  g(11696700)a(1393595))
| | Brouwenstijn Gré | | soprano |   
| Following training at the Amsterdamer Muzieklyceum with Jaap Stroomenbergh, then with Boris Pelsky and Ruth Horna, she debuted in 1940 as one of the three ladies in Die Zauberflöte in Amsterdam. During World War II she was mainly active as a concert-singer. She became a member of the Dutch Opera Amsterdam in 1946 (debut as Giulietta in Les contes d'Hoffmann). Her first major successes were as Tosca (1946) and most notably the Fidelio Leonore (1949), which remained one of her most noted impersonations. She was a celebrated Rezia in Oberon at the Holland Festival of 1950. She remained at the core of this festival for many years, adding the Trovatore Leonore (1949), Donna Anna, Amelia, the Countess in Nozze di Figaro, Jenufa, the title role of Iphigénie en Tauride, Desdemona, Leonora in La forza del destino and Senta. Her international fame was enhanced by guest appearances: 1951-64 at Covent Garden (debut as Aida), 1956-1964 at the Viennese State Opera, 1959-60 at the Operas of Chicago and San Francisco, 1958 and 1960 at the Teatro Colón. In Chicago she sang Jenufa (1959). She was admired at Bayreuth as Elisabeth (1954-56), Sieglinde (1956), Freia (1956), Gutrune (1955-56) and Eva (1956). She sang in Beethoven's 9th Symphony under Wilhelm Furtwängler in Bayreuth (1954). Her Fidelio Leonore was heard at Glyndebourne (1959, 1961, 1963), in Wieland Wagner's famous production at the Stuttgart State Opera (1956) and at the Grand Opéra Paris. She left the stage with that role in 1971 in Amsterdam. Married 1948-52 to the Dutch tenor Jan van Mantgem (1903), she also sang under the name Gré Brouwenstijn-van Swol. Expressive, profoundly musical soprano, she was admired in the French and Italian repertoires as well as in Wagner. Autobiography: Gré Brouwenstijn met en zonder Make-up [ Gré Brouwenstijn with and without make up] (Amsterdam, 1971). Recordings: Philips (Tiefland), HMV, Decca/London (Walküre), Melodram (Tannhäuser Bayreuth, 1954), Paragon/Myto (Don Carlos Covent Garden, 1958), TIS, Datum (Tannhäuser). |
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