# Fascinating Article On An English Midwife Turned Bayreuth Bruinhilde.



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/07...midwife-turned-opera-singer-catherine-foster/
Has anyone heard her? It is one of the most interesting stories about how one became a singer. One could also call the article: From The Queen of the Night to Bruinhilde What a determined lass.


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## JoeSaunders (Jan 29, 2015)

Yeah I read that piece, it does seem odd that she has largely been ignored in England. I recall listening to her a bit before and enjoying the basic sound of her voice. That said, her higher notes were noticeably flat, making all the exciting bits very difficult to listen to! There are quite a few recent bayreuth recordings with her on youtube, I'll listen again to see if she's improved (lol).


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

I watched the love duet from _Götterdämmerung _and realized I had heard it before. It wasn't memorable. She was still rather brutally flat at the end, and neither she nor the (uncredited) tenor had any kind of specificity to their singing ... just pretty much generalized loudness. And despite the Spectator's take, I think there are very good reasons she is not singing at Covent Garden. The voices I have heard there were all considerably better. Deborah Voigt, Johan Botha, Marcelo Alvarez, Christine Schäfer, Paolo Gavanelli ... she is simply not in the same league.

I would say Queen of the Night was many years in the rear-view mirror.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

It is worth noting the identity of the author ... Norman Lebrecht!


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Becca said:


> It is worth noting the identity of the author ... Norman Lebrecht!


We know Lebrecht will tend to up the aggro. I don't think he is really the man to decide on musical niceties from what I have seen of his reviews.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Barelytenor said:


> I watched the love duet from _Götterdämmerung _and realized I had heard it before. It wasn't memorable. She was still rather brutally flat at the end, and neither she nor the (uncredited) tenor had any kind of specificity to their singing ... just pretty much generalized loudness. And despite the Spectator's take, I think there are very good reasons she is not singing at Covent Garden. The voices I have heard there were all considerably better. Deborah Voigt, Johan Botha, Marcelo Alvarez, Christine Schäfer, Paolo Gavanelli ... she is simply not in the same league.
> 
> I would say Queen of the Night was many years in the rear-view mirror.
> 
> ...


My impressions of her are similar. Voice OK but not great - tending flat on top, weakish at the bottom, vibrato lazy - and musicianship and personality nothing special. Nowadays that's enough to land you major roles at major houses. Just because I'm cruel, here's her "Todesverkundigung":






and here's Flagstad's (at age 62!):






(Svanholm wasn't too bad at 53 either.)


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## JoeSaunders (Jan 29, 2015)

I can agree that her voice certainly isn't world-class, but I'm still a bit miffed as to how she's basically _never _cast in England, whereas she's a regular in Bayreuth, which is (or ought to be) the holy grail of Wagner singing, ideally. It's just a strange discrepency. Are standards lower in Germany, somehow? Or is there something we youtubers are missing from hearing her through recordings? (or even better: ENGLISH BEEF)

On another note, last month I had to cancel tickets I had to a ring cycle in Budapest starring Foster! I might have had more insight here if I'd attended, but alas it was not to be.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Thanks for the good response people.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

> whereas she's a regular in Bayreuth, which is (or ought to be) the holy grail of Wagner singing, ideally


I don't mean to sound uncharitable but hearing Foster sing makes me feel better about accepting that I may never get to Bayreuth for a live performance. I turned 70 a few days ago and although I am in excellent health, I know that it may take years to get tickets. For that? Seems like the Holy Grail has gone missing somehow.

I also console myself that I got to hear Birgit Nilsson live once, back when she could really lay it on (well, that was most of her career; but this would have been 1969).

Flagstad in the Todesverkündigung could be 26 in terms of her sheer vocal splendor (and yes Svanholm sounds great as well-one of my favorite heldentenors along with James King).

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Barelytenor said:


> I don't mean to sound uncharitable but hearing Foster sing makes me feel better about accepting that I may never get to Bayreuth for a live performance. I turned 70 a few days ago and although I am in excellent health, I know that it may take years to get tickets. For that? Seems like the Holy Grail has gone missing somehow.
> 
> I also console myself that I got to hear Birgit Nilsson live once, back when she could really lay it on (well, that was most of her career; but this would have been 1969).
> 
> ...


I gave up any desire to attend a Bayreuth Festival years ago. What Wagner's descendants do to his works nowadays would give him a fatal heart attack all over again. The singing is far from the worst of it.

I heard Nilsson in '72 in _Tristan_ and _Gotterdammerung._ The gods and goddesses are gone now.

