View source for Catherine Foster (soprano)

{{short description|British opera singer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Catherine Foster
| image = File:Catherine Foster.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_place = [[Nottingham]], England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = {{plainlist|
* [[Birmingham Conservatoire]]
* [[Royal Northern College of Music]]
* [[National Opera Studio]]
}}
| occupation = Operatic [[soprano]]
| organizations = {{plainlist|
* [[Nationaltheater Weimar]]
* [[Bayreuth Festival]]
}}
| awards = Dame Eva Turner Awards
| website = {{url|http://www.catherinefostersoprano.com/}}
}}
'''Catherine Foster''' (born 1975)<ref name="DNB" /> is an English operatic soprano, who has appeared internationally, mostly in European opera houses. Her repertoire has focused on [[dramatic soprano]] roles in stage works by [[Richard Strauss]] and [[Richard Wagner]], such as the title role of ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'', and Brünnhilde in ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'', a role which she performed at the [[Bayreuth Festival]] in 2013 for Wagner's bicentenary.
== Career ==
Born in [[Nottingham]],<ref name="DNB" /> Foster played several musical instruments as a girl, and was a lead chorister in the choir of the village church from age 15.<ref name="Morley" /> She worked first as a nurse and midwife for 15 years.<ref name="Bayreuth" /><ref name="Vasagar" /> Beginning in 1993 she studied voice with [[Pamela Cook]], who trained her until her death in 2013. Foster studied at the [[Birmingham Conservatoire]] from 1995. As a recipient of the [[Dame Eva Turner Awards]], she studied on a scholarship at the [[Royal Northern College of Music]] and completed her studies at the [[National Opera Studio]] in London in 1999. During her studies, she performed as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' at the [[Opera of Northern Ireland]] in 1998 and the [[Welsh National Opera]]. She repeated the role when she sang at the [[English National Opera]] for the first time in 2000.<ref name="Morley" /><ref name="Bayreuth" />
She became a member of the [[Nationaltheater Weimar]] in 2001, where she first performed roles <!-- jugendlich-dramatischen Soprans -->such as Mimi in Puccini's ''[[La Bohème]]'', Elisabeth in Wagner's  ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'', Leonore in both Beethoven's ''[[Fidelio]]'' and Verdi's ''[[Il trovatore]]'', Senta in Wagner's ''[[Der Fliegende Holländer]]'', Abigaille in Verdi's ''[[Nabucco]]'' and Elektra in Mozart's ''[[Idomeneo]]''.<ref name="Bayreuth" />
She changed to the [[Dramatic soprano|dramatic]] repertory, appearing in title roles of ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'' by Richard Strauss, Wagner's ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' and Puccini's ''[[Turandot]]''. In 2007, she performed the role of Brünnhilde in Wagner's ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' in three parts of the cycle.<ref name="Bayreuth" /> The production was recorded on DVD and made her known. From 2011, she has worked as a freelance singer.<ref name="Bayreuth" />
She made her debut at the [[Bayreuth Festival]] in 2013 as Brünnhilde in the ''Ring'' production staged by [[Frank Castorf]], on the occasion of the bicentenary of Wagner's birth.<ref name="Bayreuth" /><ref name="Vasagar" /> She performed the role also in the following years, conducted by [[Kirill Petrenko]], [[Marek Janowski]] and [[Plácido Domingo]]. The production was recorded and broadcast internationally in 2016.<ref name="Bayreuth" /> She said in an interview that she never received acting training, but "I worked for almost 15 years in a hospital and had many experiences with young and old people, with children, rich and poor, happy and sad people. This is the experience I bring to the stage."<ref name="Vasagar" />
She appeared as Brünnhilde also at the [[Staatstheater Wiesbaden]], in 2017 as part of the [[Internationale Maifestspiele]]. A critic wrote after a performance of ''Götterdämmerung'': "Phrasing, understanding and pronunciation of the text, secure intonation and scenic presence are on an unusually high level! This evening, Ms. Foster succeeded in everything! Her voice was perfectly controlled in all registers up to 'C'" ("Phrasierung, Texterfassung und -Verständlichkeit, Intonationssicherheit, szenische Präsenz sind auf auf einem außerordentlich hohen Niveau! An diesem Abend gelang Frau Foster alles! Die Stimme blieb in allen Lagen perfekt kontrolliert bis rauf zum 'C'").<ref name="Schauß" />
In concert, she sang in Mahler's [[Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)|Eighth Symphony]] at the [[Wiener Musikverein]], in his [[Symphony No. 4 (Mahler)|Fourth Symphony]] in the UK. She performed Wagner's  [[Wesendonck Lieder]] in the US.<ref name="Bayreuth" />
