Rita Shane, a dramatic coloratura soprano admired for the range, flexibility and size of her voice, as well as the intensity she brought to her performances, died on Thursday at her home in Manhattan. She was 78.

The cause was pancreatic and liver cancer, said her son, Michael Shane Tritter.

Ms. Shane made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1973 as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” a role she sang some 250 times in her career. She used her dark-hued voice and impressive technique to render the character with arresting fury.

“She raged through her big aria with power, precision and expressive intensity that left no doubt as to the Queen of the Night’s character,” Allen Hughes wrote in The New York Times.

Ms. Shane, who was a professor at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, sang regularly with the Met until 1982. Her last performance at the Metropolitan Opera House was as Berthe in Meyerbeer’s “Le Prophète” in 1979. Her roles included Musetta in Puccini’s “La Bohème,” Pamira in Rossini’s “Siege of Corinth,” the title role in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” and roles in three Verdi operas: Oscar in “Ballo in Maschera,” Violetta in “La Traviata” and Gilda in “Rigoletto.” She appeared in a total of 71 Met performances.