Herva Nelli; Soprano With Metropolitan Opera

Herva Nelli, 85, who was the leading soprano with Arturo Toscanini’s NBC Symphony opera broadcasts for seven years. The Italian-born singer returned to Italy with Toscanini to perform for the postwar reopening of La Scala opera house. Ms. Nelli made her debut with New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1953 in “Aida.” Her final performance was in 1962 in “Norma” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. After her musical career ended, she operated a restaurant near Poughkeepsie, N.Y., catered meals for a country club and worked as a private cook for Stephen and Jean Kennedy Smith. On Tuesday in Sharon, Conn., of leukemia.