In August 2022 she sang the role of Isolde in the Bayreuth production of [[Tristan und Isolde]] conducted by Markus Poschner<ref>[https://www.operabase.com/artists/catherine-foster-2747/performances/en Operabase entry for Catherine Foster]</ref> and her performance was well received both by the audience and by the critics.<ref>[https://operawire.com/bayreuth-festival-2022-review-tristan-und-isolde Review in OperaWire]/</ref>
== Recordings ==
* 2000: ''[[The Martyr of Antioch]]'', by Arthur Sullivan, Symposium Record for the [[Buxton Festival]]<ref name="Scowcroft" />
* 2008: ''Die Walküre'', live from Weimar<ref>[https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=101355&languageid=EN Wagner, R.: Walkure (Die) (Deutsches Nationaltheater, Weimar, 2008) (NTSC)] [[Naxos Records|Naxos]]</ref>
* 2008: ''Siegfried'', live from Weimar<ref>[https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=101357 Wagner, R.: Siegfried (Deutsches Nationaltheater, Weimar, 2008) (NTSC)] [[Naxos Records|Naxos]]</ref>
* 2008: ''Götterdämmerung'', live from Weimar<ref>[https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=101360 Wagner, R.: Gotterdammerung (Deutsches Nationaltheater, Weimar, 2008) (Blu-ray, Full-HD)] [[Naxos Records|Naxos]]</ref>
* 2009: ''Siegfried'', live from Hamburg <ref name="Dixon" />
== References ==
{{reflist | 30em
| refs =
<ref name="Dixon">{{cite web
| last = Dixon
| first = Gavin
| url = http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Sept11/Wagner_Siegfried_OC927.htm
| title = Richard Wagner (1813-1881) / Siegfried
| website = musicweb-international.com
| date = 2011
| accessdate = 1 December 2017
}}</ref>
<ref name="Morley">{{cite news
| last = Morley
| first = Christopher
| url = http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/whats-on/music/catherine-foster-born-singer-3937388
| title = Catherine Foster born to be a singer / Birmingham Conservatoire helped a midwife to become an opera star
| work = [[Birmingham Post]]
| date = 19 November 2009
| accessdate = 28 November 2017
}}</ref>
<ref name="Schauß">{{cite web
| last = Schauß
| first = Dirk
| url = http://der-neue-merker.eu/wiesbaden-goetterdaemmerung-oder-flimmerdaemmerung-premiere
| title = Wiesbaden / Hessisches Staatstheater: Götterdämmerung – ein musikalisches Fest
| work = Der neue Merker
| date = 21 October 2017
| language = German
| accessdate = 28 November 2017
}}</ref>
<ref name="Scowcroft">{{cite web
| last = Scowcroft
| first = Philip
| url = http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/May02/Sullivan_Martyr.htm
| title = Sir Arthur Sullivan / The Martyr of Antioch
| website = musicweb-international.com
| date = 2002
| accessdate = 1 December 2017
}}</ref>
<ref name="Vasagar">{{cite news
| last = Vasagar
| first = Jeevan
| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10195586/English-singer-to-take-on-Brunnhilde-in-Wagners-Ring-Cycle.html
| title = English singer to take on Brünnhilde in Wagner's Ring Cycle
| work = [[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]
| date = 22 July 2013
| accessdate = 28 November 2017
}}</ref>
<ref name="Bayreuth">{{cite web
| url = http://auffuehrungsdatenbank.bayreuther-festspiele.de/fsdb/personen/14757/index.htm
| title = Catherine Foster
| publisher = [[Bayreuth Festival]]
| year =
| language = German
| accessdate = 20 December 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171201043816/http://auffuehrungsdatenbank.bayreuther-festspiele.de/fsdb/personen/14757/index.htm
| archive-date = 1 December 2017
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>
<ref name="DNB">{{cite web
| url = https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=nid%3D1014062926
| title = Catherine Foster
| publisher = [[German National Library]]
| year =
| language = German
| accessdate = 1 January 2018
}}</ref>
}}
== External links ==
* {{official|http://www.catherinefostersoprano.com/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161224204226/http://www.operabase.com/listart.cgi?id=none&lang=de&name=Catherine+%5BFoster%5D Catherine Foster] Operabase
* {{discogs artist}}
* [http://www.hilbert.de/kuenstler-details.php?id=8 Catherine Foster] hilbert.de
* [https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=101355&languageid=EN Wagner, R.: Walkure (Die) (Deutsches Nationaltheater, Weimar, 2008) (NTSC)] [[Naxos Records|Naxos]]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Catherine}}
[[Category:1975 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English operatic sopranos]]
[[Category:English midwives]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Northern College of Music]]
[[Category:Musicians from Nottingham]]
[[Category:21st-century British women opera singers]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire]]