  g(11696700)a(1393595))
| | Grist Reri | | soprano |   
| She made her Broadway debut while still a child. After studying with Claire Gelda at Queens College she returned to the musical stage in West Side Story (1957). Her first success on the concert stage was in Mahler's Symphony No. 4 under Leonard Bernstein. An engagement with the Santa Fe Opera followed in 1959, her assignments being Adele in Die Fledermaus and Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail. In 1960 the young African-American came to the Cologne Opera, where she made her debut as the Queen of the Night. In 1961 she enjoyed brilliant successes at the Zurich Opera as Zerbinetta and Despina. She was a permanent member of the Zurich ensemble from 1961-64, and returned frequently thereafter as a guest artist. Covent Garden engaged her almost every year from 1962 to 1975, and she graced the Glyndebourne Festival in 1962 (as Despina and Zerbinetta). In 1963, an appearance as Zerbinetta inaugurated a happy association with the Vienna Opera. She enjoyed similar on-going successes at the Munich Opera. In 1963 she made her debut at the San Francisco Opera as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Her roles at the Salzburg Festival included Despina (1964-65), Blondchen (1966-67, 1970-71), Zerbinetta (1964-65), Papagena in Die Zauberflöte (1974) and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro (1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971). She returned in 1983 for a Mozart concert. Her Metropolitan Opera debut as Rosina took place in 1966. During six seasons, she sang in 50 performances in New York, her assignments including Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Gilda, Zerbinetta, Adina in L'elisir d'amore, Norina in Don Pasquale and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. She attracted admiration on the stage not just for her sovereign technique and the lightness of her coloratura flights but also for her lively acting skills and her physical appeal. Married to the musicologist Ulf Thomson, she has spent most of her time in Berlin since the end of the '60s. She taught at Indiana University from 1981 to 1983, at the Munich Musikhochschule from 1984 to 1995. In addition, she offered master classes both in Europe and in America. Recordings: DGG (Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, Entführung aus dem Serail, Ariadne auf Naxos), RCA (Un ballo in Maschera, Il Re Pastore, Der Schauspieldirektor), HMV-Electrola (Le nozze di Figaro), CBS (Stravinsky's Le Rossignol), HMV (Rigoletto) and Vanguard (Handel's Jephtha). |
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