Oh, the lamentations of old men. Trouble is, we're right.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Barelytenor said:


> I don't mean to sound uncharitable but hearing Foster sing makes me feel better about accepting that *I may never get to Bayreuth for a live performance.* I turned 70 a few days ago and although I am in excellent health, I know that it may take years to get tickets. For that? Seems like the Holy Grail has gone missing somehow.
> 
> I also console myself that I got to hear Birgit Nilsson live once, back when she could really lay it on (well, that was most of her career; but this would have been 1969).
> 
> ...


Frankly it would be something I might be thankful for if I was a Wagnerian. Uncomfortable seats, inflated prices and dreadful productions which have little relevance to what Wagner actually wrote. Just be thankful!


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Seattleoperafan said:


> https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/07...midwife-turned-opera-singer-catherine-foster/
> Has anyone heard her? It is one of the most interesting stories about how one became a singer. One could also call the article: From The Queen of the Night to Bruinhilde What a determined lass.


In all fairness to Lebrecht, I thought it was a well-written article that covers the events in her remarkable life and also what's happening in the music scene in Great Britain though one could quibble with his conclusions about why Foster has not been invited to perform there. Her voice seems well-suited to Wagner because there's a bit of an edge to it that can be heard over the orchestra. But in all honesty, I'm not attracted to her voice because to me it can sound strident. If he believes in her, that's fine, but that bright edge in her voice might be why she has not been invited before and no one wants to come right out and say it.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I saw her Brunhilde at Bayreuth the year before last and I was impressed. It's not a huge sound nor particularly memorable, but I prefer it to some of the foghorns usually heard in the role. She seemed to have more musicality and sense of style than those with larger voices who have sung the part. She sings slightly below the note, but I find that gives it a plangent tone.

N.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> My impressions of her are similar. Voice OK but not great - tending flat on top, weakish at the bottom, vibrato lazy - and musicianship and personality nothing special. Nowadays that's enough to land you major roles at major houses. Just because I'm cruel, here's her "Todesverkundigung":
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Flagstad doesn't sing in the UK either! Whilst I agree that Flagstad is a whole different kettle of fish with her full, radiant voice if we are really to assess whether the article's premise that Foster should be engaged by Covent Garden has any merit, we should compare her with others singing her roles Steme, Herlitzius, Goerke or Merbeth for a start. As Brunhilde I prefer Foster over Steme, but I would love to hear Herlitzius or Merbeth in the role. Merbeth was a stunning Elektra in Berlin earlier this year and better than I would imagine Foster to be.

I think the idea that Foster is the wrong class to sing at Covent Garden is nonsense and was she really known outside Germany before the Bayreuth Ring? I would expect her to sing in something at the ROH as she becomes better known.

N.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

DavidA said:


> Frankly it would be something I might be thankful for if I was a Wagnerian. Uncomfortable seats, inflated prices and dreadful productions which have little relevance to what Wagner actually wrote. Just be thankful!


I grew up in Texas and did not discover air conditioning until I was 17. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. Just the thought of sitting through six hours of Wagner in uncomfortable seats with no AC and in a tux gives me heart palpitations. I am scratching that from my bucket list. I think I'll try to see the Ring in NYC one of these days (or somewhere else) and maybe go see Neuschwanstein before I check out. On a cool day. After all, I do have the Met production on DVD. And AC.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/07...midwife-turned-opera-singer-catherine-foster/
> Has anyone heard her? It is one of the most interesting stories about how one became a singer. One could also call the article: From The Queen of the Night to Bruinhilde What a determined lass.


I think Foster is quite good. I certainly prefer Stemme as Brunnhilde in recent years, but I prefer her to Petra Lang or Linda Watson. I haven't heard Goerke's full Ring yet.

She's no Nilsson or Flagstad, but who has been comparable in the past 50 years? It's just a insane measuring stick. I also dispute that she's not "world class"--she's at least in the top 5 in the role over the past decade, that certainly qualifies as "world class" in my book.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

It’s slight, but there is something unsteady about her voice that I just cannot take, and her voice loses intensity with her use of vibrato. Additional vocal training could have cleared up these vocal weaknesses. I doubt if I could sit through one of her performances, though if she can find an audience then more power to her.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I haven't heard anything about Linda Watson in years. Her Parsifal here was spectacular many years ago, but last time I heard her she was very flat on all top notes. Pity. It was a great start.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I haven't heard anything about Linda Watson in years. Her Parsifal here was spectacular many years ago, but last time I heard her she was very flat on all top notes. Pity. It was a great start.


Linda is a friend & still very active! I heard her as Die Amme in Die Frau Ohne Schatten last December in Hamburg. I know she just recently sang Brunnhilde in Dusseldorf as well...


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I was impressed that Linda Watson was a something like a stock broker or investment banker till her voice matured enough for Wagner.


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