Waltraud Meier (Mezzo-soprano)
Waltraud Meier (born 9 January 1956 in Wurzburg) is a Grammy
Award–winning German dramatic soprano and mezzo-soprano singer. She is
particularly known for her Wagnerian roles as Kundry, Isolde, Ortrud, Venus and
Sieglinde, but has also had success in the French and Italian repertoire
appearing as Eboli, Amneris, Carmen and Santuzza. She resides in Munich.
Meier has performed in the world's famed opera houses (including La Scala,
Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State
Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Colon Theater). She has performed under the
batons of conductors including Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Claudio Abbado,
James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, and Giuseppe Sinopoli. She has been
named a "Kammersдngerin" by both the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and the
Vienna State Opera, and "Commandeur" of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the
French Government.
Education, vocal training and early
career
Waltraud Meier was born in Wurzburg, Germany. She sang in numerous choral
groups during her younger years. Upon finishing her secondary education, she
began graduate studies in English and Romance Languages while also taking voice
lessons. She studied singing with Professor Dietger Jacob. In 1976, she decided
to concentrate on a singing career and soon thereafter debuted at the Wьrzburg
Opera as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana. Over the next several years she
performed regularly at the opera house in Mannheim (1976–1978).
1980s
She made her international debut in 1980 at the Teatro Colуn in Buenos Aires,
appearing as Fricka in Die Walkьre. She also continued to appear regularly in
Germany at the opera houses in Dortmund (1980–1983), Hanover (1983–1984) and
Stuttgart (1985–1988).
Following a success as Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal at the 1983
Bayreuth Festival, Meier's international career gained momentum, and she had
debuts at Covent Garden (1985) and the Metropolitan Opera (1987) (as Fricka,
with James Levine conducting his first Das Rheingold at the Met).
She also had debuts at La Scala, the Opera National in Paris, the Vienna
State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. She continued to appear
regularly at Bayreuth as Kundry between 1983 and 1993.
1990s
In addition to appearing as Kundry at Bayreuth, Meier continued to appear
elsewhere in the role during the 1990s, including a 1991 production at La Scala
under the baton of Riccardo Muti and at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, in a
version staged by Klaus Michael Gruber and conducted by Semyon Bychkov. In 1992,
she appeared for the first time as Kundry at the Metropolitan Opera, opposite
Siegfried Jerusalem as Parsifal, with James Levine conducting. The New York
Times reported: "Waltraud Meier, bringing her acclaimed performance as
Kundry to the Met for the first time, was seductive and gentle in her first
approach to Parsifal, holding in reserve a strength and determination that gave
her singing an eerie calm." The following year, Meier returned to the Met as
Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana. Of that performance, The New York
Times wrote:
As Santuzza in "Cavalleria", Waltraud Meier was superb at the first
performance on Friday evening, singing clearly and evenly throughout her range,
carrying lines smoothly and coloring her tone richly. She gradually worked an
incisive, telling edge into her voice without sacrificing its basic beauty; even
her shrieks were musical. And she projected a riveting dramatic presence,
convincingly fragile as well as ferocious.
During the 1990s, Meier also moved into roles within the dramatic soprano
repertoire. Between 1993 and 1999, she appeared at Bayreuth as Isolde in
Tristan und Isolde staged by Heiner Muller and conducted by Daniel
Barenboim. In 1998 she added additional dramatic soprano roles, debuting as
Leonore in Fidelio at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, again under the
direction of Barenboim, and also appearing as Ortrud in a new Lohengrin
production at the Bavarian State Opera.
2000s
In 2000, Meier appeared again at Bayreuth, performing the role of Sieglinde
in Die Walkure in the "Millennium Ring" at the 2000 festival staged by
Jurgen Flimm and conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli with Plбcido Domingo. She also
appeared that year as Isolde at the Salzburg Festival, with Lorin Maazel
conducting. In 2001 at the opening of the Munich Opera Festival, the singer made
her debut in the role of Didon in Hector Berlioz's Les Troyens with Zubin
Mehta conducting.
In 2003 Meier shared a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for her
contributions as Venus in Tannhauser under the direction of Daniel
Barenboim. She devoted her 2003-2004 season exclusively to recitals and
concerts. She performed in Bach's St Matthew Passion and toured
throughout Europe, Russia and the United States with a recital program featuring
works by Brahms, Schubert and Hugo Wolf.
She returned to the opera stage in 2004-2005, including appearances as Carmen
in a new production at the Semper Oper in Dresden directed by Katarina
Lauterbach. In 2005, she appeared again as Isolde, this time in a new production
at the Opera Bastille in Paris, staged by Peter Sellars and conducted by
Esa-Pekka Salonen. She also returned to the Vienna State Opera as Kundry in
Parsifal.
She returned as Kundry in the Met's Parsifal in 2006, appearing
opposite Ben Heppner. The New York Times wrote:
The role of Kundry is that of a lone woman surrounded by men, but
Waltraud Meier made it the star turn of the evening. Known as volatile both
onstage and off, Ms. Meier is suited to the part, propelling herself into it
like a wide-bore, high-explosive cannon shell. This was singing of fierceness
and fearlessness, all of it pertinent to the persona she represented. Ms. Meier
gives all and takes risks, and her audience went crazy for
her.
Meier's 2007 performances include appearances as Isolde (Japan, Berlin,
Munich, Milan), Leonore (Munich), Ortrud (Milan, Paris).
A CD featuring Meier and Breinl performing works by Franz Schubert and
Richard Strauss, with her song accompanist Joseph Breinl was released in late
2007.[7] Meier and
Breinl are performing numerous recitals in 2007-08 in Japan, Germany, France,
Austria, and Spain.
In July 2008, Meier appeared as Venus in a production of Tannhдuser in
Baden-Baden, directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff, conducted by Philippe Jordan, and
also starring Robert Gambill (Tannhдuser), Stephen Milling (Herrmann), and
Camilla Nylund (Elisabeth). The New York Times reported that "Ms. Meier, a
musician with deep reserves of force and a gift for madness, was the perfect
Venus."
On 22 August 2009 she appeared in a televised concert performance of
Fidelio at a Henry Wood Promenade Concert in London's Albert Hall in
which she also spoke a narration. This was reported as her 2,000th professional
engagement. It was conducted by Daniel Barenboim with the West-Eastern Divan
(orchestra).
In the London Daily Telegraph Rubert Christiansen wrote:
She looked wonderfully elegant and was in good voice - some wild top notes
seemed a small price to pay for her total musical and dramatic involvement in
Leonore's fate. What a true star and a trouper she is.
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