, France. She received the “Golden Lyre” award given by the Yugoslav Composers Union, the City of Belgrade’s October award, as well as four memorial plaques in her honor. The National Theatre in Belgrade co-published a monograph of her career in 2012.

Bass Živan Saramandić (1939–2012) and Stojanović married in 1970 and remained together until Saramandić’s death. The couple had no children.