Swedish mezzo-soprano Kerstin Meyer enjoyed a full and rewarding career through great intelligence and with a voice of good, if not quite first-rate, quality. Her instrument, not huge but somewhat dark in coloration, was sometimes betrayed by an uneven and pronounced vibrato. Yet her stage presence was riveting enough to make that issue all but disappear, especially in leading roles of dramatic stature. Meyer was also a persuasive recitalist.Read more
Meyer's studies were extensive, first in Stockholm with Andreyeva von Skoldonz and Arne Sunnegaardh, and later in Salzburg, Rome, Siena, and Vienna. Upon her 1952 debut as Azucena at Stockholm's Royal Opera, she joined the permanent company. When Wieland Wagner's 1959 Hamburg production of Carmen created a stir in the world press, it was as much for Meyer's intellectually dangerous protagonist as for Wagner's innovations. Her attractive, slender appearance and histrionic gifts led to several leading roles in world premieres. In three successive years beginning in 1966, she sang Mrs. Claiborne in Gunther Schuller's The Visitation, Alice in Alexander Goehr's Arden Must Die, and Gertrude in Humphrey Searle's Hamlet, all in the dramatically progressive Hamburg company. Meyer's Dido at Covent Garden in 1960 had been less successful: histrionically, it was compelling, but vocally it was short of poised, classical singing. Still, her career brought even more premieres and growing appreciation among leading conductors. In 1961, Meyer had made herself welcome at the Glyndebourne Festival as Carolina in Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers. She subsequently appeared in roles ranging from Octavia in Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea to Clairon in Strauss' Capriccio. In 1966, Meyer was Agave in the world premiere of Henze's The Bassarids at Salzburg. She was chosen for Elisabeth in the 1970 premiere of Nicholas Maw's The Rising of the Moon at Glyndebourne, and in 1973, she sang for Glyndebourne a memorable Old Woman title role in the first English production of Einem's Der Besuch der alten Dame. In the early '60s, Meyer appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, which offered her less dramatically appropriate fare. Her Orfeo, like her London Dido, was found wanting in vocal polish. From 1962 to 1965, she was a regular at the Bayreuth Festival. Meyer's 1962 San Francisco Octavian (to Schwarzkopf's Marschallin) was both well sung and ardently acted. Read less
Label: Erato
Catalog: 538106
Release Date: 07/31/2020
Number of Discs: 5
Composer:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Frederick Guthrie,
Kerstin Meyer,
Gré Brouwenstijn,
Nicolai Gedda
Conductor:
André Cluytens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 564489
Release Date: 10/27/2017
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Richard Strauss
Performer:
Otto Edelmann,
Nicolai Gedda,
Eberhard Wächter,
Kerstin Meyer
...
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra,
Loughton High School for Girls' Choir,
Bancroft's School Choir
Recommendation
Label: Erato
Catalog: 562261
Release Date: 06/16/2017
Number of Discs: 65
Composer:
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Richard Strauss,
Raoul Laparra,
Georges Bizet
...
Performer:
Monique de la Bruchollerie,
Marcelle Meyer,
Zino Francescatti,
Jeanne-Marie Darré
...
Conductor:
André Cluytens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire,
Le Grand Orchestre Symphonique Columbia,
Orchestre du Theatre National de l'Opera-Comique
...
Recommendation
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 483032
Release Date: 05/07/2013
Number of Discs: 5
Composer:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Frederick Guthrie,
Kerstin Meyer,
Gré Brouwenstijn,
Nicolai Gedda
Conductor:
André Cluytens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Label: Orfeo
Catalog: 768093
Release Date: 05/26/2009
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Giacomo Puccini
Performer:
Kerstin Meyer,
Pilar Lorengar,
Margarita Lilova,
Sona Ghazarian
...
Conductor:
Gerd Albrecht
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna State Opera Chorus,
Vienna State Opera Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 15206
Release Date: 10/28/2008
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Johann Nepomuk Hummel,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
...
Performer:
Bernard Walton,
Dennis Brain,
Lothar Koch,
Maurice André
...
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra,
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
...
Label: Rca Victor Red Seal
Catalog: 38303
Release Date: 01/30/2008
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Krzysztof Penderecki,
Vincent Persichetti
Performer:
Peter Lagger,
Seth McCoy,
Kerstin Meyer,
Stefania Woytowicz
...
Conductor:
Eugene Ormandy
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Temple University Concert Choir,
Philadelphia Orchestra
Label: Orfeo D'or
Catalog: 651053
Release Date: 10/25/2005
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Richard Strauss
Performer:
Georg Stern,
Lisa Della Casa,
Kurt Ruesche,
Anneliese Rothenberger
...
Conductor:
Joseph Keilberth,
Karl Böhm
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
Vienna State Opera Chorus
Recommendation
Label: Orfeo D'or
Catalog: 605032
Release Date: 05/25/2004
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Hans Werner Henze
Performer:
Ingeborg Hallstein,
Kostas Paskalis,
Peter Lagger,
Helmut Melchert
...
Conductor:
Christoph von Dohnányi
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
Vienna State Opera Chorus
Label: Emi Great Recordings Of The Century
Catalog: 67609
Release Date: 09/11/2001
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Richard Strauss
Performer:
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,
Anny Felbermayer,
Nicolai Gedda,
Paul Kuen
...
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Chorus,
Bancroft School Boys' Choir,
Philharmonia Orchestra
...
Recommendation
Label: Orfeo D'or
Catalog: 456972
Release Date: 01/25/1999
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Richard Strauss
Performer:
Inge Borkh,
Jean Madeira,
Lisa Della Casa,
Max Lorenz
...
Conductor:
Dimitri Mitropoulos
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
Vienna State Opera Chorus
Label: Bis
Catalog: 296
Release Date: 01/04/1994
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:
Kerstin Meyer,
Barbro Ericson,
Georg Svedenbrandt,
Anders Näslund
...
Conductor:
Sixten Ehrling
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Stockholm Opera Chorus,
Royal Stockholm Opera Orchestra