Disc 1: Handel Arias Disc 2: Grande Dame of Song / La Grande Dame de la Lyrique
Maureen Forrester was sometimes singled out as the successor to the great English contralto Kathleen Ferrier after her early death at the height of her career in 1953. True contraltos are rare and great ones even rarer, and in the 1950s the only other singers with whom Forrester might have been compared were Ferrier and Marion Anderson. In fact, Forrester needed comparison with no one. In timbre and artistry she was her distinctive self. Forrester’s opulent voice had the glowing lustre of her esteemed contemporaries, as well as a highly variegated spectrum of colours throughout a wide range; and most important of all her voice carried the personal trait of only the greatest singers – it was immediately and unmistakably recognizable.
Forrester’s sensibilities were especially well-suited to recitals and concerts. She combined an aristocratic bearing and a heroic voice with an engaging presence so that her audiences responded warmly to performances that were at once authoritative and intimate. Besides being an undisputed interpreter of the songs of Mahler she was equally successful with other masters of German art song, especially Brahms. At the same time that she was establishing her fame as a lieder recitalist, Forrester showed herself to be equally at home in the baroque music of Handel and Bach.
It is these two distinct, but entirely complementary facets of Forrester’s singing, that are represented on these two CDs. The first, HANDEL ARIAS, captures Forrester’s innate ability to control the dramatic requirements while negotiating the vocal demands of the operatic music. The songs of Brahms and Wagner, represented in CD 2, GRANDE DAME OF SONG display the more luminous quality of her true contralto.
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