Maureen Forrester--A Tribute

Maureen Forrester, the Canadian-born contralto, died Wednesday night at the age of 79. She was an exceptional vocal artist, and one of the few singers who stood out in her prime as a leading proponent of the contralto range.

In her obituary in this morning’s New York Times, lead music critic Anthony Tommasini wrote “In her prime she was a classic contralto with a plumpy, deep set sound. Yet she had a full-bodied upper voice and could sing passagework in Handel arias with agility. She sang Mahler and German lieder with impeccable diction.”

She made many recordings during the 1950’s and 1960’s, several of which Tommasini mentions in his obituary, including a classic recording of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the New York Philharmonic and Bruno Walter, and the same composer’s “Das Lied von der Erde,” with the same forces. My prized disc is of the same work, but with the Chicago Symphony and Fritz Reiner, recorded in the late 1960’s, with the English tenor Richard Lewis.

Reiner and his superlative orchestra are known for many landmark recordings. My father had an old 78-rpm set of Bizet’s “Carmen” that Reiner led at the Metropolitan Opera with Rise Stevens in the title role, and I to this day have never heard a better interpretation of this work. Of course, his readings of Richard Strauss’ “Also Sprache Zarathustra” and Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra” and “Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta” have never been equaled, but in my opinion, no work under his baton is better than this Mahler “Das Lied,” and Forrester’s deep-hued contralto voice was never excelled in all other performances of this masterpiece. Her performances of German lieder were outstanding, but those were overshadowed at that time by the magnificent interpretations of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore. Forrester seldom appeared on the operatic stage, with the notable exception of the performances at City Opera in their landmark production of Handel’s “Julius Ceaser” with Beverly Sills and Norman Triegle.

Her performance of “Das Lied” is available on a re-mastered CD issued by RCA/BMG. To hear a contralto voice that was truly exceptional, before the time of Dame Janet Baker, go out and acquire this recording. This was an exceptional voice and an artist of the highest quality.