parterre box

42 comments

• sm says:

  One of the greatest singers I ever heard.

  on November 20, 2009 at 5:52 PM
• CrewMantle says:

  How very sad.

  But the most elegant tribute is found here.

  on November 20, 2009 at 5:52 PM
• sfmike says:

  She sang Janacek’s “Jenufa” and “Katya Kabanova” at the San Francisco Opera in the late 1970s and I still haven’t gotten over the experience. What a great singing actress.

  on November 20, 2009 at 7:25 PM
  • Indiana Loiterer III says:

    She was my first big-house diva–Jenufa in San Francisco in 1980. You can read about it in Parterre Box zine # 23 “Forbidden Love”, albeit under my real name (gadzooks! now it can be told!)

    on November 21, 2009 at 11:58 AM
• queen amahelli says:

  She was such a delightful performer and so down to earth – I remember her doing a recital at the ROH and the last encore was some unaccompanied Swedish cow-call thing and she held the house in thrall with a wondrously held final note that tapered into silence, as we held our collective breath, an orgy of sirens sounded outside and she fell about laughing – adorable.

  Such an actress too – she was by far the most commanding Emilia Marty I’ve ever seen, really nuanced as well as steely, and heartbreaking in the final scene.

  She was one of my real favorites.

  on November 20, 2009 at 7:59 PM
• jatm2063 says:

  It always happens in threes!

  on November 20, 2009 at 9:17 PM
  • CruzSF says:

    Does that mean we have two more? Or, where are we in the trilogy?

    on November 20, 2009 at 9:28 PM
• louannd says:

  That was so so lovely. What a wonderful voice! This performance exudes so much class. Thanks.

  on November 20, 2009 at 9:57 PM
• Tim says:

  My only exposure to this lovely lady is the 1959 live Faust with Jussi Bjorling and an interview on Classic Arts Showcase in which she speaks of singing with Jussi. Just the compassion and understanding with which she talked about his problems with bottle as it related to the pressures of performing at the very highest levels marked her, in my estimation, as a genuinely good person. The above comments from those who heard her live show that she was a great yet down to earth artist worthy to share the stage with her countryman. Apparently her last years were not easy ones due to illness so perhaps we should send her our thoughts and gratitude for all that she gave us. Requiescat in pace.

  Tim

  on November 20, 2009 at 10:17 PM
• Will says:

  A lovely, wonderful artist. I was lucky enough to see her three times at three different phases of her career:

  Her debut role at the MET in L’elisir d’amore–elegant, gorgeous tone, a delightful comedienne.

  At her height as the Marshallin in one of the MET’s last tours with von Stade and Battle–elegant, gorgeous tone, a great actress, no over-sentimentality or affectation.

  Late career as the Old Countess in Pique Dame–not a great success in a production built around the monumental, dynamic Rysanek. She seemed lost in the costumes and all the art and intelligence in the world didn’t help her dominate as she needed to. But everything else was still there and would have more than sufficed in a smaller house or a different production.

  on November 20, 2009 at 11:56 PM
  • Despina says:

    I, too, saw her on tour in Boston as the Marshallin with von Stade and Battle. I have never forgotten that performance and all the little nuances she brought to the character.

    on November 21, 2009 at 3:15 PM
• Krunoslav says:

  Will, Soederstroem’s debut role at the Met was Susanna, and she also sang Marguerite and Sophie before doing the Adina.

  I heard her only much later, in two performances of PETER GRIMES at the Met — swamped in Act II , but lots of little details, I recall particularly the way she sang “into their lives” in the Embroidery aria; also a good NYC recital and an outstanding one in San Francisco.

  If you can find the Glyndebourne CAPRICCIO with her and Kerstin Meyer, she is fabulous in it.

  Brava Diva.

  on November 21, 2009 at 12:51 AM
  • Will says:

    Thanks for the correction, Krunoslav–I’d forgotten the three earlier roles and thought she’d debuted in the wildly popular new production of L’elisir.

    on November 21, 2009 at 9:43 AM
• queen amahelli says:

  In fact I had forgotten that I was taken to Glyndebourne when I was 14 or so and saw (of all things) Strauss’s ‘Intermezzo’ – and I recall how funny she was in that role, and how the final duet soared – I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the piece since then…….

  on November 21, 2009 at 1:23 AM