Obituaries.(Obituary)

JANET COLLINS, New Orleans, LA, March 2,1917--Fort Worth, TX, May 28, 2003

Beginning in 1951, Collins was a principal dancer for three seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, where her striking beauty and sharp technique enlivened ballerina roles in Aida, Carmen, La Gioconda and Samson et Dalila. Prior to her Met career, Collins appeared with Katherine Dunham's dance company, in the Hollywood film The Thrill of Brazil (1946) and in Cole Porter's Broadway musical Out of This World (1949). In the 1950s, Collins, one of the few African-American women of that era to achieve prominence in classical dance, toured with her own dance troupe throughout the U.S. and Canada and established herself as a teacher.

LUCIANO BERIO, Oneglia, Italy October 24, 1925--Siena, May 27, 2003

After finishing studies at the Milan Conservatory in 1951, the composer worked as an accompanist and as a conductor. He established himself as a singularly rich compositional voice by the early 1960s, exploring the dynamic relationship between sound and sense in a variety of theatrical and non-theatrical works, among them Passaggio (1961-62), Esposizione (1963) and Sinforma (1968). His first full-length theatrical piece, Opera, had its premiere in Santa Fe in 1970. Other works for the theater included La Vera Storia (La Scala, 1982), Un Re in Ascolto (Salzburg, 1984) and his completion of Puccini's Turandot, which was staged for the first time by Los Angeles Opera in 2002.

JACQUES HERBILLON, Reims, France, May 20, 1936--May 20, 2003

A connoisseur's baritone in his native France, often cited for his light, airy tone and crisp diction, Herbillon was best known to collectors in the U.S. and Great Britain for his recordings of Duparc and Faure songs on the Calliope label.

IVO ZIDEK, Kravare, Czechoslovakia, June 4, 1926--Prague, May 19, 2003